Sigmatropische Umlagerungen von Aryl‐propargyläthern; Synthese von 1, 5‐Dimethyl‐6‐methylen‐tricyclo[3, 2, 1, 02,7]‐oct‐3‐en‐8‐on‐Derivaten. Vorläufige Mitteilung

TLDR: This paper showed that the known thermal cyclisation of aryl propargyl ethers to chromenes involves a preliminary [3, 3]-sigmatropic rearrangement.

Abstract: 2, 6-Dimethylphenyl propargyl ether (10) and its derivatives 12–15 rearrange thermally to 1, 5-dimethyl-6-methylene-tricyclo [3.2.1.02,7]oct-3-en-8-one (9) and related compounds 16–19. The ethers undergo first an aromatic [3, 3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to ortho-allenyldienones 11, which then undergo ring closure to the tricyclic products by an electrocyclic reaction. Only in the case of the γ-methylpropargyl ether 13, the ortho-dienone 11 is further rearranged in low yield to the para-butynylphenol 20, but the tricyclic ketone 17 is again the main product. New data show that the known thermal cyclisation of aryl propargyl ethers to chromenes (e. g. 4 8) involves a preliminary [3, 3]-sigmatropic rearrangement.