Syntheses of (+)-alismoxide and (+)-4-epi-alismoxide.

The first total syntheses of (+)-alismoxide and (+)-4-epi-alismoxide are reported. Formal chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective addition of water to 10alpha-acetoxy-1alphaH,5betaH-guaia-3,6-diene afforded the target compounds after reduction. The absolute stereochemistry of (+)-alismoxide has been established. The low [alpha](D) +8.6 value indicates that significant amounts of alismoxide result from biosynthetic processes. Furthermore, the structure of the natural guaienediol isolated from Silphium perfoliatum has been corrected to (-)-alismoxide.