Acrylonitrile Diels-Alder with

As an example, we shall discuss the Diels-Alder reaction of 2-methoxybuta-l,3-diene with acrylonitrile. Figure 3-7 gives the reaction equation, the correlation diagram of the HOMOs and LUMOs, and the orbital coefficients of the correlated HOMO and LUMO. 

A method for making ben2onitri1e by dehydrogenation of the Diels-Alder adduct of butadiene and acrylonitrile also has been described (79). Ben2onitri1e also can be made on a small scale by the dehydration of ben2amide ia an iaert solvent with phosphoms oxychloride or ben2enesulfonyl chloride and an organic amine (80,81). 

Although hexafluoro-l,3-butadiene is better known for its [2+2] reactions, its Diels-Alder reactions, particularly with electron-deficient alkenes such as acrylonitrile and perfluoropropene, are not unknown [9] The first report of a Diels-Alder reaction is with an acetylenic dienophile Although the major product of Us reaction with phenylacetylene is its [2+2] adduct, a 3 5% yield of products of a Diels-Alder reaction is also observed [123] (equation 103)... 

Compare electrostatic potential maps for the following Diels-Alder transition states cyclopentadiene+ethene, cyclopentadiene+acrylonitrile and cyclopentadiene+ tetracyanoethylene, with those of reactants cyclopentadiene, ethene, acrylonitrile and tetracyanoethylene. Are electrons transferred from diene to dienophile in the transition states (relative to reactants) or vice versa For which reaction is the transfer the greatest The least Quantify your conclusion by measuring the total charge on the diene and dienophile components in the three transition states. 

The ability of 1,2 (or l,6)-dihydropyridines to undergo a Diels-Alder reaction with dienophiles such as methyl vinyl ketone, methyl acrylate, and acrylonitrile has been utilized in the synthesis of polyfunctional isoquinuclidine as a key intermediate in the synthesis of aspidosperma- and iboga-type alkaloids (66JA3099). 

Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the initiation processes. The self-initiated copolymerizations of the monomer pairs S-MMA and S-AN proceed at substantially faster rates than pure S polymerization. For S-AN333 and S-MAHJJ the mechanism of initiation was proposed to be analogous to that of S homopolymerization (Scheme 3.62) but with acrylonitrile acting as the dicnophile in the formation of the Diels-Alder adduct (Scheme 3.66). 

The Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl vinyl ketone and acrylonitrile are accelerated when carried out in water in the presence of jS-CD but are slower with a-CD [65a] (Scheme 4.16). This is in agreement with the observation that the transition states of these cycloadditions fit into the hydro-phobic cavity of P-CD but not in the smaller a-CD cavity. 

Rideout and Breslow first reported [2a] the kinetic data for the accelerating effect of water, for the Diels Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl vinyl ketone and acrylonitrile and the cycloaddition of anthracene-9-carbinol with N-ethylmaleimide, giving impetus to research in this area (Table 6.1). The reaction in water is 28 to 740 times faster than in the apolar hydrocarbon isooctane. By adding lithium chloride (salting-out agent) the reaction rate increases 2.5 times further, while the presence of guanidinium chloride decreases it. The authors suggested that this exceptional effect of water is the result of a combination of two factors the polarity of the medium and the... 

Earle and coworkers [54] have performed Diels-Alder reactions in neutral ionic liquids. The results of reactions of cyclopentadiene with dimethyl maleate, ethyl acrylate and acrylonitrile are reported in Table 6.10. The cycloadditions proceeded at room temperature in all of the ionic liquids tested, except [BMIMJPF4, and gave almost quantitative yields after 18-24h. The endo/exo selectivity depends on dienophile. No enantioselectivity was observed in the [BMIM] lactate reaction. 

Table 6.10 Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with dimethyl maleate, ethylacrylate and acrylonitrile in neutral ionic liquids...

An ab initio MO calculation by Jorgensen revealed enhanced hydrogen bonding of a water molecule to the transition states for the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl vinyl ketone and acrylonitrile, which indicates that the observed rate accelerations for Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous solution arise from the hydrogenbonding effect in addition to a relatively constant hydrophobic term.7,76 Ab initio calculation using a self-consistent reaction field continuum model shows that electronic and nuclear polarization effects in solution are crucial to explain the stereoselectivity of nonsymmetrical... 

