Cyclobutane cycloadditions

Keywords ketene silyl acetale, alkine, [2+2]cycloaddition, cyclobutane... 

Keywords allene, thermal cycloaddition, cyclobutane, anthrocyclobutene... 

Keywords enone, photolysis, [2+2]-cycloaddition, cyclobutane, spiro compound... 

Keywords [2-1-2] Cycloaddition, Cyclobutane, Chiral titanium catalyst, Propionolactone, Cinchona alkaloid... 

Many natural products contain the coumarin structure [42], Aesculetin (28) is isolated from horsechestnuts and psoralen (29) from the Indian plant Psoralea corylifolia. Furocoumarins such as 29 are photochemicaUy active on UV irradiation, they induce processes in the cell which lead to an increase in skin pigmentation and inhibition of cell division. This is due to (2 + 2)-cycloaddition (cyclobutane formation) of the pyrimidine bases in nucleic acids. Psoralens are used in the treatment of psoriasis. 

Within the cubane synthesis the initially produced cyclobutadiene moiety (see p. 329) is only stable as an iron(O) complex (M. Avram, 1964 G.F. Emerson, 1965 M.P. Cava, 1967). When this complex is destroyed by oxidation with cerium(lV) in the presence of a dienophilic quinone derivative, the cycloaddition takes place immediately. Irradiation leads to a further cyclobutane ring closure. The cubane synthesis also exemplifies another general approach to cyclobutane derivatives. This starts with cyclopentanone or cyclohexane-dione derivatives which are brominated and treated with strong base. A Favorskii rearrangement then leads to ring contraction (J.C. Barborak, 1966). 

As final examples, the intramolecular cyclopropane formation from cycloolefins with diazo groups (S.D. Burke, 1979), intramolecular cyclobutane formation by photochemical cycloaddition (p. 78, 297f., section 4.9), and intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions (p. 153f, 335ff.) are mentioned. The application of these three cycloaddition reactions has led to an enormous variety of exotic polycycles (E.J. Corey, 1967A). 

Cycloaddition of norbornadiene with allene takes place to yield the cyclobutene derivative 10[5], Cyclodimerization of 1,2-cyclononadiene (11) affords a mixture of stereoisomers of the cyclobutane derivatives 12[6,7],... 

Contrast the Diels-Alder reaction with a cycloaddition reaction that looks superfl cially similar the combination of two ethylene molecules to give cyclobutane... 

Cyclo ddltion. Ketenes are ideal components ia [2 + 2] cycloadditions for additions to the opposite sides of a TT-system as shown ia the cyclobutane product (2) ia Figure 1. Electron-rich double bonds react readily with ketenes, even at room temperature and without catalysts. In conjugated systems, ketenes add ia a [2 + 2] fashion. This is illustrated ia the reaction foUowiag, where the preferential orientation of L (large substituent) and S (small substituent) is seen (40). This reaction has been used ia the synthesis of tropolone [533-75-5]. 

Photochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition is a powerful way to produce cyclobutanes, which, in turn, are reactive synthesis intermediates. N-Methylpyrrole adds aldehydes via [2 -I- 2] photocycloaddition to give transient oxetanes with high regioselectivity Ring-opening produces 3-(oi-hydroxyalkyl)pyrroles which are oxidized easily to 3-arylpyrroles, such as 3-BUTYROYL-l-METHYL-PYRROLE. With a special apparatus, ethylene is conveniently added to 3-methyl-... 

The complementary relationship between thermal and photochemical reactions can be illustrated by considering some of the same reaction types discussed in Chapter 11 and applying orbital symmetry considerations to the photochemical mode of reaction. The case of [2ti + 2ti] cycloaddition of two alkenes can serve as an example. This reaction was classified as a forbidden thermal reaction (Section 11.3) The correlation diagram for cycloaddition of two ethylene molecules (Fig. 13.2) shows that the ground-state molecules would lead to an excited state of cyclobutane and that the cycloaddition would therefore involve a prohibitive thermal activation energy. 

Extensive work in this area by the Syntex group provides additional important information with respect to the mechanistic aspects of such cycloadditions. At the same time, the method proved of considerable utility for the preparation of cyclobutane compounds bearing a wide variety of substituents. 

Fluorinated cyclobutanes and cyclobutenes are relatively easy to prepare because of the propensity of many gem-difluoroolefins to thermally cyclodimerize and cycloadd to alkenes and alkynes. Even with dienes, fluoroolefins commonly prefer to form cyclobutane rather than six-membered-ring Diels-Alder adducts. Tetrafluoroethylene, chlorotrifluoroethylene, and l,l-dichloro-2,2-difluoroethyl-ene are especially reactive in this context. Most evidence favors a stepwise diradical or, less often, a dipolar mechanism for [2+2] cycloadditions of fluoroalkenes [S5, (5], although arguments for a symmetry-allowed, concerted [2j-t-2J process persist [87], The scope, characteristic features, and mechanistic studies of fluoroolefin... 

