A chromium-free synthesis of enantiopure 5-oxoborneol

Enantiopure (-)-5-oxoborneol was obtained in 35% overall yield in two steps, starting from readily available (-)-bornyl acetate and using oxone (R) as a safe and inexpensive oxidant. The reported procedure avoids the use of large excess of noxious chromium(VI), which was required by the so far reported syntheses.