Lewis acid catalyzed reaction of arylvinylidenecyclopropanes with ethyl (arylimino)acetates: A facile synthetic protocol for pyrrolidine and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline derivatives

A number of pyrrolidine and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline derivatives are prepared selectively in moderate to good yields by the reaction of arylvinylidenecyclopropanes 1 with ethyl (arylimino)acetates 2 in the presence of Lewis acid depending on the electronic nature both of 2 and R(1) or R(2) aromatic groups of 1.