Simple and facile synthesis of tetralone-spiro-glutarimides and spiro-bisglutarimides from Baylis-Hillman acetates.

A simple and convenient synthesis of di(E)-arylidene-tetralone-spiro-glutarimides from Baylis-Hillman acetates via an interesting biscyclization strategy involving facile C-C and C-N bond formation is described. Also, one-pot multistep transformation of the Baylis-Hillman acetates into di(E)-arylidene-spiro-bisglutarimides is presented.