High Pressure Diels-Alder Reaction

Keywords Diels-Alder reactions, high pressure... 

Whereas maleic anhydride can react with furan (139a) at ambient pressure, citraconic anhydride (140) reacts only at high pressures due to the strong deactivating effect of the methyl group (Schemes 5.21 and 5.22). The two-step synthesis [53] of the palasonin (141), in an overall yield of 96 %, is a good example of the acceleration of the Diels-Alder by high pressure (Scheme 5.21). Previous synthesis [54] based on the thermal Diels-Alder reaction of furan with methoxy carbonyl maleic anhydride required 12 steps. 

Cycloadditions. This activated gem-dimethylcyclopropene undergoes Diels-Alder reactions at pressures of 6-10 kbar. The reaction with 1,3-dienes shows high exo-selectivity as shown in equation (I). In contrast, reaction of the precursor (2) of 1 with the same diene followed by extrusion of N2 results in the same products, but with opposite diastereoselectivity. 

Because of their low reactivity, a Diels-Alder reaction of 2-pyrones usually requires such a high temperature that the initial bicyclic lactone adducts often undergo cycloreversion [30,33] with loss of CO2. In some cases this limitation has been overcome by carrying out the reaction imder high pressure conditions. Posner and coworkers have shown [34-36] that the presence of a tolylthio group or a bromine atom at the 3- or 5-position increases the reactivity of 2-pyrones. 3-Bromo-2-pyrone (35) (Scheme 2.15), as well as its regioisomer 5-bromo (36)... 

Vinylnaphthalenes give Diels-Alder reactions more easily than styrenes and have been used to synthesize steroid-like compounds. 2-Vinylnaphthalene (61) is less reactive than 1-vinylnaphthalene (62) (Figure 2.7) it requires drastic conditions to undergo Diels-Alder reaction and the yields are low. Better results can be obtained by carrying out the reaction under high pressure (Chapter 5). Some Diels-Alder reactions of 1-vinylnaphthalene (62) are summarized in Scheme 2.23. 

The use of ultrasonic (US) radiation (typical range 20 to 850 kHz) to accelerate Diels-Alder reactions is undergoing continuous expansion. There is a parallelism between the ultrasonic and high pressure-assisted reactions. Ultrasonic radiations induce cavitation, that is, the formation and the collapse of microbubbles inside the liquid phase which is accompanied by the local generation of high temperature and high pressure [29]. Snyder and coworkers [30] published the first ultrasound-assisted Diels-Alder reactions that involved the cycloadditions of o-quinone 37 with appropriate dienes 38 to synthesize abietanoid diterpenes A-C (Scheme 4.7) isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine, Dan Shen, prepared from the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. 

The low solubility of fullerene (Ceo) in common organic solvents such as THE, MeCN and DCM interferes with its functionalization, which is a key step for its synthetic applications. Solid state photochemistry is a powerful strategy for overcoming this difficulty. Thus a 1 1 mixture of Cgo and 9-methylanthra-cene (Equation 4.10, R = Me) exposed to a high-pressure mercury lamp gives the adduct 72 (R = Me) with 68% conversion [51]. No 9-methylanthracene dimers were detected. Anthracene does not react with Ceo under these conditions this has been correlated to its ionization potential which is lower than that of the 9-methyl derivative. This suggests that the Diels-Alder reaction proceeds via photo-induced electron transfer from 9-methylanthracene to the triplet excited state of Ceo-... 

Table 5.1 High pressure Diels-Alder reactions of (E)-l-acetoxy- (18a) and (E)-l-methoxy butadiene (18b) with acrylic and crotonic dienophiles...

The different ratios of 52/53 produced by cycloadditions performed at atmospheric and high pressure, and the forma tion of the unusual trans adducts 53, have been explained by the facts that (i) Diels-Alder reactions under atmospheric pressure are thermodynamically controlled, and (ii) the anti-endo adducts 52 are converted into the short-lived syn-endo adducts 54 which tautomerize (via a dienol or its aluminum complexes) to 53. The formation of trans compounds 53 by induced post-cycloaddition isomerization makes the method more flexible and therefore more useful in organic synthesis. 

Tfctcro-Diels Alder reaction is a powerful methodology in the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. Using the high pressure technique has greatly extended the synthetic applications of this methodology. 

Table 5.2 High pressure Diels-Alder reactions of diene 77 with dienophiles 78...

Enantiomers (M)- and (P)-helicenebisquinones [32] 93 have been synthesized by high pressure Diels-Alder reaction of homochiral (+)-(2-p-tolylsulfo-nyl)-l,4-benzoquinone (94) in excess with dienes 95 and 96 prepared from the common precursor 97 (Scheme 5.9). The approach is based on the tandem [4 + 2] cycloaddition/pyrolitic sulfoxide elimination as a general one-pot strategy to enantiomerically enriched polycyclic dihydroquinones. Whereas the formation of (M)-helicene is explained by the endo approach of the arylethene toward the less encumbered face of the quinone, the formation of its enantiomeric (P)-form can be the result of an unfavourable interaction between the OMe group of approaching arylethene and the sulfinyl oxygen of 94. 

An interesting phenomenon has been observed in the high pressure Diels-Alder reactions of the l-oxa[4.4.4]propella-5,7-diene (117) with 1,4-naphthoquinone, maleic anhydride and N-phenylmaleimide, where the diene 117 undergoes a rearrangement to the diene isomer 118 which, although thermodynamically less favored, exhibits a greater reactivity [40]. The reactivities of the three dienophiles differed since maleic anhydride and N-phenylmaleimide reacted only in the presence of diisopropylethylamine (DIEA) and camphorsulfonic acid (CSA), respectively (Scheme 5.15). The distribution of the adduct pairs shows that the oxygen atom does not exert a consistent oriental dominance on TT-facial selectivity. 

Azulene quinones [49b] are compounds related to the family of tropones and are considered to possess great biological and physiological potential. Several polycyclic compounds have been prepared by high pressure (3kbar, PhCl, 130°C, 15h) Diels-Alder reaction of 3-bromo-l,5-azulene quinone (137) and 3-bromo-l,7-azulene quinone (138) with several dienophiles. The cycloadditions were regioselective and afforded cycloadducts in reasonable to good yields (Scheme 5.20). 

Diels-Alder reactions of furans are markedly reversible because of the aromatic character of the furan nucleus [la]. The lability of the cycloadducts, even at relatively low temperatures, as well as the sensitivity to acidic conditions of both furans and cycloadducts, preclude the use of strong Lewis acids and have therefore given importance to the high pressure technique. 

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