The preparation of various 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromenes was achieved in two steps via an ytterbium triflate-catalysed reaction between salicylaldehydes, trimethylorthoformate and 2-methylpropene. From salicylaldehyde, two reaction products were characterised: 4-methoxy-2,2-dimethylchroman and 2-(1,3-dimethoxy-3-methylbutyl)phenol. The former compound probably results from a Lewis acid-catalysed [2+4] cycloaddition between the intermediate quinonemethide and 2-methylpropene whereas the latter may occur via a reaction related to a carbonyl-ene reaction between the quinonemethide and 2-methylpropene. Both compounds were subjected to a catalytic acidic treatment leading to 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromene. Starting from various salicylaldehydes, the scope of this method was investigated.J. Heterocyclic Chem., 43, 1605Chem., 43, (2006.In the course of synthesis of biologically active chromene derivatives, [1] our attention was drawn [2] to a patent [3] reporting a simple preparation of 2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromene (2) using a reaction between salicylaldehyde (1) and 2-methylpropene catalysed by acidic silicaalumina catalysts at 150 °C or zinc chloride at 75°C. More recently [4], the preparation of furo[2,3-b]benzopyran 5 was achieved in excellent yield using the ytterbium triflate-catalysed reaction between salicylaldehyde (1), trimethylorthoformate and dihydrofuran 4. As illustrated in Scheme 1, this reaction is an example [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] We wish to report here the synthesis of various 2,2-dimethylchromenes via an ytterbium triflate-catalysed reaction between salicylaldehydes, trimethylorthoformate and 2-methylpropene.From the overnight reaction between salicylaldehyde (1), trimethylorthoformate, 2-methylpropene and ytterbium triflate in a sealed flask at room temperature, we could isolate and characterise compounds 6 and 7 in 27 and 14% yield respectively. In a control experiment, compound 6 was subjected to the reaction conditions but no ring opening into 7 took place. Moreover, from salicylaldehyde (1), no reaction was seen if trimethylorthoformate was omitted. From the results of these negative control experiments, we suggest that compound 7 occurs via a reaction related to a carbonylene reaction between the o-quinonemethide intermediate 3 and 2-methylpropene followed by a methanol addition on the resulting double bond. Carbonyl-ene reactions catalysed by lanthanide triflate have been reported [13,14] and an example of a competition between this reaction and a Diels-Alder cycloaddition was also observed [13]. An excellent review describes all the reactions that can be catalysed by lanthanides triflates [15]. As related intramolecular cycloadditions have been reported previously [9], including an iodine-catalysed example [10], we also tried iodine on our substrates but without success. In order to obtain the corresponding chromene, compounds 6 and 7 were heated to reflux in toluene in the presence of a catalytic amount of p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA). It is noteworthy that allowing the resulting methanol to distil fr...