l,l-Diaryl-ethylene oxides(Ia-c) react with ethyl cyanoacetate or malononitrile and ethyl aceto-acetate in the presence of sodium ethoxide to give y,y-diaryl-a-cyano(IIa-c) and y ,y-diaryl-a-aceto(IIIa-c)-y-butyrolac­tones, respectively. Alkaline hydrolysis of II afforded the corresponding a-carboxy-y-butyrolactones(IVa-c). Decarboxylation of IV yieldedy,y-diaryl­y-butyrolactones(Va-c). Also, (la-c) react with sodioacetylacetone to give 3-acetyl-S,S-diaryl-S-hydroxy-2-pentanones(Vla-c). The structure elucidation of the products is based on chemical transformations, spectral and chemical data.


G E MOUSSA ,M E SHABAN ,M M SAAD ,