Cycloaddition acid catalyzed

There have been few mechanistic studies of Lewis acid-catalyzed cycloaddition reactions with carbonyl compounds. Danishefsky et ah, for example, concluded that the reaction of benzaldehyde 1 with trans-l-methoxy-3-(trimethylsilyloxy)-l,3-di-methyl-1,3-butadiene (Danishefsky s diene) 2 in the presence of BF3 as the catalyst proceeds via a stepwise mechanism, whereas a concerted reaction occurs when ZnCl2 or lanthanides are used as catalysts (Scheme 4.3) [7]. The evidence of a change in the diastereochemistry of the reaction is that trans-3 is the major cycloaddition product in the Bp3-catalyzed reaction, whereas cis-3 is the major product in, for example, the ZnCl2-catalyzed reaction - the latter resulting from exo addition (Scheme 4.3). 

Nitronates derived from primary nitroalkanes can be regarded as a synthetic equivalent of nitrile oxides since the elimination of an alcohol molecule from nitronates adds one higher oxidation level leading to nitrile oxides. This direct / -elimination of nitronates is known to be facilitated in the presence of a Lewis acid or a base catalyst [66, 72, 73]. On the other hand, cycloaddition reactions of nitronates to alkene dipolarophiles produce N-alkoxy-substituted isoxazolidines as cycloadducts. Under acid-catalyzed conditions, these isoxazolidines can be transformed into 2-isoxazolines through a ready / -elimination, and 2-isoxazolines correspond to the cycloadducts of nitrile oxide cycloadditions to alkenes [74]. 

One cannot discuss Lewis acid-catalyzed cycloaddition reactions in the present context without trying to understand the reaction course mechanistically, e.g. using a frontier molecular orbital (FMO) point of reasoning, or theoretical calculations of transition state structures. 

The Lewis acid-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrones to a,/ -un-saturated carbonyl compound in the presence of Lewis acids has been investigated by Tanaka et al. [31]. Ab-initio calculations were performed in a model reaction of the simple nitrone 18 reacting with acrolein 1 to give the two cycloadducts 19 and 20 (Scheme 8.7). 

The Lewis acid-catalyzed reaction of nitrone 21 with ethyl vinyl ether 22 (Scheme 8.8) was also investigated for BH3 and AlMe3 coordinated to 21 [32]. The presence of BH3 decreases the activation energy for the formation of 23 by 3.1 and 4.5 kcal mol to 9.6 kcal mol for the exoselective reaction and 11.6 kcal-mol for the endo-selective reaction, respectively, while the activation energy for the formation of 24 increases by >1.4 kcal mol , compared to those for the uncatalyzed reaction. The transition-state structure for the BH3-exo-selective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrone 21 with ethyl vinyl ether 22 is shown in Fig. 8.19. 

The theoretical investigations of Lewis acid-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions are also very limited and only papers dealing with cycloaddition reactions of nitrones with alkenes have been investigated. The Influence of the Lewis acid catalyst on these reactions are very similar to what has been calculated for the carbo- and hetero-Diels-Alder reactions. The FMOs are perturbed by the coordination of the substrate to the Lewis acid giving a more favorable reaction with a lower transition-state energy. Furthermore, a more asynchronous transition-structure for the cycloaddition step, compared to the uncatalyzed reaction, has also been found for this class of reactions. 

Diels-Alder cycloaddition of 3,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)furan with ethyl propynoate involved addition of two a,/3-unsaturated esters followed by acid-catalyzed ring opening, rearrangement, and elimination of ethanol to give a 6,7-bis(trifluoromethyl)isocoumarin-3-carboxylate [92JFC(56)359]. 

Snider and coworkers125 have reported the Lewis acid catalyzed [2 + 2]cycloaddition of (phenylsulfonyl)allene 112. The reaction with methylenecyclohexane in dichloro-methane gives a 25% yield of an 8 1 mixture of 210 and 211 (equation 132). An addition reaction of l-(p-tolylsulfonyl)ethylene with enamines gives aminocyanobutanes via the zwitterionic intermediate (212) as shown in equation 133126. 

Lewis-acid-catalyzed cycloadditions of dienophiles, such as a,/l-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, with open-chain carbon-dienes, are generally highly ortho-para regioselective because the oxygen complexation increases the difference of LUMO coefficients of the alkene moiety. 

