Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions, solvent

Scheme 6.89 Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions under solvent-free conditions.

Scheme 6.91 Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions in ionic liquid-doped solvents.

Inter- and intramolecular hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions in a series of functionalized 2-(lH)-pyrazinones have been studied in detail by the groups of Van der Eycken and Kappe (Scheme 6.95) [195-197]. In the intramolecular series, cycloaddition of alkenyl-tethered 2-(lH)-pyrazinones required 1-2 days under conventional thermal conditions involving chlorobenzene as solvent under reflux conditions (132 °C). Switching to 1,2-dichloroethane doped with the ionic liquid l-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (bmimPF6) and sealed-vessel microwave technology, the same transformations were completed within 8-18 min at a reaction temperature of 190 °C (Scheme 6.95 a) [195]. Without isolating the primary imidoyl chloride cycloadducts, rapid hydrolysis was achieved by the addition of small amounts of water and subjecting the reaction mixture to further microwave irradia-... 

Oppolzer sultam-like chiral auxiliary (e.g., Xc in 304) has been studied in Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions (Scheme 43) <2003JP0700>. The TiCU-promoted reaction of dienophile 304 and 1,3-cyclopentadiene 305 in DCM is complete within 18h and excellent diastereoselectivity of product 306 is observed. The same reaction in the absence of Lewis acid provides product 306 in very low yield. However, switching to trifluoroethanol as the solvent, the cycloaddition reaction proceeds to completion, albeit with slightly diminished levels of diastereoselectivity for Diels-Alder adduct 306. Surprisingly, the use of hexane as the solvent affords the opposite (23, J 31-diastereomer of 306 as the major product. 

While studies of reactions in supercritical fluids abound, only a few researchers have addressed the fundamental molecular effects that the supercritical fluid solvent has on the reactants and products that can enhance or depress reaction rates. A few measurements of reaction rate constants as a function of pressure do exist. For instance, Paulaitis and Alexander (1987) studied the Diels Alder cycloaddition reaction between maleic anhydride and isoprene in SCF CO2. They observed bimolecular rate constants that increased with increasing pressure above the critical point and finally at high pressures approached the rates observed in high pressure liquid solutions. Johnston and Haynes (1987) found the same trends in the... 

Further examples of Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions with small or negligible rate solvent effects can be found in the literature [531-535], The thermolysis of 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene derivatives is an example of a solvent-independent retro-Diels-Alder reaction [537]. For some theoretical treatments of the solvent influence on Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions, which, in general, confirm their small solvent-dependence, see references [536, 797-799]. 

Solvent-controlled diastereoselectivities have also been observed in Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions of cyclopentadiene with bis-(—)-menthyl fumarate [707] and with the acrylate of (S)-ethyl lactate, CH2=CH-C0-0CH(CH3)-C02Et [708]. In the latter reaction, giving four diastereomeric cycloadducts, diastereoselectivities of up to 85 15 have been obtained in n-hexane [708], The diastereoselectivities decrease with increasing solvent polarity, while the endojexo selectivity increases. This is in agreement with the pattern found for simple achiral acrylates [124] cf. Eq. (5-43) in Section 5.3.3. We shall conclude this section with reference to the E)I Z) isomerization of R ... 

Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions have undergone impressive improvements, taking advantage of hydrophobic interactions existing between the essentially nonpolar reactants in the aqueous medium. The use of water as a solvent in Diels-Alder reactions leads to greatly enhanced reaction rates and selectivities. This remarkable result has been pioneered by Breslow et al. [801] and further explored by Grieco et al. [714] for reviews, see references [715-718]. 

For example, the rate of the Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction between 9-(hydroxymethyl)anthracene and A-ethylmaleimide, as shown in Eq. (5-159), is only slightly altered on changing the solvent from dipolar acetonitrile to nonpolar isooctane, as expected for an isopolar transition state reaction cf. Section 5.3.3. In water, however. 

The Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction of 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone with methyl (ii)-3,5-hexadienoate, carried out in toluene as solvent, gives only traces of the cycloadduct shown in Eq. (5-160), even after seven days. However, when the solvent is changed to water and sodium ( )-3,5-hexadienoate is used as the diene, 77 cmol/mol of the desired cycloadduct is obtained after one hour and esterification with diazomethane [714] f Again, hydrophobic interactions between diene and dienophile in the aqueous medium seem to be responsible for this remarkable and synthetically useful rate acceleration. 

Surprisingly, some Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions show no variation in endojexo product ratio with changes in solvent phase. Ordered liquid-crystalline solvents are not able to differentiate between endo- and exo-activated complexes in the Diels-Alder reaction of 2,5-dimethyl-3,4-diphenylcyclopentadienone with dienophiles of varying size (cyclopentene, cycloheptene, indene, and acenaphthylene), when it is carried out in isotropic (benzene), cholesteric (cholesteryl propionate), and smectic liquid-crystalline solvents at 105 °C [734]. 

Two typical examples shall illustrate the predictions made by Table 5-25. Clear-cut examples of reaction type 2 are Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions The solvent... 

The first Diels-Alder reaction studied under high pressure was the dimerization of cyclopen-tadiene [751]. For recent, more detailed studies of the pressure-dependence of Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions in solvents of different polarity, as well as discussions of the corresponding mechanistic aspects, see references [857, 874]. 

The Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction of maleic anhydride with isoprene has been studied in supercritical-fluid CO2 under conditions near the critical point of CO2 [759]. The rate constants obtained for supercritical-fluid CO2 as solvent at 35 °C and high pressures (>200 bar) are similar to those obtained using normal liquid ethyl acetate as the solvent. However, at 35 °C and pressures approaching the critical pressure of CO2 (7.4 MPa), the effect of pressure on the rate constant becomes substantial. Obviously, AV takes on large negative values at temperatures and pressures near the critical point of CO2. Thus, pressure can be used to manipulate reaction rates in supercritical solvents under near-critical conditions. This effect of pressure on reacting systems in sc-fluids appears to be unique. A discussion of fundamental aspects of reaction kinetics under near-critical reaction conditions within the framework of transition-state theory can be found in reference [759],... 

Ionic liquids can be used as replacements for many volatile conventional solvents in chemical processes see Table A-14 in the Appendix. Because of their extraordinary properties, room temperature ionic liquids have already found application as solvents for many synthetic and catalytic reactions, for example nucleophilic substitution reactions [899], Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions [900, 901], Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation reactions [902, 903], as well as palladium-catalyzed Heck vinylations of haloarenes [904]. They are also solvents of choice for homogeneous transition metal complex catalyzed hydrogenation, isomerization, and hydroformylation [905], as well as dimerization and oligomerization reactions of alkenes [906, 907]. The ions of liquid salts are often poorly coordinating, which prevents deactivation of the catalysts. 

With 1,1-disubstituted trifluoromethylated alkenes, such as a-(trifluoromethyl)styrene, cycloaddition w ith nitrone 1 is regioselective, and a 50 50 mixture of the ais/ /ranj-isomers is obtained, as observed in Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions (see Section 2.1.1.6.2.1.1.).5 When the reaction is performed solvent-free under microwave irradiation, instead of under thermal conditions (boiling toluene), the yield is improved from 65% to 98% and the reaction time decreases from 48 hours to 4 minutes, however, stereoselectivity is not improved.79... 

A chiral zw a-metallocene triflate complex catalyzes the Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction between an oxazolidinone-based dienophile and cyclopentadiene [206]. Triflate in titanocene and zirconocene complexes is labile [207,208] and thus the polarity of solvent influences the reactivity and enantioselectivity. Asymmetric hydrogenation of imines and enamines catalyzed by chiral aw a-titanocene catalyst provides amines with high enantioselectivity [209,210]. 

The Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction is a concerted reaction, with no change in the charge density upon going from reactants to the activated complex and finally to the products. Therefore, from the Hughes-Ingold approach, litde solvent effect is expected upon these reactions. In spite of this, dramatic solvent effects are often observed when a non-symmetric dienophile is used, and a mixture of products is formed. For instance, the reaction of methyl acrylate with cyclopentadiene gives a mixture of two products (see Scheme 10.61. 

Garrigues et al. (1996) reported the microwave-assisted Diels-Alder reaction between anthracene and azadienes supported on graphite, while Diaz-Ortiz et al. (2000) studied the solvent-free microwave-assisted Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction, where a 1,2,3-triazole ring serve as a diene towards DMAD. 

A set of Diels-Alder reactions of fused pyran-2-ones with ethyl vinyl ether (an appropriate synthetic equivalent of acetylene) gave fused carbocyclic systems. DABCO was used as a catalyst for the elimination of ethanol under microwave irradiation (Juranovic et al., 2012). The Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction in 3-nitro-l-(p-toluenesulfonyl)indole with dienes under microwave irradiation in solvent-free conditions gave carbazole derivatives after elimination of the nitro group and in situ aromatization (Victoria et al., 2009). 

In addition to activation by Lewis acids, the Diels-Alder reaction has also been shown to undergo dramatic acceleration in certain reaction media. Breslow, for example, noted that water as a solvent can lead to substantive rate enhancement (Equation 2) [21]. The cycloaddition reaction of cyclopen-tadiene and methyl vinyl ketone (19) shows a more than 700-fold rate increase in water relative to that in isooctane. Additionally, when Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions are conducted in water with LiCl or /1-cyclodextrin (18) as additives, further rate increases are observed (2.5-fold over water and 1800 over isooctane). It was suggested that this phenomenon was the result of hydrophobic effects, leading to mutual aggregation of the diene and dienophile [21, 22]. 

Diels-Alder cycloaddition of 5-bromo-2-pyrone with the electron-rich tert-butyldi-methylsilyl (TBS) enol ether of acetaldehyde, using superheated dichloromethane as solvent, has been investigated by Joullie and coworkers (Scheme 6.90) [188]. While the reaction in a sealed tube at 95 °C required 5 days to reach completion, the anticipated oxabicyclo[2.2.2]octenone core was obtained within 6 h by microwave irradiation at 100 °C. The endo adduct was obtained as the main product. Similar results and selectivities were also obtained with a more elaborate bis-olefin, although the desired product was obtained in diminished yield. Related cydoaddition reactions involving 2-pyrones have been discussed in Section 2.5.3 (see Scheme 2.4) [189]. 

A general hetero-Diels-Alder cycloaddition of fulvenes with azadienes to furnish tetrahydro-[l]pyrindines has been described by Hong and coworkers (Scheme 6.241 see also Scheme 6.92) [424]. A solution of the azadiene and fulvene (1.2 equivalents) precursors in chlorobenzene was heated under open-vessel microwave irradiation for 30 min at 125 °C to provide the target compounds in excellent yields and with exclusive regio- and diastereoselectivity. Performing the reactions under conventional conditions or under microwave irradiation in different solvents provided significantly reduced yields. 

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