The preparation procedure was essentially the same for all the compounds. In a typical synthesis, equimolar amounts of isopropyl cyanoacetate and an appropriate benzaldehyde were mixed in equimolar ratio in a 20 mL vial. A few drops of piperidine were added with stirring. The product of the reaction was isolated by filtration and purified by crystallization from 2-propanol. The condensation reaction proceeded smoothly, yielding products, which were purified by conventional techniques . No stereochemical analysis of the novel oxy ring-substituted ICAA was performed since no stereoisomers (E or/and Z) of known configuration were available.