Mark Lenhart, John H. MacMillan, Alice Maragliano and Steven S. Washburne.
A Facile General Synthesis of Aryl Maleic Anhydrides , Homestead archivesBy a sequence involving Knoevenagel condensation, Michael addition of cyanide, hydrolysis, and selenium dioxide oxidation, a series of seven aryl maleic anhydrides were prepared in excellent overall yields. The regiospecificity of reaction of these anhydrides with various nucleophilic species, e.g. Me3SiN3, NH3, and PhNH2 was investigated.