3-chloro-3-methyl-2-butanone in ethanolic KOH at room temperature gave 3,3-dimethyl-5-aryltetrahydro-2-furanone as a major product. The reaction can be tentatively explained by the combination of Favorskii rearrangement and aldol reaction.
of an iron salt and a chiral Brønsted acid has proven to be effective in the asymmetric Friedel–Craftsalkylation of indoles with β‐aryl α′‐hydroxy enones. Good to excellent yields and enatioselectivities were observed for a variety of α′‐hydroxy enones and indoles, particularly for the β‐aryl α′‐hydroxy enones bearing an electron‐withdrawing group at the para position of the phenyl ring (up to 90 %