14 (1988). Photolyses of 5-hydroxy-5a-and 5P-cholestan-6-one and their 3P-acetoxy-and 30-benzyloxy derivatives in benzene or ethanol proceed stereospecifically with retention of configuration at C-5 to give the corresponding lactones, 6-oxa-Bhomocholestan-7-ones. Photolyses of 3P-acetoxy-7a-deutero-5-hydroxy-5a-and 50-cholestan-6-ones also proceed stereospecifically to give the corresponding 5-deutero lactones. 3~-Acetoxy-5-deuteroxy-5a-and SP-cholestan-6-one give on irradiation 1:3 and 7 : l mixtures, respectively, of the corresponding 7 a a -and 7aP-deutero lactones. Irradiation of 3~-acetoxy-5-methoxy-5a-cholestan-6-one in ethanol leads to the stereoselective formation of ethyl 3P-acetoxy-5-methoxy-5,6-seco-5a-cholestan-6-oate, while that of 3P-acetoxy-Sa-cholestan-6-one gives mainly photoreduction products. These observations are interpreted in terms of a-cleavage of the C-5-C-6 bond of the ketols to give alkyl acyl diradicals that undergo hydrogen transfer to give hydroxy ketenes, which then form the lactones. It is proposed that retention of configuration at C-5 results from two major factors-the nonplanar geometry of the hydroxyalkyl radical center, and fast hydrogen transfer in the diradical, the latter resulting from restricted rotation about the C-9-C-10 bond. The specific transfer of the 7a-deuterium atom in the 7a-deutero ketols is attributed to these factors and to the preferred direction of opening to the diradical on a-cleavage. The 0-deuterium labelling results are interpreted in terms of product development control in the conversion of the hydroxy ketenes to the lactones and are in accord with restricted rotation about the C-9-C-I0 bond. The photolysis of 3P-acetoxy-5-amino-5a-cholestan-6-one proceeds stereoselectively to give the SP-lactam analogue of the SP-lactone formed from the analogous Sa-ketol.SHIRLEY STIVER et PETER YATES. Can. J. Chem. 66, 214 (1988). La photolyse des hydroxy-5 5 a -et SP-cholestanones-6 et de leurs dCrivCs acCtoxy-3P et benzyloxy-3P, dans le benzkne ou I'tthanol, se produit d'une faqon stCrCospCcifique, avec rCtention de configuration en C-5, pour conduire aux lactones correspondantes, oxa-6 B-homocholestanones-7. La photolyse des acCtoxy-3P deutCro-7a hydroxy-5 5 a -et SP-cholestanones-6 se produit aussi d'une faqon stCrCospCcifique pour conduire aux lactones correspondantes deutkro-5. Par irradiation, les acCtoxy-3P deutCroxy-5 5 a -et 5P-cholestanones-6 conduisent respectivement a des melanges 1:3 et 7:l des lactones correspondantes deutCro-7aa et -7aP. L'irradiation de I'acCtoxy-3P mCthoxy-5 5a-cholestanone-6, dans I'Cthanol, conduit la formation stCrCosClective de I'acCtoxy-30 mCthoxy-5 sCco-5,6 5a-cholestanoate-6 d'Cthyle alors que celles de I'acetoxy-3P 5a-cholestanone-6 donne principalement des produits de photorCduction. On interprkte ces rCsultats en fonction d'un clivage-a de la liaison C-5/C-6 des cCtols qui fournit des diradicaux alkyle acyle qui subissent des transferts d'hydrogene conduisant des hydroxy-cCtenes qui forment alors des lactones. On suggkr...