“…Another fragment 6 proposed in Scheme was prepared from aldehyde 11 , the intermediate used in Scheme , according to a modification of Simpson's procedure. Thus, the Wittig reaction of 11 with (EtO) 2 P(O)CH 2 CO 2 Et under the conditions developed by Masamune (DBU, LiCl, MeCN) afforded ester 21 , which was not contaminated with the cis isomer (geometric isomer purity >95% by 1 H NMR spectroscopy), and hydrolysis then gave 6 in 62% yield (Scheme ).…”