General Procedure for Methanolysis of 2-Oxetanones. The 2-oxetanones could not be easily separated from the diones but were observable by ir bands at 1887, 1828, and 1712 cm.- 'Methanolysis of the mixture of dione and 2-oxetanone was accomplished by refluxing this mixture with methanol for 1.5 hr. The@-keto ester revealed bands in the ir at 1748 and 1718 cm.-'Methanolysis of the 1, 3-cyclobutanediones required a much longer (1-3 days) reflux ...