Diels-Alder cyclopentadiene+acrylonitrile

Electrostatic potential map for transition state for Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and acrylonitrile shows negatively-charged regions (in red) and positively-charged regions (in blue). 

Compare electrostatic potential maps for the following Diels-Alder transition states cyclopentadiene+ethene, cyclopentadiene+acrylonitrile and cyclopentadiene+ tetracyanoethylene, with those of reactants cyclopentadiene, ethene, acrylonitrile and tetracyanoethylene. Are electrons transferred from diene to dienophile in the transition states (relative to reactants) or vice versa For which reaction is the transfer the greatest The least Quantify your conclusion by measuring the total charge on the diene and dienophile components in the three transition states. 

Check your predictions by calculating activation energies for Diels-Alder additions. Data for transition states 1-methylcyclopentadiene+acrylonitrile and 1-methyl-cyclopentadiene+acrylonitrile BF3 are available. 

The Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl vinyl ketone and acrylonitrile are accelerated when carried out in water in the presence of jS-CD but are slower with a-CD [65a] (Scheme 4.16). This is in agreement with the observation that the transition states of these cycloadditions fit into the hydro-phobic cavity of P-CD but not in the smaller a-CD cavity. 

Rideout and Breslow first reported [2a] the kinetic data for the accelerating effect of water, for the Diels Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl vinyl ketone and acrylonitrile and the cycloaddition of anthracene-9-carbinol with N-ethylmaleimide, giving impetus to research in this area (Table 6.1). The reaction in water is 28 to 740 times faster than in the apolar hydrocarbon isooctane. By adding lithium chloride (salting-out agent) the reaction rate increases 2.5 times further, while the presence of guanidinium chloride decreases it. The authors suggested that this exceptional effect of water is the result of a combination of two factors the polarity of the medium and the... 

Earle and coworkers [54] have performed Diels-Alder reactions in neutral ionic liquids. The results of reactions of cyclopentadiene with dimethyl maleate, ethyl acrylate and acrylonitrile are reported in Table 6.10. The cycloadditions proceeded at room temperature in all of the ionic liquids tested, except [BMIMJPF4, and gave almost quantitative yields after 18-24h. The endo/exo selectivity depends on dienophile. No enantioselectivity was observed in the [BMIM] lactate reaction. 

Table 6.10 Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with dimethyl maleate, ethylacrylate and acrylonitrile in neutral ionic liquids...

An ab initio MO calculation by Jorgensen revealed enhanced hydrogen bonding of a water molecule to the transition states for the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl vinyl ketone and acrylonitrile, which indicates that the observed rate accelerations for Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous solution arise from the hydrogenbonding effect in addition to a relatively constant hydrophobic term.7,76 Ab initio calculation using a self-consistent reaction field continuum model shows that electronic and nuclear polarization effects in solution are crucial to explain the stereoselectivity of nonsymmetrical... 

Some chiral 1,3,2-dioxastannolanes were used as catalysts in asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with methyl acrylate <90JCR(S)278>. A-Alkenyl- and -cycloalkenyl 1,3,2-oxaza-stannolanes, generated in situ from chiral amino alcohols, gave optically active 2-substituted aldehydes and ketones in modest to high chemical and optical yields after alkylation with methyl acrylate or acrylonitrile (which is usual for enamines) and subsequent hydrolysis <85CC504,85JOC3863>. 

Additional animations show the positive nature of the hydrogen being transferred during pyrolysis of ethyl formate and the fact that the two new carbon-carbon bonds are formed at dilferent rates during Diels-Alder cycloaddition of cyclopentadiene and acrylonitrile. 

A good example for which experimental data are available, involves activation energies for Diels-Alder cycloadditions of different cyanoethylenes as dienophiles with cyclopentadiene, relative to the addition of acrylonitrile with cyclopentadiene as a standard. 

Table 9-5 Regio and Stereoselectivity in Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of Substituted Cyclopentadienes with Acrylonitrile ... 

Table 12-17 Effect of Choice of Geometry on Relative Energies of Regio and Stereochemical Prodncts of Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of Snbstitnted Cyclopentadienes with Acrylonitrile/ 6-31G Model... 

Diels-Alder cycloaddition of 1,3-butadiene and acrylonitrile is significantly slower than the analogous reaction involving cyclopentadiene. Might this simply be a consequence of the difference in energy between the ground-state trans conformer of butadiene and the cA like conformer which must be adopted for reaction to occur, or does it reflect fundamental differences between the two dienes That is, are activation energies for Diels-Alder cycloaddition of cA-butadiene and of cyclopentadiene actually similar ... 

Figures 15-1 and 15-2 provide evidence for the extent to which transition states for closely-related reactions are very similar. Figure 15-1 compares the transition state for pyrolysis of ethyl formate (leading to formic acid and ethylene) with that for pyrolysis of cyclohexyl formate (leading to formic acid and cyclohexene). Figure 15-2 compares the transition state for Diels-Alder cycloaddition of cyclopentadiene and acrylonitrile with both syn and anti transition states for cycloaddition of...

