THE STEREOSELECTIVE SYNTHESIS OF D-RIBULOSE
In the presence of zinc halide, 2-furyllithium reacts with 2,3-O-isopropylidene-D-glyceraldehyde in a highly stereoselective manner to give the chiral and stereo-defined alcohol, 2,2-dimethyl-4-(2-furyl)hydroxymethyl-1,3-dioxolane, which is further elaborated to afford D-ribulose in three steps.