Trifluoroacetic Acid-Mediated Oxidative Self-Condensation of Acetophenones in the Presence of SeO(2): A Serendipitous Approach for the Synthesis of Fused [1,3]Dioxolo[4,5-d][1,3]dioxoles

[Image: see text] A method for the synthesis of fused 1,3-dioxolanes was developed by self-condensation of glyoxal generated in situ by oxidation of acetophenones with SeO(2) in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid. Three molecules of the glyoxal generated by oxidation of ketone with SeO(2) condensed to form architecturally novel oxygen-containing heterocycles (3a-aryldihydro-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-d][1,3] dioxole-2,5-diyl)bis(phenylmethanones). This reaction provides a unique methodology for the construction of four C–O bonds in a concerted fashion, generating highly embedded oxygen heterocycles from readily available ketones using affordable shelf reagents and simple reaction conditions.