Substituted cyclobutenes

SUBSTITUTED BUTADIENES. The consequences of p-type orbitals rotations, become apparent when substituents are added. Many structural isomers of butadiene can be foiined (Structures VIII-XI), and the electrocylic ring-closure reaction to form cyclobutene can be phase inverting or preserving if the motion is conrotatory or disrotatory, respectively. The four cyclobutene structures XII-XV of cyclobutene may be formed by cyclization. Table I shows the different possibilities for the cyclization of the four isomers VIII-XI. These structmes are shown in Figure 35. 

Thus, to name just a few examples, a nucleophilic aliphatic substitution such as the reaction of the bromide 3.5 with sodium iodide (Figure 3-21a) can lead to a range of stereochemical products, from a l l mbrture of 3.6 and 3.7 (racemization) to only 3.7 (inversion) depending on the groups a, b, and c that are bonded to the central carbon atom. The ring closure of the 1,3-butadiene, 3.8, to cyclobutene... 

Such reductive ring contractions of sulfones are formally similar to two other methods capable of supplanting a sulfur atom by a carbon-carbon double bond the Ramberg-Backlundand Stevens rearrangements. The distinguishing feature of this novel approach to cyclobutenes consists in the resultant higher level of alkyl substitution at the sp -hybridized centers. 

The ring closure of a diene to a cyclobutene can occur with rotation of the two termini in the same conrotatory) or opposite disrotatory) directions. For suitable substituted compounds, these two reaction modes lead to products with different stereochemistry. 

Since 3-methylenecyclobutane-l,2-dicarboxylic anhydride is easily converted to 3-methyl-2-cydobutene-l,2-dicarboxylic acid, it is an intermediate to a variety of cyclobutenes. The dimethyl ester of 3-methylenecyclobutane-l,2-dicarboxylic acid is also a versatile compound on pyrolysis it gives the substituted allene, methyl butadienoate, and on treatment with amines it gives a cyclobutene, dimethyl 3-methyl-2-cyclobutene-l,2-di-carboxylate. ... 

A similar substitution pattern can be obtained by applying a thermal protocol as well [75]. Ortho-methoxyphenol 131 has been synthesised in good yields by warming the cyclobutene-containing 1,3,5-metallatriene 130 in tetra-hydrofuran (Scheme 55). 

The cationic pathway allows the conversion of carboxylic acids into ethers, acetals or amides. From a-aminoacids versatile chiral building blocks are accessible. The eliminative decarboxylation of vicinal diacids or P-silyl carboxylic acids, combined with cycloaddition reactions, allows the efficient construction of cyclobutenes or cyclohexadienes. The induction of cationic rearrangements or fragmentations is a potent way to specifically substituted cyclopentanoids and ring extensions by one-or four carbons. In view of these favorable qualities of Kolbe electrolysis, numerous useful applications of this old reaction can be expected in the future. 

The single crystal X-ray structure of the enantiopure tetrahydro oxepin-2-one 61, a mimic of steroidal androgens, has been reported <06ZN(B)111>. A new procedure has been described for the synthesis of substituted furano-fused oxepines based on expoxidation of strained fused cyclobutenes followed by thermal rearrangement <06OL5183>. 

TABLE 11. Substituted butadienes through cyclobutene ring-opening reactions... 

The reaction of silylborane with 1-halo-l-lithio-l-alkenes yields 1-boryl-l-silyl-l-alkenes via borate formation followed by 1,2-migration of silyl group (Equation (90)).76,240 The mechanism seems to be closely related to that proposed for the silaboration of isocyanide (Figure 2). Vinyl-substituted carbenoids, l-chloro-l-lithio-2-alkenes, react with silylpinacolborane to give l-boryl-l-silyl-2-alkanes in good yield (Equation (91)).241 This methodology is applied to the synthesis of l-boryl-l-silyl-2-cyclobutene.2 2 Similar reactions are carried out with other carbenoid... 

Halogen-substituted allenes undergo [2 + 2]-homodimerization under relatively mild conditions to afford l,2-bis(halomethylene)cyclobutene derivatives in good yields [9]. 

With the silyl-substituted difluoroallene 245 and molybdenum hexacarbonyl, the expected [2+ 2+ 1] cycloaddition is not observed. CO is not incorporated and the cyclobutene derivatives 246 can be isolated in good yields (Scheme 15.77) [148]. 

The thermal isomerizations of a number of alkyl substituted cyclobutenes have been investigated in the gas phase. In all cases the reactions have been shown to be first order homogeneous reactions with no radical-chain component. The results obtained are shown in Table 6. 

These processes may be designated conrotatory (16) and disrotatory (17). In practice the isomerization of the appropriately substituted cyclobutenes follow a conrotatory pathway. Thus ci5-3,4-dimethylcyclobutene yields only cia-irans-2,4 hexadiene, and iraws-3,4-dimethyleyclobutene yields only transition state suggested previously, the conrotatory process is in fact the one to be expected. However, the situation is not quite as simple as here implied. By similar arguments the thermal cyclization of hexatrienes would also be expected to be conrotatory, whereas in fact it is disrotatory, viz. ... 

Particularly interesting is the reaction of enynes with catalytic amounts of carbene complexes (Figure 3.50). If the chain-length between olefin and alkyne enables the formation of a five-membered or larger ring, then RCM can lead to the formation of vinyl-substituted cycloalkenes [866] or heterocycles. Examples of such reactions are given in Tables 3.18-3.20. It should, though, be taken into account that this reaction can also proceed by non-carbene-mediated pathways. Also Fischer-type carbene complexes and other complexes [867] can catalyze enyne cyclizations [267]. Trost [868] proposed that palladium-catalyzed enyne cyclizations proceed via metallacyclopentenes, which upon reductive elimination yield an intermediate cyclobutene. Also a Lewis acid-catalyzed, intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition of, e.g., acceptor-substituted alkynes to an alkene to yield a cyclobutene can be considered as a possible mechanism of enyne cyclization. 

Keywords Absolute configuration, Amines, Amino acids, Carbenes, Cascade reactions, 2-chloro-2-cyclopropylideneacetates. Combinatorial libraries. Cycloadditions, Cyclobutenes, Cyclopropanes, Diels-Alder reactions. Heterocycles, Michael additions. Nitrones, Nucleophilic substitutions, Peptidomimetics, Palladium catalysis. Polycycles, Solid phase synthesis, Spiro compounds. Thiols... 

The (diphenylmethylene)aminocyclobutenecarboxylates 109 obtained by rearrangement of the DMPA-H adducts of 1-Me, 2-Me, contain a 2-azadiene unit and a cyclobutene moiety. Indeed, the parent compound 109 a reacted with 4-phenyl-l,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD, [80]) at room temperature in a [4-1-2] cycloaddition mode to yield the tricyclic tetraazaundecene 132 in almost quantitative yield (Scheme 44) [8]. As substituted cyclobutenes, compounds 109 should be capable of opening up to the corresponding butadienes [1, 2b, 811. When compounds 109 were subjected to flash vacuum pyrolysis, the dihydro-isoquinolines 135 were obtained, presumably via the expected ring-opened intermediates 133, which subsequently underwent bn electrocyclization followed by a 1,5-shift, as is common for other 3-aza-l,3,5-hexatrienes [82]. 

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