Alumina-catalyzed cyclodimerization of 4-hydroxymethyl derivatives of 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)- and 1,8-dimethoxynaphthalenes to symmetrical spiro compounds

4-Hydroxymethyl derivatives of 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)- and 1,8-diiiiethoxynaphthalenes undergo cyclodirnerization on alumina to form symmetrical spir0, compounds of the head-to-tail type. The reaction is considered to be a two-step electrophilic substitution with the participation of naphthyhiiethyl carbocations.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khitnicheskaya, No. 4, pp, 1016–1018, April, 1996.