A novel and useful oxidative intramolecular coupling reaction of phenol ether derivatives on treatment with a combination of hypervalent iodine(III) reagent and heteropoly acid.

The oxidative intramolecular coupling reaction of phenol ether derivatives (nonphenolic derivatives) on treatment with a novel combination of a hypervalent iodine(III) reagent, phenyliodine bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA), and heteropoly acid (HPA) was studied. Biaryl compounds were obtained in excellent yields on treatment of highly substituted phenol ethers. On the other hand, spirodienones were specifically formed when one of the preferred arylic coupling sites was substituted with a methoxy group in the para position.