Compactin, dihydro

Initiation of polyalkene cyclization by an acid chloride and termination by an alkenylsilane have been combined in a synthesis of an octahydronaphthalene as part of studies towaids the synthesis of dihydro-compactin, where the silane can be viewed as controlling the Friedel-Crafts acylation of the disubstituted double bond (equation 10). In this case, antimony pentachloride gave superior yields compared to a wide variety of commonly used Lewis acid catalysts. 

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