Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene

Figure 1.2. Endo and exo pathway for the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with methyl vinyl ketone. As was first noticed by Berson, the polarity of the endo activated complex exceeds that of the exo counterpart due to alignment of the dipole moments of the diene and the dienophile K The symmetry-allowed secondary orbital interaction that is only possible in the endo activated complex is usually invoked as an explanation for the preference for endo adduct exhibited by most Diels-Alder reactions.

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). 

Consider Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride, leading to endo or exo adducts. 

Table 1.1 Asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene catalyzed by CAB catalyst 3 [5a,b ...

The cationic aqua complexes prepared from traws-chelating tridentate ligand, R,R-DBFOX/Ph, and various transition metal(II) perchlorates induce absolute enantio-selectivity in the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with 3-alkenoyl-2-oxazoli-dinone dienophiles. Unlike other bisoxazoline type complex catalysts [38, 43-54], the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph complex of Ni(C104)2-6H20, which has an octahedral structure with three aqua ligands, is isolable and can be stored in air for months without loss of catalytic activity. Iron(II), cobalt(II), copper(II), and zinc(II) complexes are similarly active. 

Absolute configurations of the isoxazolidines obtained in the nitrone cydoaddition reactions described in Schemes 7.21 and 7.22 were determined to be 3S,41 ,5S structure by comparison of the optical rotations as well as retention times in a chiral HPLC analysis with those of the authentic samples. Selection of the si face at C/ position of 3-crotonoyl-2-oxazolidinone in nitrone cydoadditions was the same as that observed in the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with 3-croto-noyl-2-oxazolidinone in the presence of the J ,J -DBF0X/Ph-Ni(C104)2-3H20 complex (Scheme 7.7), and this indicates that the s-cis conformation of the dipolaro-phile has participated in the reaction. 

It is believed that clay minerals promote organic reactions via an acid catalysis [2a]. They are often activated by doping with transition metals to enrich the number of Lewis-acid sites by cationic exchange [4]. Alternative radical pathways have also been proposed [5] in agreement with the observation that clay-catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions are accelerated in the presence of radical sources [6], Montmorillonite K-10 doped with Fe(III) efficiently catalyzes the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene (1) with methyl vinyl ketone at room temperature [7] (Table 4.1). In water the diastereoselectivity is higher than in organic media in the absence of clay the cycloaddition proceeds at a much slower rate. 

Table 4.1 Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene (1) with methyl vinyl ketone catalyzed by Fe(II)-K-10 montmorillonite in various solvents...

Good yields and high diastereoselectivities were obtained by using zeolites in combination with Lewis-acid catalyst [21]. Table 4.7 illustrates some examples of Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene, cyclohexadiene and furan with methyl acrylate. Na-Y and Ce-Y zeolites gave excellent results for the cycloadditions of carbocyclic dienes, and combining these zeolites with anhydrous ZnBr2 further enhanced the endo diastereoselectivity of the reaction. An exception is the cycloaddition of furan that occurred considerably faster and with better yield, in comparison with the classic procedure [22], when performed in the presence of sole zeolites. 

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. 

An example of a cyclophane-type cavity is the azacyclophane CP66 supra-molecular system which provides a lipophilic cavity with an internal width of approximately 6.5 A, as well as positive charges which accelerate and increase the selectivity of the process. The Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with diethylfumarate at 20 °C in 10% and 50 To dioxane-water is accelerated by the presence of CP66 by 2.9 and 1.5 times, respectively [65c] (Equation 4.12). 

The chiral catalyst 142 achieves selectivities through a double effect of intramolecular hydrogen binding interaction and attractive tt-tt donor-acceptor interactions in the transition state by a hydroxy aromatic group [88]. The exceptional results of some Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with substituted acroleins catalyzed by (R)-142 are reported in Table 4.21. High enantio- and exo selectivity were always obtained. The coordination of a proton to the 2-hydroxyphenyl group with an oxygen of the adjacent B-0 bond in the nonhelical transition state should play an important role both in the exo-endo approach and in the si-re face differentiation of dienophile. 

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... 

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

The results of Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with diethyl fumarate, diethyl maleate and ethyl acrylate carried out in SC-H2O are reported in Scheme 6.32 [79]. The cycloaddition of diethyl fumarate occurred with low yield. 

