Stereochemical assignment of naturally occurring 2,3-epoxy-2-methylbutanoate esters

A method to determine the absolute configuration of 2,3-epoxy-2-methylbutanoate ester residues in natural products is presented, based on (i) the reduction of the ester function to yield a 2-methyl-1,2-butanediol, (ii) esterification of the obtained primary alcohol with either (R)-(+)- or (S)-(?)-Mosher's acid to afford the corresponding Mosher's ester, and (iii) 1H-NMR spectral comparison of the final product with that of the Mosher's esters prepared from 2-methyl-1,2-butanediols of known stereochemistry. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.