One-pot synthesis of sulfonyl benzotropones

Abstract

This paper describes SeO₂-mediated one-pot tandem cyclocondensation of 1,3-bis-sulfonylacetones and o-dimethylarenes via (4 + 3) annulation to construct diverse bis-sulfonyl benzotropones. Under mild conditions, the effective reaction forms two carbon–carbon double (CC) bonds in a single-step process in the formation of a seven-membered ring system. A plausible mechanism is proposed and discussed herein.