The reaction of Wittig and Wittig–Horner reagents with dicyanomethylene derivatives of fluorenone,xanthone, and thiaxanthone. A novel synthesis of phosphoranylidenecyclobutylidene derivatives

>Wittig reagents 1a,b react with dicyanomethylene derivatives of fluorenone (3) and xanthone (4) to give the corresponding phosphoranylidenecyclobutylidene adducts 6a, 6b, 9a, and 9b. On the other hand, the reaction of Wittig–Horner reagents (2) with the same nitriles 3 and 4 afforded the respective phosphonate adduct 8 and the alkylated product 10. A mechanism that accounts for the formation of the new products is presented. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 10: 263–269, 1999