Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene and

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. 

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). 

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... 

The activation of various reactions by Lewis acids is now an everyday practice in synthetic organic chemistry. In contrast, solvent effects on Lewis acid catalysed Diels-Alder reactions have received much less attention. A change in the solvent can affect the association step leading to the transition structure. Ab initio calculations on the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and methyl vinyl ketone in aqueous media showed that there is a complex of the reactants which also involves one water molecule119. In an extreme case solvents can even impede catalysis120. The use of inert solvents such as dichloromethane and chloroform for synthetic applications of Lewis acid catalysed Diels-Alder reactions is thus well justified. General solvent effects, in particular those of water, will be discussed in the following section. 

The starting material was prepared with the modification on the epibatidine bicychc ring system by repositioning the nitrogen atom to a methylene group. We carried out the Hetero-Diels Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and iminium ion generated from ammonium chloride and formaldehyde in the aqueous medium and protected resulted unstable secondary amine with benzoyl chloride to provide (3) in good yields [5] (Scheme 38.1). 

Metal complexes of bis(oxazoline) ligands are excellent catalysts for the enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and 3-acryloyl-l,3-oxa-zolidin-2-one. This reaction was most commonly utilized for initial investigation of the catalytic system. The selectivity in this reaction can be twofold. Approach of the dienophile (in this case, 3-acryloyl-l,3-oxazolidin-2-one) can be from the endo or exo face and the orientation of the oxazolidinone ring can lead to formation of either enantiomer R or S) on each face. The ideal catalyst would offer control over both of these factors leading to reaction at exclusively one face (endo or exo) and yielding exclusively one enantiomer. Corey and co-workers first experimented with the use of bis(oxazoline)-metal complexes as catalysts in the Diels-Alder reaction between cyclopentadiene 68 and 3-acryloyl-l,3-oxazolidin-2-one 69 the results are summarized in Table 9.7 (Fig. 9.20). For this reaction, 10 mol% of various iron(III)-phe-box 6 complexes were utilized at a reaction temperature of —50 °C for 2-15 h. The yields of cycloadducts were 85%. The best selectivities were observed when iron(III) chloride was used as the metal source and the reaction was stirred at —50 °C for 15 h. Under these conditions the facial selectivity was determined to be 99 1 (endo/exo) with an endo ee of 84%. 

There are also several other examples of bis(oxazoline)-metal complex catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene and other unsaturated esters. 

A titanium complex derived from chiral /V-arencsulfonyl-2-amino-1 -indanol [20], a cationic chiral iron complex [21], and a chiral oxo(salen)manganese(V) complex [22] have been developed for the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of oc,P-unsaturated aldehydes with high asymmetric induction (Eq. 8A.11). In addition, a stable, chiral diaquo titanocene complex is utilized for the enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and a series of a.P Unsaturated aldehydes at low temperature, where catalysis occurs at the metal center rather than through activation of the dienophile by protonation. The high endo/exo selectivity is observed for a-substituted aldehydes, but the asymmetric induction is only moderate [23] (Eq. 8A. 12). 

With Chiral Bis(oxazoline)/Mg Complexes A chiral bis(oxazoline)/MgI2 complex has been utilized for the enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and ethyl 2-benzoylacrylate that acts as a two-point binding dienophile [49] (Eq. 8A.27). This reaction proceeds with virtually complete endo/exo selectivity (>99 1). 

Diels-Alder catalyst. Unlike other Lewis acids, TiCl4 favors formation of the exo-isomer in the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and mesityl oxide (equation... 

Hydrophobic effects have been shown to dominate the geometries of the transition states for the simple Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene and methyl acrylates ... 

Diels-Alder reactions of (Z)-A -substituted-4-methylene-5-propylidene-2-oxazoli-dinone dienes with methyl vinyl ketone, methyl propiolate, and captodative alkenes yield the highest regio- and stereo-selectivities in mixtures of H20 and MeOH or under BF3.Et20 catalysis.198 The asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and 3-acryloyl-2-oxazolidinone is catalysed by a new Cu(II) catalyst containing a chiral sterically congested roofed (2-diphenylphosphino)phenylthiazoline ligand (169).199... 

This group has used the same reaction conditions with diynes 182 and cyclic dienes like cyclopentadiene to form tetracyclic enone 183 which was transformed into triquinane 184 by means of an oxidative cleavage of the double bond. When phenyl groups at the alkyne terminus were substituted by H or Me they observed a competitive [2 + 2 + 1]/[2+ 2 + 2] process, with the participation of two diyne molecules giving compounds 185 (Scheme 54) [171]. No mechanistic hypothesis appears in this work but the formation of a norbornene derivative by means of the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and the diyne that would react with the other triple bond of the diyne seems attractive in this case. 

