Researchers from the University of Montpellier have worked on a process for a new ring contraction of fused bis-lactams, which converts them into spirolactams. The team performed a clean conversion of some fused bicycles into spirocycles with good yields, in the presence of a triflate catalyst in various solvents under microwave irradiation. The method involves the use of activated 2,5-diketopiperazines as starting materials and demonstrates the wide range of applications of ring contraction reactions.
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Letters in Organic Chemistry