Novel thermal rearrangement of 1-alkoxycarbonyl-2-aryl-cyclopropanes

2-Arylcyclopropanes substituted with either one acyl and one alkoxycarbonyl or two alkoxycarbonyl groups on C-1 yield 2-carbonyl-1-naphthol derivatives upon thermolysis at temperatures in the range 210–340 °C in an unprecedented rearrangement of the cyclopropane ring.