Carbon Diels-Alder

CARBON DIELS-ALDER REACTIONS 2.2.1 Open-Chain Dienes... 

A sequence of two thermal intramolecular cycloadditions has been used to develop a short synthetic approach to tetrahydrothiopyrans [122], The multiple process includes an m m-hetero- and an intramolecular-carbon Diels-Alder reaction. An intramolecular /zctcro-Diels-Alder reaction of divinyl-thioketone 134 afforded a 9 1 mixture of cycloadducts 135 and 136 which then underwent a second intramolecular cycloaddition which syn o H-2)-exo-diastereoselectively led to hexacyclic tetrahydrothiopyrans 137 and 138, respectively (Scheme 2.51). 

CARBON DIELS-ALDER REACTION 3.2.1 Cycloadditions of Cycloalkenones... 

As with all-carbon Diels-Alder reactions, the hetero-Diels-Alder reaction [41] can also be used as the first step in many combinations with other transformations. In contrast to the normal Diels-Alder reaction, several examples are known where the first step is followed by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. This type of domino reaction has been especially investigated by Denmark and coworkers, and used for the synthesis of several complex natural products. Since Denmark has reviewed his studies in... 

As already described for the all-carbon-Diels-Alder reaction, a hetero-Diels-Alder reaction can also be followed by a retro-hetero-Diels-Alder reaction. This type of process, which has long been known, is especially useful for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. Sanchez and coworkers described the synthesis of 2-aminopyridines [48] and 2-glycosylaminopyridines 4-144 [49] by a hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of pyrimidines as 4-143 with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate followed by extrusion of methyl isocyanate to give the desired compounds (Scheme 4.30). This approach represents a new method for the synthesis of 2-aminopyridine nucleoside analogues. In addition to the pyridines 4-144, small amounts of pyrimidine derivatives are formed by a Michael-type addition. 

Solid phase chemistry has gained widespread use in recent years. Among the immense number of reactions that can be performed on the resin nowadays, the all-carbon Diels-Alder reaction still takes a minor place. The resin-bound Diels-Alder reactions reported in the literature between 1992 and 1997 have been reviewed recently143. 

The most important development within the field of Diels-Alder chemistry during the past two decades must be considered to be the design and application of chiral Lewis acid catalysts. From the mid 80s on, the number of literature reports about the design and application of chiral Lewis acids in the synthesis of chiral Diels-Alder adducts from achiral precursors grew exponentially, but it started to level off and decrease again in the mid 90s. Several excellent reviews about the application of chiral Lewis acids in Diels-Alder reactions have been published41,43 44. In this section, the recent literature about the chiral Lewis acid catalyzed all-carbon Diels-Alder reactions of dienes with dienophiles is reviewed, which, as such, has not been reviewed before. 

Although a number of multistep procedures are available for the introduction of five-membered carbocycles, their direct formation in a thermal cycloaddition is rare.6 Interest in the potential application of such a three-carbon + two-carbon cyclopentane cycloaddition has been derived from the expectation that such a process could prove to be an effective complement to the four-carbon + two-carbon Diels-Alder reaction which is used extensively in the regio- and stereocontrol led preparation of functionalized six-membered carbocycles. 

Domino-Knoevenagel-carbon-Diels-Alder Reactions... 

Another all-carbon Diels-Alder reaction is proposed for the biosynthesis of the indole alkaloids tabersonine 1-6 and catharanthine 1-7 of the Aspidosperma and Iboga family [28-31]. The compounds are formed via strictosidine 1-3, the first nitrogen-containing precursor of the monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, and stemmadenine 1-4, which is cleaved to give the proposed intermediate dehy-drosecodine 1-5 with an acrylate and a 1,3-butadiene moiety (Scheme 1-1). 

The stereochemistry of the cycloadducts in hetero Diels-Alder as well as of the all-carbon Diels-Alder reactions depends upon the different geometry of the possible transition structures [3,12,38]. According to an endo- or exo-orientation of the dienophile and an (E)- or (Z)-configuration of the diene, four different transition structures have to be discussed which are shown exemplary for 1-oxa-1,3-butadienes in the inter- and intramolecular mode (Schemes 1-2 and 1-3). 

In contrast to the great number of calculations concerning the all-carbon Diels-Alder reaction [39], there are only a few theoretical studies on the hetero Diels-Alder reaction [41,42,45 - 53 ]. The general mechanism of the Diels-Alder reaction is still in discussion however, in most cases a concerted reaction is assumed,but there is also evidence for a two-step path. The ab initio calculations carried out for the butadiene/ethene system by Houk, Ortega, Bernardi und Gajewski gave a symmetrical transition structure only using the semiempirical AM1/CI method (half electron approximation) an unsymmetrical diradicaloid intermediate was found [40]. 

For hetero Diels-Alder reactions it has been shown by calculations that the transition structures are usually less symmetric than for the all-carbon Diels-Alder reactions also a change from a concerted non-synchronous to a stepwise mechanism depending on the substituents at the reacting species and the reaction conditions can occur. 

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