A tricyclic steroidal des-ring D-androstane derived from the Koster-Logemann ketone has been shown to undergo a backbone Westphalen rearrangement. The structures of the products have been established by X-ray crystallography.
WestphalenT., Chem. Ber., 1915, 48, 1064. For a review see D. N. Kirk and M. P. Hartshorn, Steroid Reaction Mechanisms, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1968, p. 257.
2.
PetrowV., RosenheimO., and StarlingW. W., J. Chem. Soc., 1938, 677; V. Petrow, J. Chem. Soc., 1939, 998; B. Ellis and V. Petrow, J. Chem. Soc., 1952, 2246.
3.
KosterH., and LogemannW., Chem. Ber., 1940, 73, 298.
