Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Intramolecular Hydroarylation of β-Benzylstyrenes.

Using triphenylmethylium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate as a convenient Brønsted acid precatalyst, β-(α,α-dimethylbenzyl)styrenes are shown to cyclize efficiently to afford a variety of new indanes that possess a benzylic quaternary center. The geminal dimethyl-containing quaternary center is proposed to be necessary to arm the substrate for cyclization through steric biasing.