The synthesis of o-ethylphenyl tetrahydro-3-f~-any1 ketone (V) was undertaken first and, although the molecule is a relatively simple one, a number of obvious routes were tried without success before a satisfactory scheme was developed. The chief difficulty lay in obtaining &substituted tetrahydrofuranyl derivatives in a convenient fashion. Recently, Korte and Machleidt4 found that y-butyrolactone could be converted smoothly and in good yield ...
