A Nucleophilic Addition of Acetone Enolate to (E)-Alkyloxindolylideneacetates

Summary.

The reaction of (E)-(2-oxo-1,2-dihydroindol-3-ylidene)acetic acid esters with dry acetone at 70°C in presence of aluminum oxide as a catalyst led to the formation of an addition product as a mixture of two isomers. When the same reaction was carried out in presence of morpholine as a base, the unexpected spiro-product was obtained beside the two isomers. Methylation of the latter with methyl iodide in acetone in presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate yielded the corresponding methylated products, whereas methylation of the starting material by the same procedure gave an N-methylated product and the unexpected dispiro-compound. The reaction mechanisms are considered and the structural assignments of the new compounds are based on the chemical and spectroscopic evidences. The structure of the dispiro-product was derived by X-ray analysis.