Total synthesis of (+)-albicanol and (+)-albicanyl acetate

The drimane sesquiterpenes, (+)-albicanol (2) and (+)-albicanyl acetate (3), mere synthesized from an optically active bicyclic diol [(+)-1] that had been obtained via the recently developed optical resolution of a general synthetic intermediate for drimane sesquiterpenes, The crucial step in the previous syntheses was markedly improved by the modified Wittig methylenation of a silyloxy ketone (7), The high overall yield (77% in 4 or 5 steps from (+)-1) by this total synthesis makes it possible to synthesize the other biologically active drimane sesquiterpenes.