A highly efficient synthesis of hydantoins has been developed from simple and commercially available 1, 3-dicarbonyl compounds, ureas, and methyl ketones or terminal aryl alkenes. This protocol involves a sustainable integration of two coupled domino processes: iodine- promoted synthesis of unsymmetrical 1, 4-enediones (domino I) and the sequential transformation into hydantoins (domino II).
[Okamoto, Tsuyoshi; Kakinami, Takaaki; Nishimura, Tetsuo; Irwan-Hermawan; Kajigaeshi, Shoji Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, 1992 , vol. 65, # 6 p. 1731 - 1733]
