Über eine neue Herstellung aromatisch substituierter Reduktone

Summary

Equimolecular amounts of an aromatic or hetero-cyclic aldehyde, glyoxal and cyanideion combine in slightly alkaline aqueous solution to give 4-aryl-2-hydroxytetronimides (I). These are cyclic reductones comparable to imino-ascorbic acid. Oxidation yields dehydro compounds (III) (4-aryl-2, 3-dioxo-4-hydroxy-butyric acid lactones); hydrolysis gives 4-aryl-2-hydroxy-tetronic acids (V) which are easily decarboxylated to β-aryl-lactic acids (VII). On hydrogenation, the compounds I are converted to γ-aryl-α, β-dihydroxy-butyramides.