The marine bacterial fatty acid 9-methyl-10-hexadecenoic acid was convenien
tly prepared in 6 steps and in a 22% overall yield, starting from commercia
lly available methyl 10-hydroxydecanoate. The naturally occurring fatty aci
d has the E double bond configuration as confirmed by gas chromatographic c
o-elution experiments. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights re
served.