Cycloadditions Photocycloaddition

Intramolecular Cycloadditions. - (2 + 2)-Photocycloaddition within the chalcones (35) results in the formation of cyclobutane derivatives. The process can be brought about using sunlight irradiation of solutions in chloroform, but better yields (ca. 85%) can be achieved using 2 = 350 nm. ... 

Along with dimerization and intramolecular cycloaddition, photocycloaddition of several other molecules to the 5,6-double bond of uracils is significant. 

The benzo[Z)] fused systems participate in a number of [2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions (81JOC3939, 81TL521). The photocycloaddition products of benzo[Z)]thiophenes and DMAD are dependent on the irradiation wavelength (Scheme 56). 

Whereas the cycloaddition of arylazirines with simple alkenes produces A -pyrrolines, a rearranged isomer can be formed when the alkene and the azirine moieties are suitably arranged in the same molecule. This type of intramolecular photocycloaddition was first detected using 2-vinyl-substituted azirines (75JA4682). Irradiation of azirine (54) in benzene afforded a 2,3-disubstituted pyrrole (55), while thermolysis gave a 2,5-disubstituted pyrrole (56). Photolysis of azirine (57) proceeded similarly and gave 1,2-diphenylimidazole (58) as the exclusive photoproduct. This stands in marked contrast to the thermal reaction of (57) which afforded 1,3-diphenylpyrazole (59) as the only product. 

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-... 

As was mentioned in Section 13.2, the [27t + 27i] photocycloaddition of alkenes is an allowed reaction according to orbital symmetry considerations. Among the most useful reactions in this categoty, from a synthetic point of view, are intramolecular [27t + 2ti] cycloadditions of dienes and intermolecular [2ti + 2ti] cycloadditions of alkenes with cyclic a, -unsaturated carbonyl compounds. These reactions will be discussed in more detail in Section 6.4 of Part B. 

The photochemical cycloadditions of alkenes and alkynes with aromatic compounds have received by far the most attention. Yields of [2+2] cydoadducts can be good, but reaction times are often long and secondary rearrangement products are common [139, 140, 141,142, 143,144, 145,146] (equations 63-65). The pioneering mechanistic and synthetic work on aromatic photocycloadditions has been reviewed [147],... 

Four-membered heterocycles are easily formed via [2-I-2] cycloaddition reac tions [65] These cycloaddmon reactions normally represent multistep processes with dipolar or biradical intermediates The fact that heterocumulenes, like isocyanates, react with electron-deficient C=X systems is well-known [116] Via this route, (1 lactones are formed on addition of ketene derivatives to hexafluoroacetone [117, 118] The presence of a trifluoromethyl group adjacent to the C=N bond in quinoxalines, 1,4-benzoxazin-2-ones, l,2,4-triazm-5-ones, and l,2,4-tnazin-3,5-diones accelerates [2-I-2] photocycloaddition processes with ketenes and allenes [106] to yield the corresponding azetidine derivatives Starting from olefins, fluonnaied oxetanes are formed thermally and photochemically [119, 120] The reaction of 5//-l,2-azaphospholes with fluonnated ketones leads to [2-i-2j cycloadducts [121] (equation 27)... 

Irradiation of methacrylonitrile and 2-alkoxy-3-cyano-4,6-dimethylpyridine mixture causes [2+2]photocycloaddition across the C(2)-C(3) bond of the latter to give the bicyclic azetine 4 (45-55%) via an azacyclooctatetraene intermediate <96CC1349>. The [2+2]cycloaddition of )V-acylaldimines and allyltriisopropylsilane to give 2,4-disubstituted azetidines is catalysed by Lewis acids <95CL789>. 

Photocycloaddition of Alkenes and Dienes. Photochemical cycloadditions provide a method that is often complementary to thermal cycloadditions with regard to the types of compounds that can be prepared. The theoretical basis for this complementary relationship between thermal and photochemical modes of reaction lies in orbital symmetry relationships, as discussed in Chapter 10 of Part A. The reaction types permitted by photochemical excitation that are particularly useful for synthesis are [2 + 2] additions between two carbon-carbon double bonds and [2+2] additions of alkenes and carbonyl groups to form oxetanes. Photochemical cycloadditions are often not concerted processes because in many cases the reactive excited state is a triplet. The initial adduct is a triplet 1,4-diradical that must undergo spin inversion before product formation is complete. Stereospecificity is lost if the intermediate 1,4-diradical undergoes bond rotation faster than ring closure. 

Intramolecular [2 + 2] photocycloadditions of alkenes is an important method of formation of compounds containing four-membered rings.184 Direct irradiation of simple nonconjugated dienes leads to cyclobutanes.185 Strain makes the reaction unfavorable for 1,4-dienes but when the alkene units are separated by at least two carbon atoms cycloaddition becomes possible. 

Photocycloaddition Reactions ofEnones. Cyclic a,(3-unsaturated ketones are another class of molecules that undergo photochemical cycloadditions.188 The reactive... 

The thermo- and photocycloaddition of alkenes will be discussed in Chapter 12, on pericyclic reactions. On the other hand, transition-metals have effectively catalyzed some synthetically useful cycloaddition reactions in water. For example, Lubineau and co-worker reported a [4 + 3] cycloaddition by reacting a,a-dibromo ketones with furan or cyclopen-tadiene mediated by iron or copper, or a-chloro ketones in the presence of triethylamine (Eq. 3.48).185... 

The photocycloaddition of maleic anhydride to acenaphthylene has been studied by Hartmann and Heine.(107a> Irradiation of acenaphthylene in the presence of maleic anhydride in light-atom solvents (dioxane, acetone, or acetonitrile) yields only dimers or copolymers of acenaphthylene. In heavy-atom solvents (dichloromethane, dibromomethane, or iodomethane), however, dimerization is suppressed and cycloaddition with maleic anhydride predominates ... 

