Reactions are described which support the hypothesis that the carboxylate anion of acylsalicylates can participate in a neighboring group nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl group of the acyl moiety to form a hypothetical six-membered cyclic intermediate which can then undergo further reaction with other nucleophilic species. Other reactions show that in certain a-substituted acylsalicylic acids, the carboxylate group can displace the a- ...
