“…It is noteworthy that substitution on the carbon chain is allowed on both partners, but α-substitution in acylsilane was shown to slow down the process, leading to lower yields . Removal of the tert -butyldimethylsilyl protecting group was then carried out under standard acidic conditions, leading to a spontaneous cyclization, − producing the desired bis-spiroacetals in moderate to good yields as a mixture of diastereomers (dr estimated using both 1 H NMR and GC–MS) (Scheme ) . Various acidic conditions were tested (TfOH, HCl, MgBr 2 , BF 3 ·OEt 2 , TMSOTf, Sc(OTf) 3 ), but camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) in CH 3 CN at room temperature was found to be optimal in terms of yields.…”