Conjugated systems Diels-Alder reactions

Xc lacks the substituent at the a position (or the a- and /3-positions, if they are part of an olefinic system) required to define the class of compound to be created (i.e., a-amino acid, a-hydroxyacid, a-bromo-/3-hydroxyacid, etc.). It is the reagent R that brings this information. This concept is illustrated for an amino acid in Figure 11.36. In other words, the requisite substitution pattern at these positions is generated by an appropriate diastereoselective a- or a, -functionalization reaction (e.g. an a-alkylation, a-aldolizatiom, a-amination, a-hydroxylation, conjugate addition, Diels-Alder reaction, bishydroxylation etc.). 

The Diels-Alder Reaction consists in the direct combination of a compound containing a conjugated diene system u ith a reagent which possesses a double or triple bond activated bj suitable adjacent groups. Examples of such reagents are maleic anhydride, p-benzoquinone, acraldehyde and acetylene dicarboxylic esters. Combination always occurs at the 1,4 positions of the diene system ... 

The Diels-Alder Reaction usually occurs readily it is of great value (a) for diagnosing the presence of a conjugated diene grouping, (6) for synthetic purposes in the preparation of cyclic systems. 

Compounds containing a double or triple bond, usually activated by additional unsaturation (carbonyl, cyano, nitro, phenyl, etc.) In the ap position, add to the I 4-positions of a conjugated (buta-1 3-diene) system with the formation of a ax-membered ring. The ethylenic or acetylenic compound is known as the dieTwphile and the second reactant as the diene the product is the adduct. The addition is generally termed the Diels-Alder reaction or the diene synthesis. The product in the case of an ethylenic dienophile is a cyctohexene and in that of an acetylenic dienophile is a cyctohexa-1 4-diene. The active unsaturated portion of the dienophile, or that of the diene, or those in both, may be involved in rings the adduct is then polycyclic. 

Myrcene with its conjugated diene system readily undergoes Diels-Alder reactions with a number of dienophiles. For example, reaction with 3-meth.5i-3-pentene-2-one with a catalytic amount of AlCl gives an intermediate monocyclic ketone, which when cyclized with 85% phosphoric acid produces the bicycHc ketone known as Iso E Super [54464-57-2] (49). The product is useful in providing sandalwood-like and cedarwood-like fragrance ingredients (91). 

When Diels and Alder published their famous paper in 1928, Diels had been working with related reactions for several years [6]. In 1925, Diels reported the reaction of azodicarboxylic ester (Et0C(0)2CN=NCC(0)0Et) with compounds containing a conjugated diene system. He found that addition of the azodicarboxylic ester occurs at the 1,4-position of the conjugated system as with cyclopentadiene and with butadiene. This work probably led to the famous Diels-Alder reaction. In 1927, Diels and his student Alder published a paper on the reaction of azodicarboxylic ester with styrene. 

Diels-Alder reactions of 2-bromo-2-cycloalkenones. A convenient approach to doubly cisoid fully conjugated dienone system [94]... 

Harano and colleagues [48] found that the reactivity of the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadienones with unactivated olefins is enhanced in phenolic solvents. Scheme 6.28 gives some examples of the cycloadditions of 2,5-bis-(methoxycar-bonyl)-3,4-diphenylcyclopentadienone 45 with styrene and cyclohexene in p-chlorophenol (PCP). Notice the result of the cycloaddition of cyclohexene which is known to be a very unreactive dienophile in PCP at 80 °C the reaction works, while no Diels-Alder adduct was obtained in benzene. PCP also favors the decarbonylation of the adduct, generating a new conjugated dienic system, and therefore a subsequent Diels-Alder reaction is possible. Thus, the thermolysis at 170 °C for 10 h of Diels-Alder adduct 47, which comes from the cycloaddition of 45 with 1,5-octadiene 46 (Scheme 6.29), gives the multiple Diels-Alder adduct 49 via decarbonylated adduct 48. In PCP, the reaction occurs at a temperature about 50 °C lower than when performed without solvent, and product 49 is obtained by a one-pot procedure in good yield. 

The Diels-Alder reaction is an organic chemical reaction (specifically, a cycloaddition) between a conjugated diene and a substituted alkene, commonly termed the dienophile, to form a substituted cyclohexene system. The reaction can also proceed if the alkene is replaced by an alkyne moiety or even if some of the atoms... 

