Abstract: | Irradiation of 5,5-dimethyl-6-oxocyclohex- l-ene- l-carbonitrile ( 1 ) in the presence of 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene afforded 3,3,4,4,7,7-hexamethyl-3,4,4a,5,6,7-hexahydroindeno[1,7-c,d]-],2-oxazole (3) in nearly quantitative yield. In contrast, 4,4-dimethyl-5-oxo-cyclopent-l-ene-l-carbonitrile ( 2 ) under the same conditions reacted not to a tricyclic isoxazole but to a 2:1 mixture of 3,3,6,6,7,7-hexamethyl-2-oxo-bicyclo[3.2.0]heptane-l-carbonitrile ( 4 ) and trans-3,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-5-(2,3-dimethylbut-3-en-2-yl)cyclopentane-l-carbonitrile ( 5 ), respectively. |