Oxidative Ring Opening and Rearrangement of an Anthroquinocyclopropene. Molecular Structure of a Novel Spiro‐3‐furanone.

Abstract Reaction of anthraquinone 1 with diethyl dithiophosphate led to oxidative ring opening with the formation of spiro-3-furanone 3; subsequent oxidation of 3 with alkaline potassium ferricyanide gave a 4,5-bis(quino)-3-furanone, 4, whose structure was established by x-ray crystallography.