Trans-isoeugenol and related styrenes (trans-isohomogenol or O-benzylated isoeugenol), important components of the essential oil of various tropical plants, dimerize easily in the presence of catalytic amounts of BF3· OEt2 in poly (ethylene glycol) with Mn= 400 (PEG- 400) or SiO2–OSO3H in MeCN via formal [3+ 2] cycloaddition reaction to give respective natural products (diisoeugenol and its O-substituted analog) with the 1, 2-trans-2, 3-trans- ...