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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Free radical reaction between 2-benzoyl-1,4-benzoquinones and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds
Kuang-Po Chen1, Hen-Qun Lee, Yu-Chih Cheng
1Department of Chemistry, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan 70101, Republic of China.
Abstract:
A manganese(III)-mediated reaction between 2-benzoyl-1,4-benzoquinones and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds that produces benzo[c]furan-4,7-diones and anthracene-1,4-diones with high chemoselectivity is described. With ethyl butyrylacetate, by changing the solvent, benzo[c]furan-4,7-diones and anthracene-1,4-diones can be generated in high chemoselectivities. With ethyl benzoylacetate, N ,N-dimethyl acetoacetamide and 1,3-diones, benzo[c]furan-4,7-diones were produced effectively with high selectivity. With 2-alkyl-5-benzoyl-1,4-benzoquinones, the regioselectivity of this reaction was also studied and the corresponding benzo[c]furan-4,7-dione and anthracene-1,4-dione derivatives were obtained in high regioselectivity.
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