Similarly, lactones 15 have been widely employed previously as building blocks for asymmetric synthesis directed towards natural products such as the antibiotic 18 (Scheme 7) . Previously reported syntheses of these lactones are lengthy (6 steps) and required the use of harsh workup procedures and toxic solvents. In contrast, using our procedure, we were able to produce 15 in only three steps with recrystallisation being the main method of purification.