One example where such a factor might be useful is in the Diels-Alder reaction. For example, if the reaction between acrylonitrile and cyclopentadiene could be catalysed within the... 

A new synthesis of isoxazoles is by successive treatment of a ketoxime with butyllithi-um, the ester of a carboxylic acid and sulfuric acid, e.g. 1 -> 2 (94S989). Hitrovinyl oximes 3 (R1, R3 = alkyl or aryl) undergo oxidative cyclization to isoxazoles 4 by the action of DDQ or iodine/potassium iodide (94JHC861). Flash-vacuum pyrolysis of the 1,3-dipolar cycloadduct 5 of acrylonitrile oxide to norbornadiene results in a retro-Diels-Alder reaction to give cyclopentadiene and 3-vinylisoxazole 6 (94CC2661). 

Jorgensen, W. L. Lim, D. Blake, J. F. Ab initio study of Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with ethylene, isoprene, cyclopentadiene, acrylonitrile, and methyl vinyl ketone, 7. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993,115, 2936-2942. 

In this context, the surprise brought on by Breslow s publication of a study of the Diels-Alder in water is understandable. Breslow noted that the reaction of cyclopentadiene with acrylonitrile is twice as fast in methanol than that in isooctane, but 30 times faster in water (Table 7.2). An even larger acceleration was found for the reaction of cyclopentadiene with butenone (Reaction 7.1) the reaction is 741 times faster in water than that in isooctane. Larger still is the rate acceleration for Reaction 7.2) it is over 12,000 times faster in water than in hexane The effect of water is not limited to rate acceleration. Water also produces an enhanced... 

TABLE 7.2 Relative Rates for the Diels-Alder Reaction of Cyclopentadiene with Acrylonitrile or Butenone ... 

The first examples of an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of a non-chiral diene and a dienophile catalyzed by a chiral Lewis acid were reported by Koga and coworkers in 1979 (Sch. 1 and 16) [3]. The catalysts 4,142 and 143 were prepared from (-)-menthol, (+)-neomenthol and (+)-borneol. The reaction of methacrolein and cyclopentadiene mediated by catalyst 4 gave a 98 2 mixture of exo to endo products and upon separation of these diastereomers by chromatography the exo product 3 was obtained in 69 % yield and 72 % ee. The exo .endo ratios for the other reactions in Sch. 16 were not reported. Low asymmetric induction was observed for acrolein and methyl acrylate with all three catalysts. Moderate induction was observed in the reaction of methacrolein with catalyst 4, and with catalyst 142, but in the latter the enantiomer of 3 was the predominant product. The reaction of methyl acrylate with cyclopentadiene mediated by 10 mol % catalyst 4 was also reported by Kobayashi, Matsumura and Furukawa to give the cycloadduct 141 in 2.9 % ee at 30 °C [37]. These workers also reported that catalyst 4 will give optically active product from the reaction of cyclopentadiene and acrylonitrile, although the optical yield was not determined. 

Diels-Alder dienes 1-Acetoxybutadiene. Butadiene. Cyclopentadiene. (rans,mins-l,4-Diacetoxybutadiene. 2,5-Di-o-anisyl-3,4-diphenylcyclopentadienone. 5,5-Dimethoxy-l, 2,3,4-tetrachlorocyclopentadienone. 2,3-Dimethylbutadiene. 6,6-Dimethylfulvene (see o-Acetoxy acrylonitrile). 2,4-Dimethyl-l,3-pentadiene (see Diethyl azodicarboxylate). 2,3-Diphenyl-butadiene. 1,3-Diphenylisobenzofurane (see Potassium I-butoxide). rrans,/nus-l,4-Diphenyl-butadiene. 1,3-Diphenylisobenzofurane. Hexachlorocyclopentadiene. Isobenzofurane. l-o-Nitrophenylbutadiene-1,3. Oxepin (see Diazabicyclo[3.4.0]nonene-S). Phenylcyclone. Piperylene. n-Pyrone (see also Methyl vinyl ketone). Tetrachlorocyclopentadienone. Tetra-chlorofurane. Tetraphenylcyclopentadienone. 

In 1999, R.K. Seddon and coworkers reported the use of [bmim] [lactate] (Scheme 16) as solvent in the Diels-Alder reaction between cyclopentadiene and acrylonitrile or ethyl acrylate. ... 

On the basis of Monte Carlo simulations [40] and molecular orbital calculations [26a], hydrogen bonding was proposed as the key factor controlling the variation of the acceleration for Diels-Alder reactions in water. Experimental differences of rate acceleration in water-promoted cycloadditions were recently observed [41]. Cycloadditions of cyclopentadiene with acridizinium bromide, acrylonitrile and methyl vinyl ketone were investigated in water and in ethanol for comparison (Scheme 3). Only a modest rate acceleration of 5.3 was found with acridizinium bromide, which was attributed to the absence of hydrogenbonding groups in the reactants. The acceleration factor reaches about 14 with acrylonitrile and 60 with methyl vinyl ketone, which is the best hydrogen-bond acceptor [41]. 

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