Cyclopropanes vinyl, from dienes

Butadiene. The reaction of methylene with butadiene was studied by Frey44 under experimental conditions similar to those in the case of allene, except that lower pressures were required to avoid butadiene polymerization. Products formed by attack of methylene on the C—H bonds were cis and vinyl-cyclopropane resulting from addition of CH2 to the carbon-carbon double bond underwent collisional deactivation or isomerization to cyclopentene and C dienes, with the exception of isoprene. 

Small amounts of cyclopentene derivatives are detected in cyclopropanation reactions of electron-deficient dienes, but they may result from thermal rearrangement of the corresponding vinyl cyclopropanes and not from a direct [4+1] cycloaddition... 

When free radicals are added to 1,5- or 1,6-dienes, the initially formed radical (9) can add intramolecularly to the other bond, leading to a cyclic product (10). When the radical is generated from an precursor that gives vinyl radical 11, however, cyclization leads to 12, which is in equilibrium with cyclopropylcarbinyl radical 13 via a 5-exo-trig reaction. A 6-endo-trig reaction leads to 14, but unless there are perturbing substituent effects, however, cyclopropanation should be the major process. 

Dihydro-2iy-thiopyrans, derived from dimethylbuta-1,3-dienes, Na2S203-5H20 and various activated alkyl h des, ring contract on treatment with a strong base leading to vinyl cyclopropanes and cyclopentenes <96JOC4725>. 

Apart from these findings, the limited application of ZnCl2 (cyclopropanation of some cyclic 1,3-dienes, isoprene and ethyl vinyl ether 4S-49)) and copper(II) acetyl-acetonate (cyclopropanation of enamines 50)) still stand alone. 

Where the diene function is attached to or is part of a carbocyclic system, the vinyl cyclopropane formation and subsequent rearrangement affords a reliable approach to the formation of tricyclic carbocycles. Some of the most elegant demonstrations of the use of this methodology in total synthesis of fused cyclopentanoid terpenes come from the work of Hudlicky and coworkers (equations 63-66)90 95"100. In these cases the diazoketones bear a carboxylate-substituted double bond of diene and the intramolecular cyclopropanation requires the combination of CuS04/Cu(acac)2 as catalyst. 

Cyclopropane formation occurs from reactions between diazo compounds and alkenes, catalyzed by a wide variety of transition-metal compounds [7-9], that involve the addition of a carbene entity to a C-C double bond. This transformation is stereospecific and generally occurs with electron-rich alkenes, including substituted olefins, dienes, and vinyl ethers, but not a,(J-unsaturated carbonyl compounds or nitriles [23,24], Relative reactivities portray a highly electrophilic intermediate and an early transition state for cyclopropanation reactions [15,25], accounting in part for the relative difficulty in controlling selectivity. For intermolecular reactions, the formation of geometrical isomers, regioisomers from reactions with dienes, and enantiomers must all be taken into account. 

CO)2Fe (THF) BFT A transition state model for the syn stereoselective cyclo-propanations of alkenes with diazoacetic ester by Rh-porphyrin catalysts has been proposed. Alkenes , conjugated dienes and enol ethers are stereoselectively cyclopropanated with Rh(II) -stabilized 1- (alkoxycarbonyl)vinyl carbenoids derived from the diazo precursors and Rh2(OAc)4 (equation 95). The Cu(acac)2-catalyzed reactions of Me3SiCH2COCHN2 with alkenes provide the expected adducts in good yields ". ... 

MO calculations have been carried out on the isomerization of cyclopropane to propene, and the MNDO method has been used to study the reaction pathway and to optimize the structure of reactant, transition structure, and product of the ring opening reaction of bicyclo[1.1.0]butane. Various methods have been employed to estimate the rate constants for ring opening of the 2-cyclopropyl-2-propyl radical. 1-Acceptor-1-sulfenyl-substituted 2-vinylcyclopropanes of the type (430) have been found to afford 6-sulfenyl-a,jS y, -unsaturated carboxylic esters and nitriles (431) upon treatment with acid, by a process which involves C(l)—C(2) bond fission and a novel 1,5-sulfenyl rearrangement (see Scheme 110). It has been shown that the benzophenone-sensitized photolysis of vinyl norcaradiene derivatives, such as 5-(2-methylprop-l-enyl)-3-oxatricyclo[4.4.0.0 ]deca-7,9-dien-4-ones (432), results in the regioselective cleavage of only one of the cyclopropyl c-bonds to afford isochroman-3-one derivatives (433). It has been reported that the major product obtained from the reaction of structurally diverse a-diazo ketones with an electron-rich alkene in the... 

The catalytic activity of low-valent ruthenium species in carbene-transfer reactions is only beginning to emerge. The ruthenium(O) cluster RujCCO), catalyzed formation of ethyl 2-butyloxycyclopropane-l-carboxylate from ethyl diazoacetate and butyl vinyl ether (65 °C, excess of alkene, 0.5 mol% of catalyst yield 65%), but seems not to have been further utilized. The ruthenacarborane clusters 6 and 7 as well as the polymeric diacetatotetracarbonyl-diruthenium (8) have catalytic activity comparable to that of rhodium(II) carboxylates for the cyclopropanation of simple alkenes, cycloalkenes, 1,3-dienes, enol ethers, and styrene with diazoacetic esters. Catalyst 8 also proved exceptionally suitable for the cyclopropanation using a-diazo-a-trialkylsilylacetic esters. ... 

Bis(camphorquinone-a-dioximato)cobalt(II) (10) has been developed as a catalyst for enan-tioselective cyclopropanation reactions. It allows selective carbene transfer from diazoacetic esters to terminal C-C double bonds which are in conjugation with vinyl, aryl, alkoxycarbonyl or cyano groups, but not to alkyl-substituted alkenes, cycloalkenes, 1,3-dienes and al-lenes. The unusual chemoselectivity and some other experimental observations make the two mechanistic pathways proposed vide supra) questionable for these special carbene-transfer reactions. In contrast, the cobalt(II) complex 11 allows not only the cyclopropanation of styrene but also of oct-l-ene, a nonactivated alkene (ethyl diazoacetate, 35 °C, 3mol% of catalyst yield 50-60%). ... 

One of the earliest useful applications of eliminations in the cyclopropane series is the two-step synthesis of l-alkenyl-2-alkylidenecyclopropanes from simple alkenes. The first step consists of addition of dichlorocarbene to the alkene to give a 1,1-dichlorocyclopropane. This is then followed by double dehydrochlorination with potassium /ert-butoxide in dimethyl sulfoxide at room temperature (Table 6). The product diene contains one double bond exo to the cyclopropane ring and the other in the vinyl position, presumably through the intermediacy of an undetected, highly strained methylenecyclopropene. The method is illustrated by the synthesis of l-methylene-2-vinylcyclopropane (3) starting from pent-2-ene (1). ... 

In some cycloadditions of cycloproparenes, secondary products derived from opening of the cyclopropane bond were observed. The reaction of benzocyclopropene with buta-1,3-diene gave the expected bicyclo[4.4.1]undeca-l,3,5,8-tetraene(5)in 6% yield 2-vinyl-2,3-dihydro-17/-indene (43%) and 8,9-dihydro-5/7-benzocycloheptatriene (10%) were also obtained which are believed to arise via a competing radical pathway. ... 

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