β-Aryl-α-oxoglutaric acids
Abstract
The oxidation of 2-arylpropane-1,1,3-tricarboxylic acids with selenium dioxide yields β-aryl-α-oxoglutaric acids (aryl = phenyl and p-methoxyphenyl), whose dimethyl esters display a high degree of conformational restriction. The free acids readily yield the corresponding butenolide crotonolactones.