The hemisynthesis of 1 alpha -hydroxydrimenol has been selected to illustra
te a synthetic route involving an initial microbial 3 beta -hydroxylation o
f a drimenol derivative followed by a functionalization transfer to positio
n 1 alpha, thus generating a new potentially bioactive hydroxylated terpeni
c compound, Several methods have been investigated for the protection and t
he regeneration of the 7,8-double bond of drimenyl derivatives. (C) 2001 El
sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.