Alkenes, -cycloaddition calculations

Computations using density functional theory predict that the concerted permanganate hydroxylation of alkenes follows the 3 - - 2-cycloaddition mechanism established earlier for osmium tetroxide rather than a stepwise process involving a 2 -I- 2-cycloaddition. Calculated carbon and deuterium KIEs for a substituted case (frans-pentane-2,4-dienoic acid) are in good agreement with experimental data for frans-cinnamic acid." ... 

The final class of reactions to be considered will be the [4 + 2]-cycloaddition reaction of nitroalkenes with alkenes which in principle can be considered as an inverse electron-demand hetero-Diels-Alder reaction. Domingo et al. have studied the influence of reactant polarity on the reaction course of this type of reactions using DFT calculation in order to understand the regio- and stereoselectivity for the reaction, and the role of Lewis acid catalysis [29]. The reaction of e.g. ni-troethene 15 with an electron-rich alkene 16 can take place in four different ways and the four different transition-state structures are depicted in Fig. 8.16. 

The theoretical investigations of Lewis acid-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions are also very limited and only papers dealing with cycloaddition reactions of nitrones with alkenes have been investigated. The Influence of the Lewis acid catalyst on these reactions are very similar to what has been calculated for the carbo- and hetero-Diels-Alder reactions. The FMOs are perturbed by the coordination of the substrate to the Lewis acid giving a more favorable reaction with a lower transition-state energy. Furthermore, a more asynchronous transition-structure for the cycloaddition step, compared to the uncatalyzed reaction, has also been found for this class of reactions. 

Cycloaddition of 3-methylenephthalide with ot./V-diphenylnitrone gave two diastereoisomers of 2,3-diphenyl-2,3-dihydrospiro 1,3-oxazole-5(47/ )l (3 H)-2-benzoluran]-3 -one (805). The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of /V-benzyl-C-(2-furyl)nitrones with electron-rich alkenes gave preferentially trans-3,5-disubstituted isoxazolidines (endo approach). These experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with those predicted from semiempirical (AMI and PM3) and ab initio (HF/3-21G) calculations (806). 

DFT calculations have been used to study the mechanistic pathway of the intramolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition involved in the biosynthesis of natural products paraherquamide A and VM55599. The cycloaddition involves a dihydropyrolo[l,2- ]pyrazine as the azadiene and a standard alkene as the dienophile (Scheme 1). Analysis of the results reveals that these cycloadditions take place through concerted transition structures associated with [4+2]... 

Attempts to liberate l-methyl-l-aza-2,3-cyclohexadiene (329) from 3-bromo-l-methyl-l,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (326) by KOtBu in the presence of [18]crown-6 and furan or styrene did not lead to products that could have been ascribed to the intermediacy of 329 (Scheme 6.70) [156], Even if there is no doubt as to the allene nature of 329 on the basis of the calculations on the isopyridine 179 and 3d2-lH-quinoline (257), it is conceivable that the zwitterion 329-Za is only a few kcal mol-1 less stable than 329. This relationship could foster the reactivity of 329 towards the tert-butoxide ion to an extent that cycloadditions to activated alkenes would be too slow to compete. On the other hand, the ultimate product of the trapping of 329 by KOtBu could have been an N,0-acetal or a vinylogous N,0-acetal, which might not have survived the workup (see, for example, the sensitivity of the N,0-acetal 262 [14], Scheme 6.57). 

A very remote secondary H/D isotope effect has been measured for the 2 + 2-cycloaddition of TCNE to 2,7-dimethylocta-2,fran -4,6-triene. The reaction of nitric oxide with iV-benzylidene-4-methoxyaniline to produce 4-methoxybenzenediazonium nitrate and benzaldehyde is thought to proceed via a 2 + 2-cycloaddition between nitric oxide and the imine double bond. A novel mechanism for the stepwise dimerization of the parent silaethylene to 1,3-disilacyclobutane involves a low-barrier [1,2]-sigmatropic shift. Density functional, correlated ab initio calculations, and frontier MO analysis support a concerted 2 + 2-pathway for the addition of SO3 to alkenes. " The enone cycloaddition reactions of dienones and quinones have been reviewed. The 2 + 2-photocycloadditions of homochiral 2(5H)-furanones to vinylene carbonate are highly diastereoisomeric. ... 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of benzonitrile oxides with tertiary cinnamides yield the 5-phenyl and 4-phenyl regioisomers in a reversal of the expected regioselectiv-ities shown with methyl cinnamate. Calculations have shown that steric factors are responsible for this reversal of regioselectivity." The 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of benzonitrile oxide with electron-rich and electron-poor dipolarophiles are accelerated by sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles. Phenyl nitrile ylides react with electron-deficient alkenes to produce five-membered -heterocycles where measured rate constants are between 4 x 10 and 7 x 10 lmoP ... 

