Keywords: 2-arylidenindan-1,3-diones, O-acylvanillins, indan-1,3-dione, 2-methoxy-4-(12-oxo-12H-benzo[f]indeno[1,2-b]quinolin-13-yl)phenyl esters of carboxylic acids, 2-naphthylamine.Thanks to its high reactivity, indan-1,3-dione is widely used in synthetic organic chemistry, including the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds [1,3].In the present work we have presented the results of a study of a three component condensation of indan-1,3-dione 1, 2-naphthylamine 2, and vanillin esters 3a-h. The condensation was carried out by heating equimolar amounts of the components in ethanol. We assumed that formation of the final heterocyclic compound of the indenoquinoline series occurred via intermediate amino ketone A, which then lost a water molecule and cyclized to the corresponding 4-(12,13-dihydro-12-7H-benzo[f]indeno[1,2-b]quinolin-13-yl)-2-methoxyphenyl esters of the carboxylic acids 5a-h. Oxidation of the latter gave 2-methoxy-4-In all the experiments under the experimental conditions the esters 5a-h were found in mixtures with 2-methoxy-4-(12-oxo-12H-benzo[f]indeno[1,2-b]quinolin-13-yl)phenyl esters of the carboxylic acids 6a-h in a ratio of 1:9 according to the 1 H NMR spectra. At recrystalization of compounds 5a-h their further oxidation occurs and separation of them from the reaction mixture in pure form proved impossible. In view of the difficulty of separating compounds 5a-h and 6a-h, immediate dehydration of the mixture obtained by boiling in nitrobenzene for 3-4 h was carried out.During monitoring of the course of the reaction we established that 4-[(1,3-dihydro-1,3-dioxo-2H-inden-2-ylidene)methyl]-2-methoxyphenyl esters of the carboxylic acids 4a-h were always present in the reaction mixture. From this it can be proposed that condensed reaction products of the dihydrobenzoindenoquinoline series 5a-h are formed by reaction of the 2-arylideneindan-1,3-diones 4a-h with 2-naphthylamine 2.To confirm this idea we have synthesized 4-[(1,3-dihydro-1,3-dioxo-2H-inden-2-ylidene)methyl]-2-methoxyphenyl esters of the carboxylic acids 4a-h by the reaction of indan-1,3-dione with O-acylvanillins 3a-h and condensing them with 2-naphthylamine 2 under analogous conditions. Mixtures of the esters 5a-h and 6a-h were formed as a result of the condensation, analogous to the mixtures from the three component condensation of compounds 1, 2, and 3a-h.