Cyclobutane cycloreversion

A great deal is already known about the pyrolysis of pinenes," which constitutes a perfect case for the study of cyclobutane cycloreversion reactions. In practice, this avenue was first explored with the hope of obtaining products with commercial value.99 Unfortunately, the application of these reactions to organic synthesis is somewhat restricted, because complex product mixtures cause complications. For the sake of clarity Table 6100 110 outlines only the cycloreversion products and their straightforward secondary derivatives nevertheless, it demonstrates some of the synthetic uses of these thermal cleavage reactions. 

The synthetic potential of cyclobutane cycloreversions can be demonstrated by the reactions shown below. For example, the strain inherent in hexacyclo[5.4.1.02 6.03,1°.05,9.08,11]dodecane-... 

The mechanistic and synthetic groundwork has been unequivocally established for the consecutive cycloreversion transannular ene reaction sequence, from which /ra/w-decalin derivatives with a hydroxyl group at the ring junction are produced.146,147 As an example, the thermally induced cycloreversion of the ester 43 at 200°C affords 45 in an astonishing 96% yield.146 Presumably the initial cycloreversion product 44 is converted by a transannular ene reaction to generate the decalin 45.146 However, not all the cycloreversion reactions proceed to give a single product as predicted, as can be shown by the examples collected in Table 7. In fact, closer inspection of work already reported has shown that complex product mixtures are usually obtained from cyclobutane cycloreversion reactions.143,148 152... 

These experiments proved that a light-excited, reduced flavin is indeed able to photoreduce cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and that these dimers undergo a spontaneous cycloreversion. The quantum yield of about 0=5% clarified that the overall dimer splitting process is highly efficient, even in these simple model systems ((]) photolyase 70%). 

Whatever the reason may be behind the strict necessity to deprotonate the flavin donor, the reduced and deprotonated flavin was established in these model studies to be an efficient electron donor, able to reduce nucle-obases and oxetanes. In the model compounds 1 and 2 the pyrimidine dimer translates the electron transfer step into a rapidly detectable chemical cycloreversion reaction [47, 48], Incorporation of a flavin and of a cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer into DNA double strands was consequently performed in order to analyse the reductive electron transfer properties of DNA. 

Scheme 5 a Flavin-H-phosphonate and formacetal-linked thymine dimer phospho-ramidite used for the synthesis of the flavin and dimer containing DNA-strands 7-12. b Representation of a reduced flavin- and formacetal-linked cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer containing DNA strand, which upon irradiation (hv) and electron transfer (ET) performs a cycloreversion (CR) of the dimer unit, c Depiction of the investigated oligonucleotides... 

Flavin-cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer and flavin-oxetane model compounds like 1-3 showed for the first time that a reduced and deprotonated flavin is a strong photo-reductant even outside a protein environment, able to transfer an extra electron to cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and oxetanes. There then spontaneously perform either a [2n+2n cycloreversion or a retro-Paternd-Buchi reaction. In this sense, the model compounds mimic the electron transfer driven DNA repair process of CPD- and (6-4)-photolyases. 

ET-induced cycloadditions of polycyclic olefins and cycloreversions of cyclobutane species have been studied by ESR spectroscopy [266]. Upon chemical and electrochemical reduction, 2,2 -distyrylbiphenyl rearranges by intramolecular coupling into a bis-benzylic dihydrophenanthrene dianion (Scheme 1), which can be either protonated to a 9,10 -dibenzyl-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene or oxidatively coupled to a cyclobutane species. It is interesting to note that the intramolecular bond... 

In respect of cycloreversion, cyclobutane-fused fullerenes derived from acyclic enones [342] are less stable than their bycycKc equivalents (e.g. 293, Scheme 4.55). For the addition of mesityl oxide the equilibrium constant is so small that a 1000-fold excess of the enone is necessary to complete the reaction. The product of 302 is more stable and requires only a 100-fold excess of the enone. Reaction of 302... 

Cleavage of a C—C bond gives a distonic radical cation as an intermediate, while concerted cleavage of two C—C bonds yields the corresponding ArO and ArO in cycloreversion of aryl-substituted cyclobutane Therefore, the cycloreversion mechanism is related to dimerization of ArO where tt- and a-dimers are detected during PR of ArO such as... 

Intramolecular bond formations include (net) [2 + 2] cycloadditions for example, diolefin 52, containing two double bonds in close proximity, forms the cage structure 53. This intramolecular bond formation is a notable reversal of the more general cycloreversion of cyclobutane type olefin dimers (e.g., 15 + to 16 +). The cycloaddition occurs only in polar solvents and has a quantum yield greater than unity. In analogy to several cycloreversions these results were interpreted in terms of a free radical cation chain mechanism. 

