I have spotted a protecting acetal group and thought this would undergo hydrolysis … My working is such:
But I cannot get to the desired isomer. Could someone please help? (Diagrams would be very much apprecited thanks!)
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Sign up to join this communityI have spotted a protecting acetal group and thought this would undergo hydrolysis … My working is such:
But I cannot get to the desired isomer. Could someone please help? (Diagrams would be very much apprecited thanks!)
You have managed to draw the correct acyclic hydrolized compound with a decent mechanism.
This is a problem that can be solved by numbering the carbon atoms. Number the carbon atoms sequentially along the chain, starting with the acetal carbon (which has to be the carbonyl group). Likewise number the unpacked acyclic molecule. Use what you get to figure out which of the three hydroxy groups are used to make the second acetal.
In general, numbering your atoms using common structural features as anchors can help unravel complicated mechanism problems.