Step 1. 3-(Benzyloxy)cyclobutanone (2.00 g, 11.4 mmol), tetrahydrofuran (20 mL), and methanol (1 mL) were added to a 100 mL round-bottomed flask, and the reaction system was cooled to 0 °C. The reaction system was then cooled to 0 °C. The reaction mixture was then stirred for 30 minutes at room temperature. Subsequently, sodium borohydride (0.475 g, 12.5 mmol) was added in batches, and after addition, the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was poured into water (30 mL) and extracted with ethyl acetate (2 x 30 mL). The organic layers were combined, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to give 3-(benzyloxy)cyclobutanol (1.83 g, 90%) as a yellow oil.MS (ESI, cationic) m/z 179 [M + H]+.
