Cycloreversion reactions cyclobutanes

A mechanophore (blue in Fig. 2a) is a strategically designed chemical entity which responds to mechanical force in a predictable and useful manner (Fig. 2d-f). The polymer strand here acts as an actuator to transmit macroscopic force to the target. For a fully extended polymer chain, the maximum tension force is at the middle point of the chain contour. So the mechanophore should be incorporated into the middle of the chain with its active bond along the chain contotu (Fig. 2a) [15, 29, 32]. Examples of mechanochemical reactions include homolytic scission of weak bonds (diazo [33]), electrocyclic ring-opening (benzocyclobutenes [29], spiropyrans [32, 34 5], gem-dichlorocyclopropanes [46-49], ge/n-difluorocyclo-propanes [30, 50], and epoxide [51]), cycloreversion reactions (cyclobutane derivatives [52-56], Diels-Alder adducts [57, 58], 1,3-dipolar adducts [59, 60], and 1,2-dioxetanes [61]), dative bond scission [62-64], and flex-activated reactions [34, 65, 66], as recently reviewed by Bielawski [67]. 

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. 

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... 

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. 

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... 

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... 

Cyclobutanes may be converted to alkenes thermally, the reverse of the [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. These retroaddition or cycloreversion reactions have important synthetic applications and offer further insights into the chemical behavior of the 1,4-diradical intermediates involved they may proceed to product alkenes or collapse to starting material with loss of stereochemistry. Both observations are readily accommodated by the diradical mechanism. Generation of 1,4-tetramethylene diradicals in other ways, such as from cyclic diazo precursors, results in formation of both alkenes and cyclobutanes, with stereochemical details consistent with kinetically competitive bond rotations before the diradical gives cyclobutanes or alkenes. From the tetraalkyl-substituted systems (5) and (6), cyclobutane products are formed with very high retention stereospecificity,while the diradicals generated from the azo precursors (7) and (8) lead to alkene and cyclobutane products with some loss of stereochemical definition. ... 

The impact of (2 + 2)-cycloaddition and (2 + 2)-cycloreversion reactions of heterocyclic compounds on organic chemistry over the last 10 years is clearly illustrated by several examples. Various members of the important /Hactam antibiotics, penicillin and cephalosporin C, as well as structurally related heterobicyclic compounds have been obtained by (2+ 2)-cycloaddition of heterocycles with ketenes (Section II,D,l).n Intramolecular photochemical (2 + 2)-cycloadditions of 2-pyrones yield 2-oxabicyclo 2.2.01hex-5-en-3-ones, which upon further irradiation afford cyclobutadienes (Section III,D,2).12 Intermolecular (2 + 2)-cyclo-additions of vinylene carbonates with olefins and with acetylenes offer a simple route to cyclobutanes and cyclobutenes, respectively (Sections III,B,3 and 5).13 (2 + 2)-Cycloaddition and (2 + 2)-cycloreversion reactions have contributed substantially to the development of the chemistry... 

Notably, photodimers of the cyclobutane type are cleaved by irradiation with far-UV light (240 nm) with a quantum yield of almost unity by way of the so-called [2+2] cycloreversion reaction. In living cells, dimer lesions can be repaired by the nucleotide excision repair pathway, which is based on the excision of a small piece of DNA around the lesion. Lesions not removed from the genome lead to cell death or mutagenesis. 

Cycloreversion Reactions A cycloreversion reaction is the reverse of a cycloaddition reaction and leads to the formation of the starting reactants through the cleavage of two bonds in the ring [18], A typical example is the formation of C2H4+ and neutral C2H4 from the cyclobutane radical cation. As shown in reaction (6.37), this reaction proceeds through the intermediacy of a distonic ion. The radical cations of a variety of other four-membered cyclic compounds, such as cyclobutanones (3), diketene (4), oxetane (5), cyclobutylamine (6), and thiocyclobutane (7), are known to participate in cycloreversion reactions [27]. 

The cycloaddition of two ethylenes or the cycloreversion of cyclobutane is one of the textbook examples used in the illustration of the Woodward-Hoffman rules [20] of orbital symmetry. Studies on the cyclobutane radical cation [21,22] showed a low activation energy for the cycloaddition of an ethylene radical cation to ethylene, in remarkable contrast with the high activation energy for the corresponding neutral reaction [23]. The dissociation reaction of cyclobutane radical cation is endothermic. Although there is a cyclobutane ring in the pyrimidine dimer, its electronic structure is likely to be different from cyclobutane itself, because of the presence of the two pyrimidine rings. 

The cycloreversion reaction of the cyclobutane radical cation is highly endothermic at any level of the calculation [22], A transition state was determined between the cyclobutane radical cation (cB +) and the 7t complex cation intermediate, although no transition state was found between the... 

Certain transition metals catalyse the thermally forbidden [2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions to form a cyclobutane ring or the corresponding cycloreversion reaction. One of the proposed mechanisms for this reaction (Scheme 3) involves the metal acting as a template which provides /-orbitals of the... 

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. 

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... 

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-... 

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... 

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. °... 

In accordance with this plan, the target tricyclic system 92 was assembled in three reactions a Diels-Alder cycloaddition of the 2,5-dimethylbenzoquinone 96 and cyclopentadiene 95 to give 94 (quantitative yield) an intramolecular [2 4- 2] cycloaddition leading to 93 (85% yield) and finally, a quantitative conversion of the latter intermediate into the desired tricyclic system 92 by a [2 4- 2] cycloreversion under thermolysis conditions.Thus the closure of the cyclobutane ring proceeds with the formation of two vertical bonds, and C -C, while its cleavage involves the breakage of its two horizontal bonds, C -C. The net outcome of these two reactions corresponds to the most unusual isomerization of 94 into 92. 

Miranda and his co-workers have studied the cycloreversion of the cyclobutanes (127) and (128) and of the oxetane (129). This work made use of the pyrylium salt sensitizers (130). The reactions arise from the triplet state of the sensitizers since there is clear evidence that the reactions are quenched by molecular oxygen. The ring opening involves an electron transfer, and the best sensitizer is the thiapyrylium salt (130b). The quantum yields for the three products using the three sensitizers are shown in Table 2. ... 

---