Abstract
α-Diphenylmethylene-(1a) and β-diphenylmethylene-γ-butyrolactone (2a) were synthesized by the reduction of 1-ethyl 4-hydrogen 2-diphenylmethylenesuccinate (4a), 2-diphenylmethylenesuccinic acid (5a), 2-diphenylmethylenesuccinic anhydride (6a), and 4-ethyl 1-hydrogen 2-diphenylmethylenesuccinate (7a) under controlled conditions. α-Diphenylmethylene-β-methyl-(1b) and β-diphenylmethylene-α-methyl-γ-butyrolactone (2b) were also synthesized by a similar method. 1-Benzyl-4-benzylamino-4-diphenylmethyl-2-pyrrolidone (11) and 1-benzyl-4-diphenylmethyl-3-methyl-Δ3-pyrrolin-2-one (15) were obtained as major products by the reaction of corresponding lactones (2a ana 2b) with benzylamine.
