Diels-Alder reactions medium promoted

A combination of the promoting effects of Lewis acids and water is a logical next step. However, to say the least, water has not been a very popular medium for Lewis-acid catalysed Diels-Alder reactions, which is not surprising since water molecules interact strongly with Lewis-acidic and the Lewis-basic atoms of the reacting system. In 1994, when the research described in this thesis was initiated, only one example of Lewis-acid catalysis of a Diels-Alder reaction in water was published Lubineau and co-workers employed lanthanide triflates as a catalyst for the Diels-Alder reaction of glyoxylate to a relatively unreactive diene . No comparison was made between the process in water and in organic solvents. 

First of all, given the well recognised promoting effects of Lewis-acids and of aqueous solvents on Diels-Alder reactions, we wanted to know if these two effects could be combined. If this would be possible, dramatic improvements of rate and endo-exo selectivity were envisaged Studies on the Diels-Alder reaction of a dienophile, specifically designed for this purpose are described in Chapter 2. It is demonstrated that Lewis-acid catalysis in an aqueous medium is indeed feasible and, as anticipated, can result in impressive enhancements of both rate and endo-exo selectivity. However, the influences of the Lewis-acid catalyst and the aqueous medium are not fully additive. It seems as if water diminishes the catalytic potential of Lewis acids just as coordination of a Lewis acid diminishes the beneficial effects of water. Still, overall, the rate of the catalysed reaction... 

Bronsted-acid-catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions are not frequent because of the proton sensitivity of many dienes and cycloadducts, especially when long reaction times and high temperatures are required. Examples in aqueous medium involving imines activated by protonation as dienophiles and a proton-promoted Diels-Alder reaction of glyoxylic acid with cyclopentadiene are considered in Section 6.1. 

In 2002, Leadbeater and Torenius reported the base-catalyzed Michael addition of methyl acrylate to imidazole using ionic liquid-doped toluene as a reaction medium (Scheme 6.133 a) [190], A 75% product yield was obtained after 5 min of microwave irradiation at 200 °C employing equimolar amounts of Michael acceptor/donor and triethylamine base. As for the Diels-Alder reaction studied by the same group (see Scheme 6.91), l-(2-propyl)-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (pmimPF6) was the ionic liquid utilized (see Table 4.3). Related microwave-promoted Michael additions studied by Jennings and coworkers involving indoles as heterocyclic amines are shown in Schemes 6.133 b [230] and 6.133 c [268], Here, either lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (LiHMDS) or potassium tert-butoxide (KOtBu) was em-... 

LEWIS ACID AND MEDIUM PROMOTED DIELS-ALDER REACTIONS... 

The detection of a significant amount of monomer 29 in the bisorbicillinol-producing fungus indicated that an oxidase provided the chiral reactive substrate 30 and that the Diels-Alder reaction of 30 was promoted in the aqueous medium without a Diels-Alderase. 

In addition, silver-catalyzed asymmetric aza-Diels-Alder reactions provide a useful route to optically active nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds such as piperidines or pyrid-azines. Substituted dihydrobenzofurans can also be enantioselectively prepared through silver-promoted allylation of aldehydes. Other types of silver-mediated cyclizations can also be used in the synthesis of tetrahydrofnrans, tetrahydropyrans, 1,2-dioxetanes, 1,2-dioxolanes, medium-sized lactones, dihydroisoqninolines, and so on. Silver salts can also be used as cocatalysts with other transition metals. Unique activity was observed for these silver-based systems in several cases. Conseqnently, the use of silver can enrich several available heterocyclization methods, and fnrther developments in the application of chiral silver complexes will hopefnlly appear in the near future. 

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