A simple and general method has been developed for the synthesis of 3,4-diarylsubstituted maleic anhydride and maleimide through tandem cyclization and oxidation reaction of phenacyl ester or amide. A wide variety of phenacyl esters or amides was treated with DBU under oxygen atmosphere to give the expected compounds in good to excellent yield. Mechanism of the reaction and application of the methodology have been discussed.
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Pattabiraman et al. (2002) studied this question.
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