Fig. 5: Plausible mechanism.

TfOH promotes mixed-acetal formation from 1a and 2a. Then, [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement and rearomatization provide compound 3a.
TfOH promotes mixed-acetal formation from 1a and 2a. Then, [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement and rearomatization provide compound 3a.