Many Diels-Alder [4 + 2] cycloadditions show a powerful pressure-induced acceleration, which is often turned to good synthetic purpose as discussed in Section III.A.2. Table 1 illustrates the effect of pressure on the Diels-Alder reaction of isoprene with acrylonitrile as a representative example. This reaction is accelerated by a factor of 1650 by raising the pressure from 1 bar to 10 kbar28. 

TABLE 1. Pressure-induced rate acceleration of the Diels-Alder reaction of isoprene with acrylonitrile at 21 °C (AV = -35.4 cm3 mol-1, AV = -37.0 cm3 mol-1)28... 

The Deng group identified QN-derived thiourea 121 and QD -derived thiourea 124 to be also efficient promoters of enantio- and diastereoselective Diels-Alder reactions between the 2-pyrone diene 3-hydroxypyran-2-one and the dienophiles fumaronitrile, maleonitrile as well as acrylonitrile, while various C9-hydroxy acylated and alkylated (dihydro)cupreines and (dihydro)cupreidines failed for the same reactions under identical conditions (e.g., 97% yield, 15% ee, 64 36 endoxxo) [289], Catalysts 121 and 124 (5mol% loading), however, produced the corresponding Diels-Alder adducts 1-3 with synthetically useful enantioselectivities (85-... 

Some chiral 1,3,2-dioxastannolanes were used as catalysts in asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl acrylate <90JCR(S)278>. A-Alkenyl- and -cycloalkenyl 1,3,2-oxaza-stannolanes, generated in situ from chiral amino alcohols, gave optically active 2-substituted aldehydes and ketones in modest to high chemical and optical yields after alkylation with methyl acrylate or acrylonitrile (which is usual for enamines) and subsequent hydrolysis <85CC504,85JOC3863>. 

A good example for which experimental data are available, involves activation energies for Diels-Alder cycloadditions of different cyanoethylenes as dienophiles with cyclopentadiene, relative to the addition of acrylonitrile with cyclopentadiene as a standard. 

Table 9-5 Regio and Stereoselectivity in Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of Substituted Cyclopentadienes with Acrylonitrile ... 

Table 12-17 Effect of Choice of Geometry on Relative Energies of Regio and Stereochemical Prodncts of Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of Snbstitnted Cyclopentadienes with Acrylonitrile/ 6-31G Model... 

The situation may be markedly different for reactions under kinetic control. Here, the lowest-energy conformer(s) of the reagent(s) may not be the one(s) involved in the reaction. A simple but obvious example of this is provided by the Diels-Alder cycloaddition of 1,3-butadiene with acrylonitrile. 

Figures 15-1 and 15-2 provide evidence for the extent to which transition states for closely-related reactions are very similar. Figure 15-1 compares the transition state for pyrolysis of ethyl formate (leading to formic acid and ethylene) with that for pyrolysis of cyclohexyl formate (leading to formic acid and cyclohexene). Figure 15-2 compares the transition state for Diels-Alder cycloaddition of cyclopentadiene and acrylonitrile with both syn and anti transition states for cycloaddition of...

For a review of the Diels-Alder reaction with acrylonitrile, see Butskus Russ. Chem. Rev. 1962, 31, 283-294. For a review of letracyanoethylene as a dienophile. see Ciganek Linn Webster, in Rappoport. Ref. 588 pp. 449-453. 

A synthesis of the antitumor agent elliptidne has utilized the indolyl-substituted oxazole (351) as a key intermediate (77JOC2039). Diels-Alder reaction of (351) with acrylonitrile in acetic acid afforded a pyridinecarbonitrile (352) which was reacted with methyllithium, and the ketimine salt was hydrolyzed and cyclized to ellipticine (353 Scheme 76). Other Diels-Alder reactions of this type, particularly intramolecular cycloadditions of oxazoles with alkenic dienophiles should provide rapid access to a variety of alkaloid systems. 

---