Strained to the Limit: When a Cyclobutyl Moiety Becomes a Thermodynamic Sink in a Protolytic Ring-Opening of Photogenerated Oxetanes

Strained polycyclic oxetanes generated photochemically from the Diels-Alder adducts of cyclic dienes and enones undergo deep skeletal rearrangements under protolytic ring-opening conditions offering expeditious access to chlorohydrins and other products of unique skeletal topology.