Studies on triacetic acid lactone-annulated heterocycles: synthesis of 3-aryloxyacetyl-6-methyl-2,3-dihydrothieno[3,2-c]pyran-4-ones by tandem cyclization

The hitherto unreported 3-aryloxyacetyl-6-methyl-2,3-dihydrothieno[3,2-c]pyran-4-ones were synthesized in 62–71% yield by the sulfoxide rearrangement of 4-(4′-aryloxybut-2′-ynylthio)-6-methyl-2-pyrone. The substrates were synthesized by phase-transfer-catalysed alkylation of the hitherto unreported 4-mercapto-6-methylpyran-2-one.