Dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate, methyl propiolate, and ethyl phenylpropiolate surpass the corresponding ethylenic carboxylic esters in dipolarophilic activity vs. isoquinolinium N- arylimides, a class of azomethine imines. The cycloadducts contain a Nß- vinylphenylhydrazine system and enter into a Fischer indole synthesis which stops one step short of the indole. The [3.3]-sigmatropic rearrangement involved is likewise faster for the ...