Solution (source code)

= Solution

The products are the two mirror-image \b[2,3-epoxy-2,3-diphenylindan-1-ones], shown in the bottom row of the stereoisomer diagram. The original <carbonyl> remains, and an additional <oxygen> bridges the former double bond, giving the stated formula.

In the <Weitz-Scheffer epoxidation>, hydroperoxide anion adds conjugatively to the enone. The resulting enolate closes onto the attached <peroxide> <oxygen> with O–O bond cleavage and loss of hydroxide. Attack on the two faces of the achiral planar substrate gives the two <enantiomers> in equal amounts. This is a racemic <epoxide> pair, rather than a one-to-one mixture of different diastereomeric <epoxide> connectivities.