Optically active norbornene derivatives [26] have been prepared by cycloaddition of hexachlorocyclopentadiene with /-menthylacrylate and /-menthylallyl-ether (Equation 2.9). Low levels of enantiomeric excess have been obtained in the thermal processes, whereas Lewis acid catalyzed reactions (BF3, BBr3, AICI3, SnCU, DCM, 40-80 °C) gave better results. 

This chapter will mostly deal with the applications of the Lewis-acid-catalyzed Diels Alder reaction to organic synthesis and the influence of Lewis acids on reactivity, stereoselectivity and regioselectivity of the cycloadditions. 

Lewis-acid catalyzed inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder reactions between conjugated carbonyl compounds and simple alkenes and enolethers also allow dihydropyranes to be prepared. SnCU-Catalyzed cycloaddition of... 

A simple and practical synthesis of (+)-2- bromobicycio [2.2.1 ]hept-5-ene-2-carbox-aldehyde via chiral Lewis-acid catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition [100]... 

Lewis-acid-catalyzed asymmetric hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition of a 1-thiabuta-1,3-diene with chiral A/-acryloyl and A/-crotonyl oxazolidinone dienophile [105]... 

Synthesis of highly functionalized 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrans by high-pressure Lewis-acid-catalyzed cycloaddition of enol ethers and a,/i-unsaturated aldehydes [83]... 

The overall pathway for the conversion of the unsaturated azido ether 281 to 2,5-dihydrooxazoles 282 involves first formation of the dipolar cycloaddition product 287, which thermolyzes to oxazoline 282 or is converted by silica gel to oxazolinoaziridine 288. While thermolysis or acid-catalyzed decomposition of triazolines to a mixture of imine and aziridine is well-documented [71,73], this chemoselective decomposition, depending on whether thermolysis or exposure to silica gel is used, is unprecedented. It is postulated that acidic surface sites on silica catalyze the triazoline decomposition via an intermediate resembling 289, which prefers to close to an aziridine 288. On the other hand, thermolysis of 287 may proceed via 290 (or the corresponding diradical) in which hydrogen migration is favored over ring closure. 

Associated to copper(II) pre-catalysts, bis(oxazolines) also allowed the asymmetric Diels-Alder and hetero Diels-Alder transformations to be achieved in nearly quantitative yield and high diastereo- and enantioselectivities. Optically active sulfoximines, with their nitrogen-coordinating site located at close proximity to the stereogenic sulfur atom, have also proven their efficiency as copper ligands for these asymmetric cycloadditions. Other precursors for this Lewis acid-catalyzed transformation have been described (e.g., zinc salts, ruthenium derivatives, or rare earth complexes) which, when associated to bis(oxazolines), pyridine-oxazolines or pyridine-bis(oxazolines), led to efficient catalysts. 

Viton F, Bemardinelli G, Kiindig EP (2002) Iron and ruthenium Lewis acid catalyzed asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions between nitrones and enals. J Am Chem Soc 124 4968-4969... 

Badoiu A, Brinkmann Y, Viton F, Kiindig EP (2008) Asymmetric Lewis acid-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions. Pure Appl Chem 80 1013-1018... 

The highly ordered cyclic TS of the D-A reaction permits design of diastereo-or enantioselective reactions. (See Section 2.4 of Part A to review the principles of diastereoselectivity and enantioselectivity.) One way to achieve this is to install a chiral auxiliary.80 The cycloaddition proceeds to give two diastereomeric products that can be separated and purified. Because of the lower temperature required and the greater stereoselectivity observed in Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, the best diastereoselectivity is observed in catalyzed reactions. Several chiral auxiliaries that are capable of high levels of diastereoselectivity have been developed. Chiral esters and amides of acrylic acid are particularly useful because the auxiliary can be recovered by hydrolysis of the purified adduct to give the enantiomerically pure carboxylic acid. Early examples involved acryloyl esters of chiral alcohols, including lactates and mandelates. Esters of the lactone of 2,4-dihydroxy-3,3-dimethylbutanoic acid (pantolactone) have also proven useful. 

The Lewis acid-catalyzed 1,3-migration of divinyl esters allows the formation of 1,3-butadienes, which can undergo cycloaddition. In this respect, Dai and coworkers described a rearrangement of the divinyl alkoxyacetate 1-203 followed by a Diels-Alder reaction with a dienophile such as maleic anhydride 1-204 in the presence of catalytic amounts of Ln(fod)3 to produce 1-205 in up to 61 % yield (Scheme 1.47) [53],... 

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