Schindler and coworkers verified the formation of hydroxyl radicals kinetically and further RRKM calculations by Cremer and coworkers placed the overall concept on a more quantitative basis by verifying the measured amount of OH radical. An extensive series of calculations on substituted alkenes placed this overall decomposition mechanism and the involvement of carbonyl oxides in the ozonolysis of alkenes on a firm theoretical basis. The prodnction of OH radicals in solution phase was also snggested on the basis of a series of DFT calculations . Interestingly, both experiment and theory support a concerted [4 4- 2] cycloaddition for the ozone-acetylene reaction rather than a nonconcerted reaction involving biradical intermediates . 

The acyclic precursor is an oc, 3-unsaturated amido aldehyde that was condensed with iV-methylhydroxylamine to generate the nitrone ( )-48, which then underwent a spontaneous cycloaddition with the alkene to afford the 5,5-ring system of the isoxazolidinyl lactam 47. The observed product arises via the ( )-nitrone transition state A [or the (Z)-nitrone equivalent] in which the position of the benzyl group ot to the nitrone effectively controls the two adjacent stereocenters while a third stereocenter is predicted from the alkene geometry. Both transition states maintain the benzyl auxiliary in an equatorial position and thus avoid the unfavorable 1,3-diaxial interaction with the nitrone methyl or oxygen found in transition state B. Semiempirical PM3 calculations confirm the extra stability, predicting exclusive formation of the observed product 47. Related cycloadducts from the intramolecular reaction of nitrones containing ester- rather than amide-tethered alkene functionality are also known (83-85). 

Schreiber and co-workers (436) prepared a library calculated to contain 2.18 million polycyclic compounds through the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of a number of nitrones with alkenes supported on TentaGel S NH2 resin (Scheme 1.83). (—)-Shikimic acid was converted into the polymer bound epoxycyclohexenol carboxylic acid 376 (or its enantiomer), coupled to the resin via a photolabile linker developed by Geysen and co-workers (437) to allow release of the products from the resin in the presence of live cells by ultraviolet (UV)-irradiation. A range of iodoaromatic nitrones (377) was then reacted with the ot,p-unsaturation of the polymer-bound amide in the presence of an organotin catalyst, using the tandem esterification/ dipolar cycloaddition methodology developed by Tamura et al. (84,85) Simultaneous cyclization by PyBrop-mediated condensation of the acid with the alcohol... 

Ab initio calculations have also been used to predict selectivity in such cycloadditions (112,113,118). These smdies show that the reactants approach each other in a plane with the two new bonds forming at the same time, which appears to be concerted although not necessarily synchronous. Only one energetically favored transition state was found, and the average lengths of the newly forming bonds are scarcely affected by the presence of substiments on the alkene moiety. This result... 

Cycloaddition of a nitrile oxide to a substituted olefin can lead to two regio-isomers, the 4- and/or 5-substituted 2-isoxazoline. Reactions of monosubstituted alkenes give the 5-substituted isomers 18 with almost complete regioselectivity (10,15,30,109). This result is also supported by ab initio and FMO calculations (114,119). Change of substituents in the dipole has little effect on the regioselectivity of such reactions when monosubstituted alkenes are used (Table 6.4). 

Cozzi and co-workers (243,263) studied the influence of the double-bond configuration on the stereochemical course of the intramolecular cycloaddition of chiral alkenes, where the stereocenter is located outside the isoxazoline ring (Table 6.15). On the basis of experimental results as well as theoretical calculations, two models were proposed for the reaction with (Z)- and ( )-aIkenes, in accord with the model proposed for a-X-substituted alkenes (see Section 6.2.3.1). 

Theoretical calculations on the cycloaddition reactions of a range of 1,3-dipoles to ethene in the gas phase have been carried out (85) with optimization of the structures of these precursor complexes and the transition states for the reactions at the B3LYP/6-31G level. Calculated vibration frequencies for the orientation complexes revealed that they are true minima on the potential energy surface. The dipole-alkene bond lengths in the complexes were found to be about twice that in the final products and binding was relatively weak with energies <2 kcal mol . Calculations on the cycloaddition reactions of nitrilium and diazonium betaines to ethene indicate that the former have smaller activation energies and are more exothermic. 

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