Other Four-Carbon Annulations

The classical methods of constructing six-membered rings are the Diels-Alder reaction or the Robinson annulation, which consist of the union of two fragments, one with two carbon atoms and the other with four carbons. A conceptually different method from the above involves the condensation of two three-carbon units, one with two nucleophilic sites and the other containing two electrophilic sites. Furthermore, the regiochemistry of the reaction is controlled by the differential reactivities of these sites. 

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