These complexes are the first examples of multifunctional catalysts and demonstrate impressively the opportunities that can reside with the as yet hardly investigated bimetallic catalysis. The concept described here is not limited to lanthanides but has been further extended to main group metals such as gallium [31] or aluminum [32]. In addition, this work should be an incentive for the investigation of other metal-binaphthyl complexes to find out whether polynuclear species play a role in catalytic processes there as well. For example, the preparation of ti-tanium-BINOL complexes takes place in the presence of alkali metals [molecular sieve ( )]. A leading contribution in this direction has been made by Kaufmann et al, as early as 1990 [33], It was proven that the reaction of (5)-la with monobromoborane dimethyl sulfide leads exclusively to a binuclear, propeller-like borate compound. This compound was found to catalyze the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and methacrolein with excellent exo-stereoselectivity and enantioselectivity in accordance with the empirical rule for carbonyl compounds which has been presented earlier. 

TABLE 7.4 Difference in the Gas-Phase and Aqueous Activation Free Energy (in kcal mol ) for the Diels-Alder Reactions of Cyclopentadiene and Three Different Dienophiles ... 

Another promising approach has been devised by Yamamoto and co-workers [8]. They found that the action of a controlled amount of diborane on a carboxylic acid leads to an (acyloxy)borane RC02BR 2 which behaves as a Lewis acid. The chiral (acyloxy)borane (CAB) complex 1 formed in situ from monoacyl tartaric acid and diborane is an excellent asymmetric catalyst (Eq. 8) for the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and acrylic acid (78 % ee) (Eq. 9) [8] or of cyclopentadiene and methacrolein (96 % ee) (Eq. 10) [9]. 

The Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and methyl acrylate proceeds smoothly at -78 °C in the presence of 10 mol % of catalysts (7 )-23 to give the endo adduct in high yield with > 99 % diastereoselectivity (Eq. 37). Catalyst 23b resulted... 

Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene and methacrolein with crotonaldehyde are also catalyzed by complexes formed in situ between NbCls or TaCls and bidentate ligands (2 equiv.) such as L-tartrate esters, or a-amino acids (e.g. tryptophan, alanine). Yields with the Ta catalysts are often somewhat better (14-78 %) than with the Nb catalysts. Good exo. endo ratios are obtained but enantioselectivities are still low (7-40 % ee) [185]. Methylrhenium trioxide is an efficient catalyst in these reactions and its best performance is in aqueous solution. Acrolein derivatives and methyl vinyl ketones react with a variety of dienes to give single diastereoisomers in very high yield with as little as 1 % catalyst loading [186]. Examples are shown in Sch. 49. The reaction is sluggish with disubstituted dienophiles and dienes. 

The Diels-Alder reaction of a diene and a dienophile has become one of the most powerful carbon-carbon bond-forming processes [81]. In normal Diels-Alder reactions of an electron-poor dienophile with an electron-rich diene, the main interaction is between the HOMO of the diene and the LUMO of the dienophile. Coordination of a Lewis acid to the dienophile reduces its frontier orbital energies, and this increases the rate of the reaction. Regio- and stereoselectivity are also markedly affected by the Lewis acid. Recent extensive studies on the design of chiral Lewis acids have led to fruitful results in the control of the stereochemistry of a variety of pericyclic reactions. Several chirally modified Lewis acids have been developed for the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction [82,83] and spectacular advances have recently been achieved in this area. Various kinds of polymer-supported chiral Lewis acid have also been developed. Polymer-supported A1 Lewis acids such as 62 have been used in the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and methacrolein (Eq. 20) [84] as has polymer-supported Ti alkoxide 63 [84]. These Ti catalysts are readily prepared and have high activity in the Diels-Alder reaction. 

Fig. 10 The Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and methyl acrylate (left), intermediate complex suggested in the Diels-Alder reaction leading to higher endo-selectivity (right) [142]...

Their 3,3 -substituents are utilized not only for their steric bulk, but also for the coordination to metals. Yamamoto and coworkers employed a boron complex of 3,3 -bis(2-hydroxyphenyl) BINOL in the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and acrylaldehyde (equation 70) . The ligand possesses two additional hydroxy groups and forms a helical structure on coordination. The catalyst is considered to function as a chiral Brpnsted acid and a Lewis acid. The complex was also used in the Diels-Alder reactions and aldol reactions of imines. Although addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes gives low ee using BINOL itself or its 3,3 -diphenyl derivative, the selectivity can be increased when coordinating groups are introduced at the 3,3 -positions. Katsuki and... 

Oh and Meracz were the first to report asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction in ionic liquids [43]. It has also been shown that Diels-Alder reactions in ionic liquids give unusually high stereoselectivities at room temperature as compared to those in conventional organic solvents, where a low temperature was required to achieve good stereoselectivities. For example, the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and dienophile 25 with Cu(ll)-bisoxazoline complex 24 as catalyst in [dbim][BF4] showed a higher endoselectivity (endo j exo = 93/7) and regioselectivity (26/27 = 96/4) than in CHjCb (endojexo = 79/21, 26/27 = 76/24) (Scheme 7.11). 

Remarkable endo selectivity has been observed in the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and V-phenylmaleimide (Scheme 5.29) using activated AI2O3 under solvent-free mild conditions. ... 

Table 31 Asymmetric Diels-Alder Reactions of Cyclopentadiene and -Enoyloxazolidinones Mediated by...

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