Carbocations from furan

Cationic cycloadditions. Ionization of p-benzoquinone monoacetals is induced by MejSiOTf in highly polar media (LiClO /EtOAc) and the carbocations are captured in situ by alkenes to give bicyclo[3.2.1]octene derivatives. A synthesis of 2-(l -phenylethoxy)-8-oxabicyclo[3.2.1]oct-6-en-3-one in good enantiomeric purity from furan and a mixed acetal of 2-(triethylsiloxy)acrolein (prepared from pyruvaldehyde dimethylacetal in three steps) is promoted by MejSiOTf. 

As concerns the factors leading to the observed reactivity scale, it is our opinion that the relative ground-state energies play a more important role than the relative stabilities of the intermediate carbocations. From a qualitative point of view, it is observed that the more aromatic is the starting molecule, the smaller is the rate of substitution. The order of reactivity is in fact the reverse of the order of the ground-state aromaticities, as determined by several different approaches thiophene > selenophene > tellurophene > furan (see Section II,C). A quantitative confirmation of this hypothesis has been obtained by analysis of the activation parameters for the formylation reaction.57... 

The reactivity sequence furan > tellurophene > selenophene > thiophene is thus the same for all three reactions and is in the reverse order of the aromaticities of the ring systems assessed by a number of different criteria. The relative rate for the trifluoroacetylation of pyrrole is 5.3 x lo . It is interesting to note that AT-methylpyrrole is approximately twice as reactive to trifluoroacetylation as pyrrole itself. The enhanced reactivity of pyrrole compared with the other monocyclic systems is also demonstrated by the relative rates of bromination of the 2-methoxycarbonyl derivatives, which gave the reactivity sequence pyrrole>furan > selenophene > thiophene, and by the rate data on the reaction of the iron tricarbonyl-complexed carbocation [C6H7Fe(CO)3] (35) with a further selection of heteroaromatic substrates (Scheme 5). The comparative rates of reaction from this substitution were 2-methylindole == AT-methylindole>indole > pyrrole > furan > thiophene (73CC540). 

Thioacetals readily eliminate to vinylsnlfides at room temperature in the presence copper(I) triflate [46]. Acyclic (75) and cyclic (77) substrates react equally well (Sch. 20). The a-ketothioacetal 79 furnished furan 80, presumably via a carbocation mechanism, and the diene 82 resulted from sequential elimination of two sulfides from 81. 

In the above condensation resist designs, the phenolic resin offers a reaction site as well as base solubility. Self-condensation of polymeric furan derivatives has been utilized as an alternative crosslinking mechanism for aqueous base development (Fig. 126) [375]. The copolymer resist is based on poly[4-hydroxy-styrene-co-4-(3-furyl-3-hydroxypropyl)styrene], which was prepared by radical copolymerization of the acetyl-protected furan monomer with BOCST followed by base hydrolysis. The furan methanol residue, highly reactive toward electrophiles due to a mesomeric electron release from oxygen that facilitates the attack on the ring carbons, readily yields a stable carbocation upon acid treatment. Thus, the pendant furfuryl groups serve as both the latent electrophile and the nucleophile. Model reactions indicated that the furfuryl carbocation reacts more preferentially with the furan nucleus than the phenolic functionality. 

Starting from tetrahydrocyclopenta[f)]furan-2-one 342, enyne 343, the substrate for the domino reaction, was prepared in 12 steps and with an overall yield of 45%. Exposure of 343 to the electron-rich gold(I) complex (t-Bu)2P(o-biphenyl)AuCl at room temperature afforded cis-hydrindanone 344 in 78% yield as a single stereoisomer (Scheme 14.54). The postulated mechanism involved Au(I) activation of the alkyne to initiate the cationic olefin cyclization of 346 to give carbocation 347, which then underwent a pinacol rearrangement to the final product 344. An originally attempted Lewis acid-catalyzed domino Prins/pinacol rearrangement of... 

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