Cyclobutadiene synthesis

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). 

The term annulene was coined to refer to the completely conjugated monocyclic polyenes. The synthesis of annulenes has been extended well beyond the first two members of the series [4]annulene (cyclobutadiene) and [6]annulene (benzene). The generality of the Hiickel rule can be tested by considering the properties of members of the annulene series. 

The smallest member, cyclobutadiene, was the objective of attempted synthesis for many years. The first success was aehieved when cyclobutadiene released from a stable iron complex was trapped with various reagents. ... 

Scheme 79 Snapper s total synthesis of asteriscanolide (116) by sequential intramolecular cyclobutadiene cycloaddition, ring-opening CM (ROCM), and Cope rearrangement [167]...

CYCLOBUTADIENE IN SYNTHESIS endo-TRICYCLO[4.4.0.02 5]DECA-3,8-DIEN-7,IO-DIONE... 

This procedure is illustrative of the synthetic use of cyelobuta-dieneiron tricarbonyl2 as a source of highly reactive cyclobutadiene. Cyclobutadiene has been employed, for example, in the synthesis of oubane, Dewar benzenes, and a variety of other systems.3,1... 

The recent upsurge of interest in systems of theoretical interest demands practical syntheses of several important compounds. These are BICYCLO[2.l.0]PENT-2-ENE, BENZOCYCLOPROPENE, 1,6-OXIDO[10]ANNULENE, and others. ewdo-TRICYCLO[4.4.0.02 5]-DECA-3,8-DIENE-7,10-DIONE is utilized as a model for the use of CYCLOBUTADIENE IN SYNTHESIS, and a stable monomeric ketene, icri-BUTYLCYANOKETENE offers opportunities for further studies of this interesting species. 

The analogous dimerization of alkynes over Fe(C0)5 is not applicable, so clearly a different route towards alkynylated derivatives of 25 was needed. Comparison of 25 to cymantrene suggests that metallation of the hydrocarbon ligand should be the route of choice for the synthesis of novel substituted cyclobutadienes. In the literature, addition of organolithium bases (MeLi, BuLi) to the CO ligands with concomitant rearrangement had been observed [25]. But the utilization of LiTMP (lithium tetramethylpiperidide, Hafner [26]) or sec-BuLi as effectively non-nucleophilic bases led to clean deprotonation of the cyclobuta-... 

Hogeveen and co-workers <82JOC1909 83JOC4275> also reported the synthesis of tricyclic sulfinamides by the reaction of cyclobutadiene aluminum halide o complexes (65 or 66) with 53 at low temperature. Treatment of 65 or 66 with 53 at -60 °C resulted in the formation of 67 or 68 in 52% and 55% yields, respectively (Scheme 18). 

U. H. F. Bunz, G. Roidl, M. Altmann, V. Enkelmann, K. D. Shimizu, Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Novel Organometallic Dehydroannulenes with Fused CpCo-Cyclobutadiene and Ferrocene Units Including a Cydic Fullerenyne Segment , J. Am Chem Soc 1999,121, 10719-10726. 

Bunz et al. explored the possibility of doping PPE chains covalently with small amounts of fluorescence-quenching cyclobutadiene complexes, in order to endow their optical properties to the base polymer, PPE [80]. Due to their extensive experience of cyclobutadiene complexes in polymer synthesis [81], the authors prepared several polymers PAE-CoCpl-5 (Table 4) containing different contents of CoCp complexes. The quantum yields were determined by simple comparison of the intensities of the emitted light to that of a standard... 

Also, there is an esthetic element mixed into this motivation, which probably is derived from the tradition of stripped-down test molecules in physical organic chemistry, in which studies of the parent member of a series tend to be valued more highly than those of its derivatives. One thinks, for example, of the emphasis placed on studies of the unsubstimted molecules methylene, norbomyl cation, cyclobutadiene, tetrahedrane, benzyne, and so on. The higher valuation also is associated in some cases with the formidable difficulties experienced by experimentalists in the synthesis and observation of these species. 

As was mentioned in Section III,A a very useful method of synthesis of olefin complexes involves the displacement of carbon monoxide from metal carbonyls by olefins. Under similar conditions acetylenes usually react to give new ligands, e.g., cyclobutadienes, cyclopentadienones, and quinones (see Sections V,E and VI,C), and it is not surprising, therefore, that the range of known acetylene complexes is smaller than the range of olefin complexes. 

Cycloaddition reactions, 162-165, 197-198 component analysis, 168 Diels-Alder, 162, 198 ethylene + ethylene, 198 orbital correlation diagram, 198 stereochemistry, 162-163 Cycloalkanols, synthesis, 277 Cyclobutadiene barrier, 91 ground state, 91 point group of, 5 self-reactivity, 97 SHMO, 151 structure, 309-310 Cyclobutane... 

The reader will also be aware that not all cyclic conjugated molecules for which such equivalent structures may be written share with benzene these special properties. For example, cyclobutadiene (28) eluded synthesis for many years when finally prepared, it and its simple derivatives proved to be extremely... 

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