An improved procedure for the ruthenium tetraoxide catalysed oxidation of 1,5-dienes, employing 0.05 equiv. of the catalyst RuO 2 ·2H 2 O, 2.5 equiv. of NaIO 4 as a stoichiometric oxidant, and a biphasic solvent system of AcOEt/(CH 3 ) 2 CO/ H 2 O (2:1:1, v/v/v), is presented. Reactions of 1,5-dienes 1, 3, and 5 furnished the new cis-tetrahydrofuran products 2, 4, 6, and 7 with total stereospecificity. The structures of the products have been established on the basis of NMR and MS data, as well as chemical evidence. Application of this procedure to geranyl acetate (8) and neryl acetate (12) afforded the cis-tetrahydrofuran derivatives 9, 10, and 13 in high yields, accompanied by small amounts of trans-tetrahydrofu-