Allyl groups rearrangements

Some allyl phenyl ethers with an alkyl substituent on the end carbon of the allyl group rearrange to give the normal ortho-Claisen product together with another isomeric O-allyl phenol. The latter, formed by the rearrangement of the normal product, has been established. This is called abnormal Claisen rearrangement, is illustrated by the following example. 

When a solution of tellurium dioxide in concentrated hydrochloric or hydrobromic acid was added to a solution of allyl cinnamate in diethyl ether cooled to — 30°, only the allyl-double bond reacted3. The allyl group rearranged during the addition of X3Te—X forming l-halomethyl-2-trihalotelluro-l-ethyl cinnamates. 

Non-concerted rearrangements of 7V-alkylated enamines have also been observed These rearrangements have been shown to take place through a reversal of a primary Af-alkylation, followed by subsequent C-alkylation. This was observed for methyl, ethyl and benzyl groups . But allylic groups rearrange intra-molecularly in a concerted way . ... 

On reaction with diallyl sulfide and other sulfides containing a reactive allyl group, rearrangement of the sulfilimine originally formed takes place to N-allylthio-N-allyl-/7-nitrobenzenesulfonamide (18) ... 

Since the allyl group has rearranged, it may have added to nitrogen first ... 

The mechanism of the rearrangement catalyzed by Pd(fl), typically by PdCl2(RCN)2, is explained by the oxypalladation of an alkene to form 810 as an intermediate, or cyclization-induced rearrangement. As a limitation, no rearrangement takes place when the allylie ester 812 is substituted at the C-2 position of the allyl group, while a smooth rearrangement of 811 takes place[500]. 

If both ortho positions bear substituents other than hydrogen, the allyl group will further migrate to the para position. This reaction is called the para-Claisen rearrangement. The formation of the para-substituted phenol can be explained by an initial Claisen rearrangement to an ortho-2l y intermediate which cannot tautomerize to an aromatic o-allylphenol, followed by a Cope rearrangement to the p-allyl intermediate which can tautomerize to the p-allylphenol e.g. 6 ... 

Evidence for this mechanism comes from the observation that the rearrangement takes place with an inversion of the allyl group. That is, allyl phenyl ether containing a 14C label on the allyl ether carbon atom yields o-allylphenol in which the label is on the terminal vinylic carbon (green in Figure 18.1). It would be very difficult to explain this result by any mechanism other than a pericyclic one. We ll look at the reaction in more detail in Section 30.8. 

Early kinetic work127 showed that the formation of both ortho and para products was a first-order process and that the rates of reaction were insensitive to added acid or base and to change of solvent. The activation parameters were of the same order of magnitude for both reactions and the suggestion was made that both had a similar rate-determining step. Schmid et a/.128 showed that the formation of a dienone intermediate in the para rearrangement was also reversible since the radioactivity from allyl 2,6-dimethyl-4-allyl-y-14C phenyl ether LXXXVII became uniformly distributed in the y carbon atoms of the O- and C-allyl groups... 

However, variation of the substituent in the allyl group, for the rearrangement of XCV to XCVI, which are given in Table 7135, shows that again there is a correla-... 

Parallel and reversible reactions. The isomerization of allyl phenyl sulfide is a degenerate rearrangement made detectable by isotopic labeling of one end of the allyl group, permitting kinetic monitoring by NMR techniques.12... 

One of the first uses of the allylic sulfoxide-sulfenate interconversion was made by Jones and coworkers64, who reported exclusive suprafacial rearrangement of the allyl group in the steroidal sulfoxide 17 shown in equation 13. Two other examples are shown in equations 1465 and 1566. Evans and coworkers have demonstrated the utility of the suprafacial allylic sulfoxide-sulfenate rearrangement in a new synthesis of the tetracyclic alcohol 24 (equation 16)67, as well as in a synthesis of prostaglandin intermediates as shown in equation 1768. The stereospecific rearrangement of the unstable sulfenate intermediate obtained from the cis diol 25 indicates the suprafacial nature of this process. 

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