To diisopropylamine (5.13 g, 50.9 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) (20 ml) at -60° C., add n-BuLi hexane solution (20.3 ml of 2.5M, 50.9 mmol). Warm to 0° C., cool again to -60° C. and add cyclopentanecarboxylic acid (2.89 g, 25.4 mmol). Warm to 0° C. for 2.5 hr., cool again and add t-butyl 2-(2-phenylethyl)acrylate (5.90 g, 25.4 mmol) in THF (10 ml). After 2 h., warm to 0° C., quench with 5N HCl, extract with hexane, wash with 1N NaHCO3, and concentrate to a solid. Chromatograph on silica, eluting with hexane-ether-HOAc 60:40:1 to obtain an oil.
