Reactions of methylenecyclobutanes with silver acetate and iodine

Methylenecyclobutanes undergo an interesting rearrangement reaction in the presence of silver acetate and iodine at room temperature (20 °C) in dichloromethane to give the corresponding aryl-(1-arylcyclobutyl)methanones in good to high yields within short reaction time. A plausible reaction mechanism has been discussed on the basis of control and O18-labeling experiments.