Cyclopropane ring-openings electrophilic

Several steps are involved in these reactions. First, the enolate of the (1-kelocstcr opens the cyclopropane ring. The polarity of this process corresponds to that in the formal synthon B because the cyclopropyl carbons are electrophilic. The product of the ringopening step is a stabilized Wittig ylide, which can react with the ketone carbonyl to form the carbocyclic ring. 

The discovery of carbene and carbenoid additions to olefins was the major breakthrough that initiated the tapping of this structural resource for synthetic purposes. Even so, designed applications of cyclopropane chemistry in total syntheses remain limited. Most revolve around electrophilic type reactions such as acid induced ring opening or solvolysis of cyclopropyl carbinyl alcohol derivatives. One notable application apart from these electrophilic reactions is the excellent synthesis of allenes from dibromocyclopropanes 2). 

One of the most efficient procedures for the synthesis of cyclopropanes is the reaction of alkenes with electrophilic carbene complexes. In this process up to three stereogenic centers can be generated in one step. Cyclopropanes are a key structural element encountered in many natural products with interesting biological activity. Further, by virtue of the ability of cyclopropanes to undergo ring-opening reactions these compounds can be valuable synthetic intermediates. 

Suzuki has shown that vinylcyclopropane 143 behaves both as an electrophile and a nucleophile and thus undergoes palladium-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization as shown in Equation (66). Vinyl cyclopropane 143 first reacts with palladium(O) to induce ring opening of the cyclopropane ring and forms zwitterionic TT-allylpalladium/molonate anion species. Repeated intermolecular attack of the malonate anionic moiety to the 7r-allylpalladium part through bond formation of an r/i -carbon atom affords finally the polymer 142. ... 

Only a limited number of examples are known of applications of thietanes in organic synthesis. Prominent among these examples would be electrophilic ring opening reactions leading to polyfunctional sulfur compounds (33)-(37), utilization of 3-thietanones (55) and metal complexes (87) derived therefrom as oxyallyl zwitterion equivalents in cycloaddition reactions, synthesis of dipeptide (63) with a /3-thiolactone, Raney nickel desulfurization of thietanes (e.g. 120 cf. Table 7) as a route to gem-dimethyl compounds, and desulfurization of thietanes (e.g. 17) in the synthesis of cyclopropanes (also see Table 7). 

Fluorinated carbocations play an important role as intermediates in electrophilic reactions of fluoroolefins and other unsaturated compounds. For example, F-allyl cation 1 was proposed as a reactive intermediate in reactions of HFP with fluoroolefins catalyzed by Lewis acids [7]. The difference in stability of the corresponding allylic cations was suggested as the explanation for regio-specific electrophilic conjugated addition to CF2=CC1CF=CF2 [11]. Allylic polyfluorinated carbocations were proposed as intermediates in the reactions of terminal allenes with HF [53] and BF3 [54], ring-opening reactions of cyclopropanes [55], Carbocations are also an important part of the classic mechanism of electrophilic addition to olefins (see Eq. 2). This section deals with the questions of existence and stability of poly- and perfluorinated carbocations. 

Therefore acceptor cyclopropanes 1 will be ring opened by nucleophiles N to provide products like 2 (homo Michael addition) as depicted in Eq. 1. On the other hand, electrophiles E+ cleave donor activated cyclopropanes 3 affording adducts 4 or 5 which demonstrates that the cyclopropane serves as a homoenolate equivalent in this sequence (Eq. 2). Seebach consequently classified these methods as umpolung with the cyclopropane trick 4. ... 

The nucleophilic character of the unsubstituted cyclopropane is usually still predominating in donor-acceptor-activated derivatives. Thus, most ring openings start with the attack of an electrophile E+ and give products 13 passing through intermediates of type 12 (Scheme 2). In contrast, additions of nucleophiles N- giving 15 via 14 are so far restricted to exceptional cases with enhanced activity. 

By contrast, 1,2,4-triazole carbene 354 displays electrophilic character. Thus, it reacts with alcohols and amines producing triazoline derivatives 355 in quantitative yields. Oxygen or sulfur gives triazolinone and triazolinethione derivatives 356 (similar reaction with tellurium is known for imidazol-2-ylidenes). Reactions of 354 with dimethyl maleate or dimethyl fumarate lead to compounds 357, probably via ring opening of a cyclopropane intermediate with subsequent 1,2-hydrogen shift. 

The observation that carbenoids are capable of electrophilic attack at the 3-position of A -BOC-pyrrole may shed light on other carbenoid reactions that have stood out as rather unusual transformations. For example, a very useful [3- -2]-annulation between diazodimedone 1071 and ethyl 177-pyrrole-l-carboxylate leading to the tricyclic product 1072 was discovered (Scheme 208) <1995JOC2112>. It was proposed that the reactions occurred through initial cyclopropanation followed by ring opening of the pyrrolocyclopropane 1073 to a zwitterionic intermediate 1074. 

A remarkable dependence of the reactivity on ring size has been found in the series of methylenecycloalkanes (Fig. 9) [106]. The exceptionally low rate constant for methylenecyclopropane indicates that the low solvolysis rates of cyclopropyl derivatives [154] are not only caused by the unfavorable change of hybridization of one ring carbon in cyclopropane but also by the low stability of the cyclopropyl cation relative to a compound with the same hybridization (methylenecyclopropane). The destabilization of the cyclopropyl cation must actually be greater than indicated by the numbers in Fig. 9 as the transition state of the electrophilic attack may already profit from the stabilizing ring-opening process (cf., Section III.B.2). 

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