Preparation of the 2-Phenylbutanoyl Ester of Neomeranol. The 2phenylbutyrate of neomeranol (5) was prepared from 8.4 mg of neomeranol and the acid chloride using procedures described recently.13 The crude product was purified by HPLC (Ultrasphere-Cyano, 4:1 hexane-CH2C12) to give 7, 3.8 mg: [a]D -10.5°( c 0.38, CHC13); NMR (CDC13) ó 7.3-7.2 (5 H, br s), 4.64 (1 H, dd), 4.45 (1 H, dd), 3.45 (1 H, m), 2. 28-2.20 (2 H, m), 1.91-1.50 (4 H, m), 1.35-1.10 (3 H, m), 1.08 (3 H, s), 0.98-0.95 (2 H, m), 0.91 (3 H, s), 0.89 (3 H, t), 0.78 (3 H, s), 0.70 (3 H, s), 0.56 (1 H, dd); MS (relative intensity) m/z 448 (M+, 0.5), 367 (52), 282 (16), 203 (66), 119 (100), 95 (63). The optical rotation of the acid recovered from unreacted acid chloride was [a]D -15.6°( c 0.45, CHC13), corresponding to an optical yield of 21%.12