Abstract
Cis-1-methoxycarbonyl-2-aryl-6,6-dimethyl-5,7-diox-spiro-[2,5]-4,8-octadiones (1) in dimethyl ethylene glycol at room temperature react with anilines (2) to give N-aryl-trans,trans-α-carboxyl-β-methoxycarbonyl-γ-aryl-γ-butyrolactams (3) in good to excellent yields and high stereoselectivity.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Thanks are due to the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Laboratory of Organometallic Chemistry of Academia Sinica for financial support.