A mixture of 4-((S)-2,2-dimethyl-[1,3]dioxolan-4-ylmethyl)-phenol (0.696 g, 3.34 mol), potassium carbonate (0.463 g, 0.003 mol), ethyl-2-butynoate (2.25 g, 0.020 mol) and a catalytic amount of 4-dimethylaminopyridine in tetrahydrofuran (15 mL) was placed in a sealed tube and heated at 80° C. for 6 h. The reaction mixture was cooled, filtered and the isolated solids washed with tetrahydrofuran. The filtrate was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was purified by flash column chromatography (silica gel, 0% to 30% ethyl acetate/hexanes) which afforded (E)-3-[4-((S)-2,2-dimethyl-[1,3]dioxolan-4-ylmethyl)-phenoxy]-but-2-enoic acid ethyl ester (0.440 g, 41%) as a colorless oil.
