2,2,7,7-tetramethyloctane-3,6-dione

Conditions: temp:0.00; pressure:0.00; stir:; See reaction.notes.procedure_details.

Procedure: A mixture of 14.8 g (74.6 mmol) of 2,2,7,7-tetramethyl-3,6-octanedione and 6.7 ml (82.1 mmol) of cyclopentadiene was added to 34.3 ml of a 30 percent strength solution of sodium methanolate (186 mmol) in methanol at 0° C. in the course of 10 minutes. After the mixture had been stirred at room temperature for 30 hours, it was hydrolyzed and extracted with methylene chloride. After drying over MgSO4, the product was evaporated to dryness. Column chromatography on silica gel with hexane as the mobile phase gave 1.75 g (10 %) of the indene 10. For the NMR data, see Table 1. extracted with methylene chloride After drying over MgSO4 the product was evaporated to dryness