Methoxycarbonyl migration in 3-methylene-1,4-cyclohexadienes. An extension of the von Auwers rearrangement

Abstract : Upon heating, 3-methylene-1,4-cyclohexadienes possessing an alkoxycarbonyl substituent in position 6 undergo rearrangement and concomitant aromatization to give the corresponding arylacetates. This transformation represents a modification of the von Auwers rearrangement and proceeds by a radical chain mechanism. The intermediate alkoxycarbonyl radical can be intercepted allowing further useful synthetic variations.