Reactions of ethyl 2-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxy-6-methyl-2-oxo-2H-pyran-3-yl)-4-o
xobut-2-enoate (1) with o-phenylenediamines gave mixtures of the correspond
ing tetrahydroquinoxalinones, anil, 1,5-benzodiazepines, and pyrano[4,3-b][
1,5]benzodiazepines. Action of o-phenylenediamine on ethyl 4-ferrocenyl-1,4
-dioxobutanoate (8) gave a mixture of the corresponding quinoxalin-2-one an
d 1,5-benzodiazepine.