Unusual Reactions of (+)-Car-2-ene and (+)-Car-3-ene with Aldehydes on K10 Clay

The reactions of (+)-car-2-ene (1) and (+)-car-3-ene (2) with aldehydes in the presence of montmorillonite clay were studied for the first time (Schemes 3 and 5). The major products of these reactions are optically active, substituted hexahydroisobenzofurans, probably formed as a result of an attack of the protonated aldehyde at the cyclopropane ring. Quite unexpectedly, the products are cis-configured at the ring-fusion site; the fact was established by means of quantum-chemical calculations and NMR data. It appeared that the behavior of the 2 : 3 mixture 1/2 in reactions with aldehydes in the presence of K10 clay differed substantially from the reactivities of the corresponding individual monoterpenes.