Hydroxy-2-methoxypropanal

S )-3-hydroxy-2-methoxypropanal was successfully converted with acetaldehyde, with the primary open chain aldol product forming the lactol. The aldehyde needed as starting material for the northern part was generated in situ from the acetal a DERA-catalyzed kinetic resolution led to conversion of the (R)-enantiomer in the aldol reaction, only. 

OA alcohols of rigid structure like (-)-menthol, (-)-isoborneol, (+)-neomenthol, (+)-isopinocampheol, (+)-borneol are effective co-initiators for asymmetric selection polymerization [145] as well as D(-)-l-methoxypropane-2-ol or poly(D-PO) of low molecular weight with hydroxy end groups. No simple correlation was found between the sign of selected antipodes and the absolute configuration of the alcohol [146]. Other co-initiators have been used as in binary systems consisting of equimolar amount of diethylzinc with amines [147] or various /-a-amino acids [148] which were found to be effective initiators for the asymmetric selection polymerization of PO. The increasing order of efficiency... 

A mixture of l-chloro-2-hydroxy-3-methoxypropane and triethyl phosphite heated slowly with vigorous stirring, and the volatiles including the product distilled off during 10 hrs. -> allyl methyl ether. Y 54.9%. F. e. s. H. G. Henning, Z. Ghem. 6, 463 (1966). 

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