benzofuran n : a colorless oily compound extracted from coal tar and used in manufacturing synthetic resins [syn: coumarone, cumarone]

English

Noun

1. Any of a class of bicyclic heterocycles consisting of a benzene ring fused with one of furan.

Synonyms

• cumaron
• coumarone

See also

• psoralen

Benzofuran is the heterocyclic compound consisting of fused benzene and furan rings. It is the parent of many related compounds with more complex structures. For example, psoralen is a benzofuran derivative that occurs in several plants.

It is prepared by O-alkylation of salicylaldehyde with chloroacetic acid followed by dehydration of the resulting ether.

References

See also

• Furan, an analog without the fused benzene ring.
• Indole, an analog with a nitrogen instead of the oxygen atom.
• Simple aromatic rings