“…The reaction tolerated aromatic β‐ketoesters with various functional groups on the aromatic ring, including halogens, Me, and OMe, except for those containing 4‐Cl, 4‐Br, and 4‐NO 2 substituents due to dehalogenation and reduction of nitrobenzene, providing the corresponding products in poor yields ( 8‐37 , 8‐38 and 8‐42 ) . Compound 1 i , which bears the strong electron‐withdrawing group 4‐CN, produced a mixture of regioisomers 8‐43 and 8‐43′ in a ratio of 2.5:1 and 59 % combined yield, which suggests a radical mechanism involving ipso cyclization followed by rearrangement through the C−C bond cleavage in the spirocyclohexadienyl radical . When a methyl group was introduced to the meta position of the phenyl ring, a mixture of regioisomers 8‐44 and 8‐44′ were obtained in a ratio of 2.9:1 and 65 % combined yield.…”