Potassium Carbonate → 6-Cyclopentyl-6-[2-(5-ethyl-4-hydroxy-2-propoxy-phenyl)-ethyl]-dihydro-pyran-2,4-dione

6-[2-Cyclopentyl-4-(5-ethyl-4-hydroxy-2-propoxy-phenyl)-2-hydroxy-butyl]-2,2-dimethyl-[1,3]dioxin-4-one (0.8 g, 1.8 mmol,) was dissolved in methanol (15 mL), treated with potassium carbonate (0.74 g, 5.4 mmol) and heated at 45° C. under N2 for 90 mins. The reaction mixture was partitioned between H2O and IPE. The aqueous layer was made acidic with 1N HCl and extracted with EtOAc. The organic layers were washed with brine, dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated to give the product as a yellow foam (0.5 g, 72% yield). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 1.02 (t, J=7.3 Hz, 3H), 1.19 (t, J=7.6 Hz, 3H), 1.41-1.87 (br m, 11H), 1.95 (m, 1H), 2.32 (m, 1H), 2.49-2.80 (m, 6H), 3.41 (m, 2H), 3.85 (m, 2H), 4.62 (s, 1H), 6.33 (s, 1H), 6.80 (s, 1H).