Previously unknown 4 amino derivatives of spiro annelated ∆ 2 butenolide were synthe sized by the addition of various amines at the activated triple bond of 4 hydroxy 2 alkynoic esters.Key words: methyl 3 (1 hydroxycyclohexyl)prop 2 ynoate, amines, but 2 en 4 olides, Michael reaction, spiro compounds, 1 oxaspiro[4.5]dec 3 en 2 ones.Certain furan 2(5H ) one (but 2 en 4 olide) deriva tives are known to act on enzymes 1,2 and possess bacteri cidal, fungicidal, 3,4 or antibacterial 5,6 properties. A series of natural compounds (alkaloids, steroids, tetronic and ascorbic acids, pheromones, and fragrances) 7-13 contain ∆ 2 butenolide fragments. Earlier, 14 we have developed a facile procedure for the synthesis of 4 aminofuran 2(5H ) ones spiro annelated at position 5, which are of interest as biologically active compounds and intermediates in the synthesis of natural compounds. 15-20 This procedure in volves the reaction of esters of 4 hydroxyalk 2 ynoic acid derivatives, in particular, of compound 1, with primary (2) and secondary (3) amines (Scheme 1). Under the reaction conditions, the initially formed linear Michael adducts 4 and 5 undergo cyclization to give the corre sponding furan 2(5H ) one derivatives 6 and 7.The aim of the present study was to examine the scope of application of this one pot procedure and to synthesize a series of amino derivatives of but 2 en 4 olides con taining pharmacophoric substituents in the amine com ponent. For this purpose, we studied the reactions of methyl (1 hydroxycyclohexyl)propiolate 1 with various amines 2a-z and 3a-z. The reactions were carried out in the absence of catalysts in dry diethyl ether or in a 2 : 1 diethyl ether-methanol mixture at 20-60 °C. The reac tions with salts of amines were performed by refluxing in methanol in the presence of sodium acetate. In most cases, the desired amino derivatives of but 2 en 4 olides 6 and 7 were isolated in high yields. As expected, the reaction rate depends on the structure of the starting amine, the num ber of substituents, and their size. Benzylic amines 2a-d and 3e,f,h are most reactive. Thus, their reactions pro ceed readily in diethyl ether at room temperature, and the corresponding products 6 and 7 were obtained in 61-78% yields (Tables 1 and 2). N Nucleophiles, which are com ponents of heterocycles, such as piperidine (3i-l,o), piperazine (3q,s,t), and some other heterocycles (3v,x), react under more drastic conditions. For example, reflux ing of (-) anabasine 3о in butanol selectively afforded (in 74% yield) ∆ 2 butenolide 7о containing a chiral center in the α position with the respect to the nitrogen atom ([α D ] 24 -198.70 (c 1.00, CHCl 3 )). It should be noted that the analogous reaction of anabasine with nitrile of (1 hydroxycyclohexyl)propiolic acid (EtOH, 40 °C) gave only linear adduct 9 instead of iminolactone 8. 21 Under the above mentioned conditions, both amino groups in 1,2 diaminopropane are involved in the reaction to give bislactone 10.The addition of benzoylhydrazine 2x occurs at the C≡C bond through the t...