“…On the basis of the well-established chemistry of trivalent phosphorus nucleophiles, [40][41][42][43] it is reasonable to assume that spiro-1,2-oxaphospholes 7 results from the initial addition of triphenyphosphine 4 (1 mmol) to the acetylenic ester 5 (1 mmol) and subsequent attack of the resulting anion to the carbonyl carbon of the aromatic ketone 44 3 (1 mmol), which apparently cyclizes, in CH 2 Cl 2 at room temperature, to deliver the spiro-1,2-oxaphospholes 7. In the event we did not observe the expected MCR product 7; instead, the reaction afforded the corresponding methyl 4-methoxy a catalyst [45][46][47] in the reaction between the dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate and 11H -indeno[1,2-b] quinoxalin-11-one 3a (Scheme 2).…”