“…Our approach has been inspired by previous reports on the reactivity and applications of the central element 2‐(3‐methylbut‐2‐enyloxy)benzaldehyde ( 10 ) . For example, Rajagopal and Vikram, and others, have previously developed methods that utilized substrate 10 to produce ellipticine alkaloids and other privileged scaffolds. As shown in Scheme , this diversity‐generating reaction transforms relatively simple substrates, such as 10 and 12 a , into complex polycyclic benzopyran and benzoxepine scaffolds of the types II and III , with the potential for broad applications towards biologically relevant targets.…”