Pyrolysis of di-l,2-dicyano[ris,a //-3,4-2H2]cyclobutane (6) at 257°C yields a 6 4 mixture of [trorts-3-2H1]acrylonitrile (7) and [ra-3-2H Jacrylonitrile (8). Despite the fact that a concerted cycloreversion seems to be the predominant process, it can also be rationalized that an initial bond cleavage to a diradical, which competitively undergoes bond fission and/or bond rotation, is able to give the same result.84 ... 

In marked contrast to that of cyclobutanes, the cycloreversion of cyclobutanones to ethene and ketene88 is most probably a concerted process.89-94 For example, the fact that the pyrolysis of 2-propylcyclobutanone (13) at 350 °C gives ethene and pent-l-ene in the ratio of 3.8 1 is not easily explained by a diradical mechanism.90 This transformation presumably involves two competing cycloreversion reactions. As expected for a concerted process, the conversion through the less sterically congested transition structure is favored. For this reason, ethene is generated as the major alkene.90... 

The pyrolysis of pinenes is mechanistically similar to that of cyclobutane, giving initially a 1,4-diradical. Subsequent C-C bond fission of this 1,4-diradical thus generates a diene. The stepwise cycloreversion of 7,7-dimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]heptan-2-one (20) at 600 °C is a good example.100 106... 

Despite the fact that the outcome of cycloreversion reactions of cyclobutane derivatives is usually unpredictable, there have been ample examples that demonstrate the usefulness of these reactions synthetically. Some of these reactions are summarized in Table 7.111-158 Indeed, a practical synthesis of methyl buta-2,3-dienoatc by this cycloreversion strategy has been recorded in a detailed format.111... 

Intermediate metallacyclopentanes are also implicated in transition metal-catalyzed alkene cycloadditions to form cyclobutanes and the corresponding cycloreversions, e.g. dimerization of norbomadiene (73JA597) and rearrangements of cubane and other cyclo-butanoid hydrocarbons (78JA2573). 

Among the electron transfer induced reactions of cyclobutane systems, cycloreversions are the most prominent. These reactions are the reverse of the cycloadditions discussed in Sect. 4.1. The reactivity of the corresponding radical cations depends on their substitution pattern. We have mentioned the fast two-bond cycloreversion of quadicyclane radical cation as well as the ready ring closure of a tetracyclic system (3, Sect. 4.1). A related fragmentation of cis-, trans-, cis-1,2,3,4-tetraphenylcyclobutane (84) can be induced by pulse radiolysis of 1,2-dichloro-ethane solutions. This reaction produces the known spectrum of trans-stilbene radical cation (85) without a detectable intermediate and with a high degree of... 

The cycloreversion of the cyclobutane radical cation Pyr +oPyr could proceed in either a concerted or stepwise manner, and many attempts were made to determine the mechanism of this cleavage step. Because the radical cation is delocalized, it is not unreasonable that both the C(5)-C(5 ) and the C(6)-C(6 ) bonds are weakened by oxidation of PyroPyr. The observation of a substantial secondary deuterium isotope effect for the cleavage of the first bond [C(6)-C(6 )] and a small isotope effect for the cleavage of the second bond [C(5)-C(5 )] in various deu-terated uracil-derived cyclobutane dimers was, however, taken as an indication of a stepwise splitting mechanism via the distonic radical cation Pyr+-Pyr [9]. Theoretical studies performed by Rosch, Michel-Beyerle et al. also strongly support the assumption of a successive cycloreversion [10]. 

Whereas a [2 + 2] pericyclic reaction is essentially forbidden in the ground state, a [2+1] open-shell reaction is feasible. In this respect, the radical cations detected in this context represent distinct stages of pericyclic, radical-cation catalyzed cycloaddi-tions/cycloreversions. In Fig. 7.11, three distinct stages, a tight (cyclobutane-like), an extended (bis ethene), and a trapezoid, of a hole- (or radical-cation) catalyzed cycloaddition/cycloreversion are presented in a schematic way. °... 

For pagodane-related carbon skeletons 4C/3e radical cations with tight and extended geometries could be established by spectroscopy (predominately EPR) and quantum chemical calculations at the DFT level of theory. Such structures resemble frozen stages of cycloadditions/cycloreversions on the hyper energy surface of the hole-catalyzed cyclobutane formation. 

When l,2-bis(methoxycarbonyl)-3,4-bis(2-naphthyl)cyclobutane is irradiated in solution (cyclohexane/tetrahydrofuran and tetrahydrofuran/acetonitrile mixtures) in the presence of triethylamine, it undergoes [2 -I- 2]cycloreversion via an exciplex with triethylamine [680], Interestingly, as shown in Eq. (5-144), the mode of cycloreversion changes with the solvent polarity, reflecting the different dipolar electronic structure of the exciplex. In nonpolar solvent mixtures, a horizontal cleavage of the cyclobutane... 

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