A facile entry to l-aryl-4,5-dihydro[1,4]oxazepino-[5,4-a]isoindole-2,7-diones

The titled compounds were prepared by reacting N-(2-bromoethyl)phthalimide with enolates of phenylacetic acid esters. 2,3-Dihydrooxazolo[2,3-a]isoindolones are believed to be intermediates in the process. An X-ray crystallographic analysis was conducted on one of the compounds.