Cheletrope reaction

Two-component methods represent the most widely applied principles in sulfone syntheses, including C—S bond formation between carbon and RSOz species of nucleophilic, radical or electrophilic character as well as oxidations of thioethers or sulfoxides, and cheletropic reactions of sulfur dioxide. Three-component methods use sulfur dioxide as a binding link in order to connect two carbons by a radical or polar route, or use sulfur trioxide as an electrophilic condensation agent to combine two hydrocarbon moieties by a sulfonyl bridge with elimination of water. 

Dihydrothiophene-1,1-dioxides (42) and 2,17-dihydrothiepin-1,1-dioxides (43) undergo analogous 1,4 and 1,6 eliminations, respectively (see also 17-38). These are concerted reactions and, as predicted by the orbital-symmetry rules (p. 1067), the former is a suprafacial process and the latter an antarafacial process. The rules also predict that elimination of SO2 from episulfones cannot take place by a concerted mechanism (except antarafacially, which is unlikely for such a small ring), and the evidence shows that this reaction occurs by a non-concerted pathway.The eliminations of SO2 from 42 and 43 are examples of cheletropic reactions, which are defined as reactions in which two a bonds that terminate at a single atom (in this case the sulfur atom) are made or broken in concert. 

Cheletropic processes are defined as reactions in which two bonds are broken at a single atom. Concerted cheletropic reactions are subject to orbital symmetry analysis in the same way as cycloadditions and sigmatropic processes. In the elimination processes of interest here, the atom X is normally bound to other atoms in such a way that elimination gives rise to a stable molecule. In particular, elimination of S02, N2, or CO from five-membered 3,4-unsaturated rings can be a facile process. 

Five-membered ring heterocycles can be the result of cycloaddition reactions of ADC compounds acting as 2n components with 1,3-dipoles, or as 47t components in cheletropic reactions. They can also result from nucleophilic attack on the ADC compound, followed by ring closure of the initial adduct. 

The reaction of ADC compounds with carbenes and their precursors has already been discussed in Section IV,A- In general, the heterocyclic products are not the result of 1,2-addition but of 1,4-addition of the carbene to the —N=N—C=0 system.1 Thus the ADC compound reacts as a 4n unit in a cheletropic reaction leading to the formation of 1,3,4-oxadiazolines. Recent applications include the preparation of spiro-1,3,4-oxadiazolines from cyclic diazoketones and DEAZD as shown in Eq. (14),133 and the synthesis of the acyl derivatives 85 from the pyridinium salts 86.134 The acyl derivatives 85 are readily converted into a-hydroxyketones by a sequence of hydrolysis and reduction reactions. 

Phosphites, however, undergo a cheletropic reaction with acyclic ADC compounds to give 1,2,3,4-oxaphosphadiazoles (Eq. 15).139 Thiophosphites react similarly.140... 

Reactions in which two o bonds terminate at a single atom or made or broken in a concerted chemical reaction are called cheletropic reactions ... 

The linear cheletropic reactions in which the polyene is a suprafacial component (i.e., involving disrotatory motion of the termini) will be allowed if it has a total of (4n + 2) electrons. But linear cheletropic reactions in which the polyene is an antarafacial component (i.e., involving conrotatory movement of the termini) are allowed if it has a system of 4n electrons. 

Cheletropic reactions include both addition and elimination reaction. The number of elimination reactions that have been studied in detail is not large but there is sufficient information to establish that orbital symmetry controls are operating. 

Cheletropic reactions can be studied under different heads. 

The cycloaddition of an atom or group X to an olefine to form a three-membered ring and the reverse process constitutes an example of four electron cycloaddition or elimination and if the reaction is concerted it becomes an example of cheletropic reaction. 

Another example of 6 electron cheletropic reaction is the addition of trivalent phosphorus compounds with the dienes... 

Another method to prepare allenyl ketones uses flash vacuum pyrolysis of the heterocycles 121 (Scheme 7.19) [163], This elimination of carbon monoxide is at least formally a cheletropic reaction. Highly reactive allenes such as esters and nitriles of type 124 or unsubstituted butadienal can be generated if retro-Diels-Alder reaction of 123 or similar precursors, respectively, is performed by flash vacuum pyrolysis [164]. 

The most important cheletropic reactions are those that involve the reaction of an electro-defficient species -as a carbene, nitrene or "atomic oxygen"- with an olefinic double bond and lead to three-membered rings. 

Cheletropic processes are defined as reactions in which two bonds are broken at a single atom. Concerted cheletropic reactions are subject to orbital symmetry restrictions in the same way that cycloadditions and sigmatropic processes are. 

A general cheletropic reaction is shown in Figure 12.2. This reaction involves the addition to, or extrusion from, a conjugated system of a group bound through a single atom. The reaction usually involves the elimination of simple stable molecules such as SO2, CO, or N2. The atom to which there were two a bonds carries away a pair of electrons, usually in a spn hybrid orbital. The addition of a carbene to a simple olefin to form a cyclopropane is also a cheletropic reaction which, as discussed in Chapter 14, is not predicted to be concerted. Cheletropic reactions incorporate features of both cycloaddition and electrocyclic reactions. 

In a cheletropic reaction, a ring is formed from a nominally planar system via bridging of a single atom. The local plane of the carbon atom involved at each end must rotate... 

Cheletropic reactions, in which a single atom is added or extruded, comprise a special case of cycloaddition reactions. Figure 14.4 displays correlation diagrams for two typical cheletropic reactions, the loss of SO2 from a thiirane dioxide (Figure 14.4a) and the loss of CO from a norbornadienone (Figure 14.4b). The addition of a carbene to an olefin is another example which is discussed below (Figure 14.9a). 

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