Isomeric ( E , Z )-and ( Z , Z )-hexadeca-10,12-dienal were prepared, stereospecifically, in 51% and 43% overall yields from dec-1-yne.Diaphania hyalinata and Diaphania nitidalis are pyralid species that exhibit similar life cycles and habits. The former feeds upon the foliage of pumpkin and other cucurbits, 2 whereas the latter is particularly destructive to cantaloupe, cucumber and muskmelon. 3 The damage caused make these crops unsuitable for marketing. The isomers ( E , Z )-hexadeca-10,12-dienal (1) and ( Z , Z )-hexadeca-10,12-dienal (2) were isolated, as minor components, from the extracts of ovipositors of female melonworm, D. hyalinata , 2 while trace amounts of 1 were found in extracts from pickleworm adults of D. nitidalis . 3 These compounds, along with others, represent essential components of the sex pheromones of these species. Previous syntheses of the ( E , Z )-isomer 1 have involved Wittig condensation of butyltriphenylphosphorane with ( E )-12-(2-tetrahydropyranyloxy)dodec-2-enal, 4 followed by oxidation. The major drawback of this procedure is the generation of a mixture of E and Z isomers in the Wittig reaction. The ( Z , Z )-isomer has been prepared by the Ca-diotÐChodkiewicz coupling of pent-1-yne with undec-10yn-1-ol, followed by reduction of the triple bond with dicyclohexylborane to the corresponding dienol. 2 The alcohols ( E , Z )-and ( Z , Z )-hexadeca-10,12-dien-1-ol have been synthesized stereospecifically, by the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction between an hydroxyalkenylborane and the appropriate haloalkene in the presence of a base. 5 The overall %yields reported for the syntheses of these alcohols, from undec-10-en-1-ol, are 41 and 27% respectively. 5 In this paper we report stereospecific syntheses of the isomeric dienals 1 and 2 in 51 and 43% overall yields from dec-1-yne (3) . The syntheses utilized the common precursor tert -butyldimethylsilyl undec-10-ynyl ether (6) which was prepared from dec-1-yne (3) by coupling of its lithium acetylide with paraformaldehyde, at low temperature, to give undec-2-yn-1-ol ( 4 ) in 93% (Scheme 1). The latter was isomerized to undec-10-yn-1-ol (5) in 98% by a zip-Stereospecific Synthesis of ( E , Z )-and ( Z , Z )-Hexadeca-10,12-dienal.