“…Regioselective opening of the C 3 −C 4 oxirane ring with PhSeNa/Ti( i -PrO) 4 /DMF followed by hydrogenolysis of the C−Se bond with deactivated Raney Ni gave compound 7 (67% yield for the two steps). The spectral and physical data for 7 were fully coincident with those reported for the synthetic (−)-11β H ,13-dihydromicheliolide, ,, but clearly differ from those for the natural product isolated from Achillea millefolia 21 in the chemical shifts for H-5, H-6, H-11, H-14, and H-15. In our synthetic compound H 5 appears at δ 2.62 and in the natural product at δ 2.36, whereas H 6 , H 11 , H 14 , and H 15 appear at higher field (δ 3.80, 2.24, 1.66, and 1.28, respectively) in comparison with those of the natural product (δ 4.27, 2.69, 1.72, and 1.44, respectively).…”