A recent report [90] investigated the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with various acrylates in SC-CO2 catalyzed by Sc(OTf)j. The results relative to n-butyl acrylate, in SC-CO2 and in conventional solvents, are reported in Scheme 6.34. The catalyzed reaction carried out under supercritical conditions went to completion within 15 h at 50 °C, whereas the uncatalyzed reaction proceeded only to 10 % after 24 h. An increase of endo/exo diastereoselectivity was also observed. 

Secondary orbital interaction had been proposed to explain predominant formation of endo attack prodncts in Diels Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and dienophiles by Hoffmann and Woodward [22]. According to this rnle, the major stereoisomer in Diels-Alder reactions is that it is formed through a maximum accumulation of double bonds. In the Diels-Alder reactions, secondary orbital interaction consists of a stabilizing two-electron interaction between the atoms not involved in the formation or cleavage of o bonds (Scheme 19). 

Scheme 19 Secondary orbital interaction in Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with maleic anhydride...

In 2005, Carretero et al. reported a second example of chiral catalysts based on S/P-coordination employed in the catalysis of the enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction, namely palladium complexes of chiral planar l-phosphino-2-sulfenylferrocenes (Fesulphos). This new family of chiral ligands afforded, in the presence of PdCl2, high enantioselectivities of up to 95% ee, in the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with A-acryloyl-l,3-oxazolidin-2-one (Scheme 5.17). The S/P-bidentate character of the Fesulphos ligands has been proved by X-ray diffraction analysis of several metal complexes. When the reaction was performed in the presence of the corresponding copper-chelates, a lower and opposite enantioselectivity was obtained. This difference of results was explained by the geometry of the palladium (square-planar) and copper (tetrahedral) complexes. 

The effect of water molecules on pericyclic reactions can also be compared with the effects of Lewis acids on these reactions. The enhanced polarization of the transition state in these reactions would lead to stronger hydrogen bonds at the polar groups of the reactants, which will result in a substantial stabilization of the transition states in the same way Lewis acids do. A computer-simulation study on the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene by Jorgensen indicated that this effect contributes about a factor of 10 to the rates.7... 

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... 

The Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with methyl acrylate in methanol was studied by Berson et al. [72] under conventional conditions, and shown to give a mixture of the endo and exo isomers 48 and 49 (Scheme 4.26). 

Sulfonamide derivatives of a-amino acids and the similar bissulfonamide derivatives of diamines can be used to prepare reactive Lewis acid complexes. Corey20 reported the Lewis acid (R,R)- or (5,5 )-complex 69, which can be employed at 10 mol% level to catalyze the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and imide. Reactions catalyzed by this complex give an endo.exo ratio of over 50 1, as well as a high ee (91%) at —78°C, and this can be further improved to 95% by carrying out the reaction at 90°C.20 The related aluminum complex 69b shows very similar reactivity at —78°C, with generally higher ee values, typically over 95%, for the reaction of cyclopentadiene derivatives with imide.20,21... 

Scheme 17. Selectivities exhibited by various ligand-Cu(OTf)2 complexes in the crotonylimide Diels—Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene. [Adapted from (211, 212).]...

The Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene with /3-stannylpropynal is much faster than that with /3-alkylpropy-nals, and can be made enantioselective in the presence of a chiral Lewis acid catalyst (Equation (67)).213... 

Marchand and coworkers102 reported a difference in site selectivity between the thermodynamically and kinetically controlled Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with 2,3-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (126) (equation 37). Under kinetic conditions, the more reactive double bond of 126 reacted with cyclopentadiene affording 127, whereas the less substituted double bond reacted under thermodynamic conditions affording 128. Both reactions proceeded with complete endo selectivity. These findings were in agreement with ab initio HF/3-21G calculations. 

Brimble and coworkers176 studied the asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with chiral naphthoquinones 272 bearing different chiral auxiliaries. The highest endo and facial selectivities were obtained using zinc dichloride as the Lewis acid catalyst and (—)-pantolactone as the chiral auxiliary. Thus, the reaction between cyclopentadiene and 272 afforded a 98 2 mixture of 273 and 274 (equation 76). The chiral auxiliary was removed easily by lithium borohydride reduction. 

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