Selective synthesis of (S)-1-methylbutyl (E)-2,4-dimethyl-2-pentanoate, and aggregation pheromone component of Rhyzopertha dominica, and of (E)-2-butyl-2-octenal, an alarm pheromone component of Oecophylla longinoda, via 2-substituted 1-silyl-1-stannylethenes

Two easily available stereodefined organobimetallic compounds, i.e. (Z)-1-trimethylsilyl-1-trimethylstannyl-3-methyl-1-butene, (Z)-1a, and (Z)-1-trimethylsilyl-1-tributylstannyl-1-heptene, (Z)-12, which serve as direct precursors to reagents which are synthetic equivalents of the 1-alkene 2d1 synthon 20, have been used as key intermediates in selective and efficient syntheses of two insect pheromone components, i.e. enantiomerically pure (S)-1-methylbutyl (E)-2,4-dimethyl-2-pentenoate (dominicalure-2), (S)(E)-10, and (E)-2-butyl-2-octenal, (E)-11, respectively.