Ah - hello fellow bees! After a long hiatus, I'm back
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This post caught my eye, and I found the reference:
JCS (1937) p.1338 ß-Asarone, Rao & Subramaniam
excerpt:
(a) Action of Selenium Dioxide on ß-Asarone - A mixture of ß-asarone (70 g) alcohol (100 ml) and selenium dioxide (10 g) was heated on the water-bath for ½ hour. The filtered solution was poured into water, the oil dissolved in ether, and the dried etheral extract evaporated; the residue partly crystallized, and distillation gave asarone (60 g).
(b) A mixture of ß-asarone (20g), alcohol (50 ml) and selenium dioxide (5 g) was boiled for 5 hours. The product isloated by ether in the usual manner gave an oil, which on distillation under 8 mm gave two fractions: (i) bp 140-145º, d30º/30º 1.052, n20º/d 1.5451; (ii) bp 145-150º. From the former, a picrate was prepared, crystallizing from alcohol in orange-red feathery leaflets, mp 87º. Decomposition of the picrate with alkali gave 2,5-dimethoxypropenylbenzene, bp 128-129º/4 mm., d30º/30º 1.041, n30º/d 1.5548. The nitrosite, mp 118º, was a pale yellow powder.