2 -Tosyloxymethylcyclanones: Ring size dependence of fragmentation versus intramolecular alkylation

The results reported seem to indicate, that in the presence o: a nucleophilic base intramolecular alkylation is the normal reaction mode of tosyloxymethylcyclanones of type 14 and that the fragmentation reaction of five-membered compounds is the exception, probably because of the high steric energy of the alkylation transition states, e.g. of type E.