Abstract Two variants of a new pathway for the synthesis of (±)-curcumene ether are described. The key steps in these procedures are intramolecular cyclizations of 6-methyl-2- (4-methylphenyl) hept-6-en-2-ol and 2-methyl-6-(4-methylphenyl) hept-6-en-2-ol by means of an electrochemically generated phenylselenyl cation. This synthetic approach provides significantly better yields than the previously reported protocols.
