The utilisation of an ionic liquid–[bmim][BF4] as both reaction medium and promoter for the reaction between aldehyde and 4-hydroxy-6-methylpyran-2-one is described. Without any added catalyst, this reaction was realised efficiently to give arylbispyranylmethane derivatives in high yields. Alternatively, when this reaction was carried out in the presence of acetic anhydride, fused pyran derivatives were obtained. These two novel procedures ...