In 1976, The Italian chemist G. Piancatelli and co-workers develop a new method to synthesize the 4-hydroxycyclopentenone derivatives from suitable 2-furylcarbinols through an acid-catalyzed rearrangement[1] (Scheme 1).
The mechanism of this reaction is believed to be a 4-pi electrocyclization, analogous to the Nazarov cyclization,.[2][3]