The Chemical Behavior of (2E)-3-(4,9-Dimethoxy-5-Oxo-5H-Furo[3,2-g] Chromen-6-yl)Acrylonitrile Towards Some Carbon Nucleophiles

Some novel substituted benzofurans and annulated furochromenes were obtained through the treatment of the novel (2E)-3-(4,9-dimethoxy-5-oxo-5H-furo[3,2-g]chromen-6-yl)acrylonitrile (2) by some active carbon nucleophiles such as active methylene ketones and methylene nitriles. Thus, the reaction of acrylonitrile 2 with acetylacetone, ethyl acetoacetate, diethylmalonate, and acetoacetanilide in ethanol containing piperidine produced efficiently the corresponding polyfunctionalized benzonitrile derivatives 3–5 and furochromeno-pyridine 6, respectively. Also, treatment of acrylonitrile 2 with some methylene nitriles such as malononitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate, and malononitrile dimer afforded the annulated furochromene derivatives 7–9. Furthermore, the pyrido[1,2-a] benzimidazole system 10 was furnished via reaction of acrylonitrile 2 with 2-(1 H-benzimidazol-2-yl)acetonitrile. These reactions took place through Michael addition, retro-Michael, and γ-pyrone ring opening followed by different types of recyclization. The chemical structures of the novel products were established on the basis of their spectral data and elemental analysis.