Cyclobutenes substituent effects

Carbocation-carbanion zwitterionic intermediates were proposed for the thermal cleavage of several cyclic compounds. In most of these reactions the ionically dissociating bond belongs to one of four strained ring systems, i.e. cyclopropane (13), cyclobutane (14), cyclobutene (15) or norbornadiene (16). The mechanism is distinguished from the formation of a diradical intermediate through homolysis in terms of solvent and substituent effects... 

J.I Substituent Effects on the Cyclobutene Ring Opening Reaction... 

Aryl substituted cyclobutenes undergo cycloreversion to arylalkynes but can also give addition products in hydroxylic solvents. These reactions are singlet state processes. The aryl derivatives of cyclobutene do not open to 1,3-butadienes, and based on substituent effects, the excited states appear to have zwitterionic character. These results suggest that the aryl substituent favors the formation of a zwitterionic excited state. 

In an attempt to determine whether peracid oxidation of cyclopropenes to enones proceeds by ct- or ic-bond oxidation, Friedrich and Fiato compared the second-order rate constant for allylically substituted cyclopropenes and cyclopentenes. The results (Table 1) indicate rather small allylic substitution effects in the cyclopentenes, but larger rate reductions in the cyclopropenes. The magnitude of the effect is not in line with an epoxidation-type transition state and may be more consistent with o attack, but insufficient background data are available to allow firm conclusions from these results. A comparison of oxidation rates of 1,2-diphenyl-cyclopropene, -cyclobutene, and -cyclopentene yielded data which were much more consistent with oxabicyclobutane formation, as did an examination of substituent effects at the vinylic positions in cyclopropene. ... 

Kirmse W, Rondan NG, Houk KN (1984) Stereoselective substituent effects on conrotatory electrocyclic reaction of cyclobutenes. J Am Chem Soc 106 7989-7991... 

Table 11.1 Directive Effect of Substituents on Inward/Outward Conrotation in Cyclobutene Ring Opening"...

Reinhoudt et al.53) have reported the first synthesis of a monocyclic thiepin stabilized by electronic effects of the substituents. This synthesis utilizes the idea described in Section 2.3.3. 3-Methyl-4-pyrrolidinothiophene (85a) was treated in deuteriochloroform at —30 °C with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate. H-NMR monitoring of the reaction indicated that a [2 + 2]cycloaddition proceeded slowly at this temperature giving the 2-thiabicyclo[3.2.0]heptadiene (86a) which rearranged via ring opening of the cyclobutene moiety to the 4-pyrrolydinylthiepin (87a). At the... 

A number of examples involving nitrile oxide cycloadditions to cyclic cis-disubstituted olefinic dipolarophiles was presented in the first edition of this treatise, notably to cyclobutene, cyclopentene, and to 2,5-dihydrofuran derivatives (15). The more recent examples discussed here also show, that the selectivity of the cycloaddition to 1,2-cis-disubstituted cyclobutenes depends on the type of substituent group present (Table 6.8 Scheme 6.41). The differences found can be explained in terms of the nonplanarity (i. e., pyramidalization) of the double bond in the transition state (15) and steric effects. In the cycloaddition to cis-3,4-diacetyl-(197) and cis-3,4-dichlorocyclobutene (198), the syn-pyramidalization of the carbon atoms of the double bond and the more facile anti deformability of the olefinic hydrogens have been invoked to rationalize the anti selectivity observed. 

The stannylboration of alkynes was followed by cross-coupling of the G-Sn bond in the synthesis of stereodefined 1-alkenylboron compounds 143 (Equation (48)).261 There was a large accelerating effect of boryl substituents on thermal ring closing to the methylene cyclobutenes at 140 °G. 

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