The reaction of semisquaric chloride (7) with
arenes 2 has been investigated. In the presence
of
1.1 equiv of AlCl3 and in the temperature range of −15°
C to rt the arenes 2a-q afford the 4-aryl-3-chloro-2-hydroxy-2-cyclobuten-1-ones (chloroenols) 8a-q in
good yield. By contrast, 7 reacts with
1,4-dimethoxybenzene (2l) in boiling
CH2Cl2 to give a mixture of
(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)cyclobutenedione (9a) (27% yield) and
bis(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)cyclobutenedione
(10a) (8% yield). With 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene (2r) in the presence of
trifluoroacetic acid is generated
(2,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)cyclobutenedione (9b) in 21% yield. The
chloroenols 8 allow a series of valuable
transformation
reactions: with diazomethane the chloroenol methyl ethers 11
are generated, with chlorine the
3-aryl-4-chlorocyclobutenediones 12, and with bromine in
MeOH the 3-aryl-4-methoxycyclobutenediones 13. In DMSO or in acetone/H2O the
chloroenols 8 eliminate HCl, furnishing the
arylcyclobutenediones 14. In a mixture of
acetone-d
6/D2O/DCl are obtained
4-aryl-cyclobutenediones-3-d
15. For the latter two processes the
corresponding 3-aryl-4-chlorocyclobutane-1,2-diones
16 are postulated as intermediates. Thermolysis of the
chloroenols 8 and the chloroenol methyl
ethers 11 in refluxing m-xylene afforded the
3-chloro-1,2-dihydroxynaphthalenes 17 and the
3-chloro-1-hydroxy-2-methoxynaphthalenes 18,
respectively.