With a suitable combination of electron-deficient fluoroalkene and electron-rich addend, cycloaddition can proceed by a dipolar mechanism involving zwitte-rion intermediates Like Us isomer, l,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)-l,2-dicyanoethylene [85], l,l-bis(trifluoromethyl)-2,2-dicyanoethylene forms cyclobutanes by an ionic mechanism [104, 105, 106] (equations 39 and 40)... 

Fluorinated allenes are especially reactive in cycloadditions because of their highly strained double bonds [118, 119] 1,1-Difluoro- and 1-fluoroallene readily undergo both [2+2] and [4+2] cycloadditions [118 124] (equations 50-52) Exten sive studies of stereochemistry and regioselectivity show that cyclobutane forma-... 

Fluorinaied dienophiles. Although ethylene reacts with butadiene to give a 99 98% yield of a Diels-Alder adduct [63], tetrattuoroethylene and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-difluoroethylene prefer to react with 1,3-butadiene via a [2+2] pathway to form almost exclusively cyclobutane adducts [61, 64] (equation 61). This obvious difference in the behavior of hydrocarbon ethylenes and fluorocarbon ethylenes is believed to result not from a lack of reactivity of the latter species toward [2+4] cycloadditions but rather from the fact that the rate of nonconcerted cyclobutane formation is greatly enhanced [65]... 

In the case of enamines derived from aldehydes a cycloaddition to give a cyclobutane occurs (48-50). Thus the enamine (16) reacted with methyl acrylate in acetonitrile to give a 91 % yield of methyl 2-dimethylamino-3,3-dimethylcyclobutane carboxylate (56). Similarly, treatment of (16) with diethylmaleate at 170° gave a 70% yield of diethyl 4-dimethylamino-3,3-dimethyl-l,2-cyclobutanedicarboxylate (57), and 16 and acrylonitrile gave a 65% yield of 2-dimethylamino-3,3-dimethylcyclobutanecarbonitrile (58). 

Enamines having a hydrogen on the enamine carbon also undergo cycloaddition to give cyclobutane derivatives. The latter are less stable, so that the reaction must be carried out under milder conditions in order to obtain... 

The types of cycloadditions discovered for enamines range through a regular sequence starting with divalent addition to form a cyclopropane ring, followed by 1,2 addition (i) of an alkene or an alkyne to form a cyclo-cyclobutane or a cyclobutene, then 1,3-dipolar addition with the enamine the dipolarophile 4), and finally a Diels-Alder type of reaction (5) with the enamine the dienophile. 

The initial product formed when methyl vinyl ketone is mixed with an enamine [such as N,N-dimethylisobutenylamine (10)] is the dihydropyran (11) from a 1,4 cycloaddition (ll,20a,20b). The chemical reactions that the dihydropyran undergoes indicate that it is readily equilibrated with the cyclobutane isomer 12a and zwitterion 12 (11). Treatment of adduct 11 with phenyllithium gives cyclobutane 13, possibly via intermediate 12a (11). 

The reaction of methyl or ethyl acrylate with the enamine of an alicyclic ketone results in simple alkylation when the temperature is allowed to rise uncontrolled in the reaction mixture (7,34,35). If the reaction mixture is kept below 30°C, however, a mixture of the simple alkylated and cyclobutane (from 1,2 cycloaddition) products are obtained (34). Upon distillation of this mixture only starting material and simple alkylated product is obtained because of the instability of the cyclobutane adduct. 

The addition of p-quinone to enamines normally produces furan derivatives, especially when the enamine possesses a 3 hydrogen (see Section III. A). 1,2 Cycloaddition is claimed to take place to give a cyclobutane derivative when p-quinone and an enamine with no jS hydrogens are allowed to react at low temperatures (51). However, little evidence is reported to verify this structural assignment, and the actual structure probably is a benzofuranol (52). Reaction of a dienamine (formed in situ) with p-quinone in the presence... 

Olefins conjugated with electron-withdrawing groups other than a carbonyl group undergo reactions with enamines in a manner similar to the carbonyl-conjugated electrophilic alkenes described above. Namely, they condense with an enamine to form a zwitterion intermediate from which either 1,2 cycloaddition to form a cyclobutane ring or simple alkylation can take place. 

Nitroolefins also offer the possibilities of 1,2 cycloaddition (37,57) or simple alkylation (57-59) products when they are allowed to react with enamines. The reaction of nitroethylene with the morpholine enamine of cyclohexanone led primarily to a cyclobutane adduct in nonpolar solvents and to a simple alkylated product in polar solvents (57). These products are evidently formed from kinetically controlled reactions since they cannot be converted to the other product under the conditions in which the other... 

Methyl vinyl sulfone forms 1,2-cycloaddition adducts with aldehydic enamines, both with and without 3 hydrogens (37). Simple alkylation was reported to take place when phenyl vinyl sulfone was allowed to react with cyclohexanone enamines (58,60), but it has recently been shown that phenyl vinyl sulfone also forms cyclobutane adducts (60a). 

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