Synthesis of 11-hydroxydrim-8(9)-en-7-one and 11,12-dihydroxydrim-8(9)-en-7-one from drim-8(9)-en-7-one

A synthetic route ro 11-hydroxydrim-8(9)-en-7-one and 11,12-hydroxydrim-8(9 )-en-7-one, valuable key intermediates for the preparation of naturally occ urring biologically active drimanic sesquiterpenoids, starting from easily available drim-8(9)-en-7-one was developed. 11-Hydroxydrim-8(9)-en-7-one wa s obtained by peracidic oxidation of the enol acetate of drim-8(9)-en-7-one . 11,12-Dihydroxydrim-8(9)-en-7-one was synthesized from drim-8(9)en-7-one by two routes, namely, by a five-step procedure via 11 -hydroxydrim-8(9)-en -7-one and by bromination of drim-8(9)-en-7-one with NBS to give 11,12-dibr omodrim-8(9)-en-7-one followed by its acetoxylation and deacetylation.