Although Wender s synthesis was completed prior to Hudlicky s, it was published later [65]. It utilized the technique of mefa-photocycloaddition of arenes that Wender developed into a general method of synthesis for both angular and linear triquinanes. The overall strategy was centered around an intramolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition for construction of the internal six-membered ring of the target. 

Numerous examples of intermolecular and intramolecular photocycloaddition to heterocyclic systems (including the dimerization of individual heterocycles) have now been reported. Two types of cycloaddition can readily be effected photochemically, namely, [n2 + 2] and [ 4 + 4] additions. Although concerted suprafacial additions of this type are allowed photochemical processes, in reality many cycloadditions occur via diradicals, zwitterions or exciplexes. 

Cycloadditions are in general an effective way of constructing cyclobutane rings. A wide variety of heterocyclic systems dimerize in this way. 1,3-Diacetylindole, for example, affords the head-to-tail dimer 242 on irradiation in ethanol.185 Ethyl 2-ethoxy-l,2-dihydroquinoline-l-carboxy-late is similarly converted in diethyl ether into the trans head-to-head dimer.186 Notable among many analogous photodimerizations are those reported in 1,4-dihydropyridines,187 in furo[3,2-b]pyridin-2(4//)-ones,188 in 8-methyl-s-triazolo[4,3-a]pyridine,189 and in 2H-2-benzazepine-1,3-diones.190 The [ 2 + 2] dimerization of amidopyrine is the first reported example of a photocycloaddition in a 4-pyrazolin-3-one.191... 

Reports of [ 2 + 2] cycloaddition of nitrogen containing heterocycles to alkenes are so numerous that attention can be drawn here to only a few. Recent examples include the acetone-sensitized photoaddition of 4-oxazolin-2-one (248) to ethylene to give the cis-adduct 249,203 the photocycloadditions of N-substituted imidazoles to acrylonitrile204 and of N-methyl-4-hydroxy-quinol-2-one to cyclohexene,205 and the photoaddition of pentafluoro-pyridine to ethylene to give the 1 1- and 1 2-adducts 250 and 251,... 

Intramolecular [n2 + 2] photocycloadditions are equally numerous and many have considerable synthetic potential. 4-(But-3-enyloxy)quinol-(l//)2-one (254), for example, is converted into a mixture of isomeric adducts 255 and 256 on irradiation in methanol.208 Intramolecular cycloaddition has also been observed in the pyrimidinedione 257209 and in the dehydrovaline acrylamide 258 which on irradiation in dioxane affords the novel /1-lactam system 259.210... 

The synthesis of nitrogen containing heterocyclic systems by photocylo-addition processes is virtually limited to examples involving [ 2 + 2] cycloaddition of imines, nitriles, and azo compounds. Successful additions are few in number and the requirements for success uncertain. The reactions do not proceed with the facility with which carbonyl containing compounds undergo photocycloaddition to alkenes to give oxetans, and various explanations have been advanced to account for this observed lack of reactivity.226... 

A novel intramolecular photocycloaddition involving vinylogous amides and allenes led to an interesting type lb entry to functionalized pyrroles <060L4031>. For example, photolysis of allene 11 provided fused pyrrole 12 via a [2+2] cycloaddition and retro-Mannich reaction. 

The thermal Diels-Alder reactions of anthracene with electron-poor olefinic acceptors such as tetracyanoethylene, maleic anhydride, maleimides, etc. have been studied extensively. It is noteworthy that these reactions are often accelerated in the presence of light. Since photoinduced [4 + 2] cycloadditions are symmetry-forbidden according to the Woodward-Hoffman rules, an electron-transfer mechanism has been suggested to reconcile experiment and theory.212 For example, photocycloaddition of anthracene to maleic anhydride and various maleimides occurs in high yield (> 90%) under conditions in which the thermal reaction is completely suppressed (equation 75). 

This article will only discuss two particular kinds of photocycloaddition reactions, the photodimerization or cross-cycloaddition of two olefins to yield a cyclobutane derivative, and the photoreaction of an olefin with a carbonyl compound to give an oxetane, Eq. 1 and Eq. 2. The inportance of substituent effects in reactions of these types is pointed... 

This chapter deals with [2 + 2]cycloadditions of various chromophors to an olefinic double bond with formation of a four-membered ring, with reactions proceeding as well in an intermolecular as in an intramolecular pattern. Due to the variety of the starting materials available (ketones, enones, olefins, imines, thioketones, etc.. . .), due to the diversity of products obtained, and last but not least, due to the fact that cyclobutanes and oxetanes are not accessible by such a simple one-step transformation in a non-photo-chemical reaction, the [2+2]photocycloaddition has become equivalent to the (thermal) Diels-Alder reaction in importance as for ring construction in organic synthesis. 

These cycloadducts, at their most elementary level, are excellent intermediates for the synthesis of 3-substituted furan derivatives. For example, Kawanisi and coworkers reported a synthesis of perillaketone 174 in which the critical step was a Paterno-BUchi photocycloaddition between furan and 4-methylpentanal in the presence of methanesul-fonic acid (Scheme 39)82. This reaction furnished two initial photoadducts, 172 and 173. The unexpected product 173 presumably arises from a Norrish Type II cleavage of 4-methylpentanal to give acetaldehyde, and subsequent cycloaddition with furan. The desired cycloadduct 172 was then converted uneventfully to 174 via acid-catalyzed aromatization and oxidation. 

The use of metal complexed heterocyclic polyenes in these cycloadditions has also proven useful, as both the 1,1-dioxythiepine and azepine derivatives 250 and 253 took part in [6 + 4]- and [6+ 2]-photocycloadditions, respectively, to afford good yields of the... 

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