It is of interest to investigate the usefulness of this theory to the chemical change involving the interaction between the conjugated systems 56,62,145). Such a-n interactions are frequently stereoselective. The addition to olefinic double bonds and the a, -elimination are liable to take place with the fraMS-mode 146h The Diels-Alder reaction occurs with the cis-fashion with respect to both diene and dienophile. 

Exocyclic double bonds at cyclic systems, which contain cross-conjugated double bonds, cannot be considered as a subgroup of radialenes and shall therefore be treated separately, although many of the structural features are comparable. However, in these systems the exocyclic and endocyclic double bonds are competing with each other as sites for Diels-Alder reactions, cycloadditions and electrophilic attacks. The double bond character of both, as measured by its distance, can provide some evidence for the selec-tivities. If no strain and conjugation are expected, the double bonds should be comparable... 

The reaction is carried out simply by heating a diene or another conjugated system of n bonds with a reactive unsaturated compound (dienophile). Usually the reaction is not sensible to catalysts and light does not affect the course. Depending on the specific components, either carboxylic or heterocyclic products can be obtained. The stereospecificity of the reaction was firmly established even before the importance of orbital symmetry was recognized. In terms of orbital symmetry classification, the Diels-Alder reaction is a k4s + n2s cycloaddition, an allowed process. 

The Diels-Alder reaction is in fact a [4 -i- 2] cycloaddition reaction, where C-1 and C-4 of the conjugated diene system become attached to the double-bonded carbons of the dienophile to form a six-membered ring. For example, 1,3-butadiene reacts with maleic anhydride to produce tetrahy-drophthalic anhydride on heating. 

Certain heterocyclic aromatic rings (among them furans)862 can also behave as dienes in the Diels-Alder reaction. Some hetero dienes that give the reaction are —G=C—0=0, 0=C—0=0, and N=C—C=N.854 For both all-carbon and hetero systems, the diene can be a conjugated enyne. If the geometry of the molecule is suitable, the diene can even be nonconjugated, e.g.,863... 

BUTADIENE. [CAS 106-90-0]. CHrCH C CH3, 1,3-butadiene (methyl-allene), formula weight 54.09. bp —4.41cC, sp gr 0.6272, insoluble in H2 O. soluble in alcohol and edier in all proportions, Butadiene is a very reactive compound, arising from its conjugated double-bond structure. Most butadiene production goes into die manufacture of polymers, notably SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) and ABS (acryloiiitrile-buladiene-slyrene) plastics. Several organic syntheses, such as Diels-Alder reaction, commence with the double-bond system provided by this compound. 

The reactivities of dienes in the Diels-Alder reaction depend on the number and kind of substituents they possess. The larger the substituents are, or the more of them, at the ends of the conjugated system, the slower the reaction is likely to be. There also is a marked difference in reactivity with diene configuration. Thus trans- i, 3-pentadiene is substantially less reactive toward a given dienophile (such as maleic anhydride) than is cis-1,3-pentadiene. In fact,... 

It is frequent but not invariable that where a longer conjugated system has a geometrically accessible and symmetry-allowed transition structure like that in 5.90, the longer system is used. Thus, the [8+2] and [6+4] cycloadditions on pp. 15 16, and the [14+2] cycloaddition on p. 44 take place rather than perfectly reasonable Diels Alder reactions, and the 8-electron electrocyclic reactions of 4.51 and 4.54 takes place rather than disrotatory hexatriene-to-cyclohexadiene reactions. This kind of selectivity is called periselectivity. 

The essential features of the Diels-Alder reaction are a four-electron n system and a two-electron it system which interact by a HOMO-LUMO interaction. The Diels-Alder reaction uses a conjugated diene as the four-electron n system and a it bond between two elements as the two-electron component. However, other four-electron it systems could potentially interact widi olefins in a similar fashion to give cycloaddition products. For example, an allyl anion is a four-electron it system whose orbital diagram is shown below. The symmetry of the allyl anion nonbonding HOMO matches that of the olefin LUMO (as does the olefin HOMO and the allyl anion LUMO) thus effective overlap is possible and cycloaddition is allowed. The HOMO-LUMO energy gap determines the rate of reaction, which happens to be relatively slow in this case. 

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