acetate (99%), 4-bromobutyric acid
(98%), palladium acetate (Pd(OAc)2, 98%), potassium hydroxide
(KOH, 90%), and sodium azide (NaN3, 97%) were purchased
from Sigma-Aldrich and used as received, unless otherwise mentioned.
Alumina, activated basic (Al2O3: Sigma-Aldrich,
Brockmann I, standard grade, ∼150 mesh, 58 Å), and magnesium
sulfate (MgSO4: anhydrous, Fisher Scientific, LR grade)
were used as received. The following solvents were used as received;
dichloromethane (CH2Cl2: VWR International,
AR grade), N,N-dimethylformamide
(DMF: Sigma-Aldrich, HPLC grade). The following monomers were deinhibited
before use by distillation over CaH2; vinyl acetate (VAc:
Sigma-Aldrich, >99%; distillation pressure: 0.015 atm, 90–92
°C). 2-Methylene-1,3-dioxepane (MDO) was synthesized using the
previously described method of Bailey et al.38 and the CTA O-hexyl S-methyl 2-propionylxhanthate (