2-Benzopyrylium salts, cycloaddition

Condensed heteroaromatic cations are reactive in [2 + 4] cycloaddition reactions with inverse electron demand. For instance, 2-benzopyrylium salts (389) react with vinyl ethyl ether to afford... 

Therefore, most probably, the formation of chrysenes 246 from 2-benzopyrylium salts occurs via the process of a-1 dimerization. At the same time, one cannot exclude the action of anhydrobase 267 as dieno-phile, which leads to its addition to positions 1 and 4 of the initial 2-benzopyrylium cation by analogy with [4 + 2] cycloadditions in reaction with ethyl vinyl ether (Scheme 14) (cf. Section III,D,1). 

Probably, the experimental conditions (temperature and solvent) determine the conversions of 2-benzopyrylium salts 266 into the chrysene derivatives 270 via a-1 dimerization or [4 + 2] cycloaddition (Scheme 14) (89TH2). 

The platinum-catalysed intramolecular domino annulation reaction of o-alkynylben-zaldehydes has been described as a versatile approach to naphthalenes with annulated carbocycles or heterocycles of various sizes (Scheme 32).94 A plausible mechanism for the platinum(II)-catalysed annulation reaction shows that the double annulation process most probably proceeds through the benzopyrylium cation (117), which results from the nucleophilic attack of the carbonyl oxygen at the alkyne, activated by the Lewis-acidic platinum salt. A subsequent intramolecular Huisgen-type 3 + 2-cycloaddition of the second alkyne is assumed to generate intermediate (118). Rearrangement to (119) and the formal 4 + 2-cycloaddition product (118) leads to the aromatized final (116), liberating the active catalyst. In the case of FeCl3 as the Lewis acid, we assume that intermediate (118) is oxidatively transformed to (121). 

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