Practical synthesis of the dendralene family reveals alternation in behavior.

Back from obscurity: The practical synthesis of the first six members of the fundamental class of acyclic branched oligoalkenes has been achieved. The syntheses allow access to the target compounds on multigram scales in good yields. Members of the family with even numbers of double bonds are significantly more stable than those with odd numbers (see picture), and exhibit different chemical reactivities in Diels-Alder reactions.