Diels-Alder reaction, with

This chapter introduces the experimental work described in the following chapters. Some mechanistic aspects of the Diels-Alder reaction and Lewis-acid catalysis thereof are discussed. This chapter presents a critical survey of the literature on solvent ejfects on Diels-Alder reactions, with particular emphasis on the intriguing properties of water in connection with their effect on rate and selectivity. Similarly, the ejfects of water on Lewis acid - Lewis base interactions are discussed. Finally the aims of this thesis are outlined. 

Fortunately, azachalcone derivatives (2.4a-g, Scheme 2.4) turned out to be extremely suitable dienophiles for Lewis-add catalysed Diels-Alder reactions with cyclopentadiene (2.5). This reaction is outlined in Scheme 2.4 and a large part of this thesis will be devoted to the mechanistic details of this process. The presence of a chromophore in 2.4 allows kinetic studies as well as complexation studies by means of UV-vis spectroscopy. Furthermore, the reactivity of 2.4 is such that also the... 

Fortunately, in the presence of excess copper(II)nitrate, the elimination reaction is an order of magnitude slower than the desired Diels-Alder reaction with cyclopentadiene, so that upon addition of an excess of cyclopentadiene and copper(II)nitrate, 4.51 is converted smoothly into copper complex 4.53. Removal of the copper ions by treatment with an aqueous EDTA solution afforded in 71% yield crude Diels-Alder adduct 4.54. Catalysis of the Diels-Alder reaction by nickel(II)nitrate is also... 

Contrast the Diels-Alder reaction with a cycloaddition reaction that looks superfl cially similar the combination of two ethylene molecules to give cyclobutane... 

The balance between aromatic and aUphatic reactivity is affected by the type of substituents on the ring. Furan functions as a diene in the Diels-Alder reaction. With maleic anhydride, furan readily forms 7-oxabicyclo [2.2.1]hept-5-ene-2,3-dicarboxyhc anhydride in excellent yield [5426-09-5] (4). 

Production of Acrolein Dimer. Acting as both the diene and dienoplule, acrolein undergoes a Diels-Alder reaction with itself to produce acrolein dimer, 3,4-dihydro-2-formyl-2id-pyran, CgHg02 [100-73-2], At room temperature the rate of dimerization is very slow. However, at elevated temperatures and pressures the dimer may be produced in single-pass yields of 33% with selectivities greater than 95%. 

Aqueous ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) was first described in 1989 (90) and it has been appHed to maleic anhydride (91). Furan [110-00-9] reacts in a Diels-Alder reaction with maleic anhydride to give exo-7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene-2,3—dicarboxylate anhydride [6118-51 -0] (24). The condensed product is treated with a soluble mthenium(Ill) [7440-18-8] catalyst in water to give upon acidification the polymer (25). Several apphcations for this new copolymer have been suggested (91). 

Removal of maleic and fumaric acids from the cmde malononitrile by fractional distillation is impractical because the boiling points differ only slightly. The impurities are therefore converted into high boiling compounds in a conventional reactor by means of a Diels-Alder reaction with a 1,3-diene. The volatile and nonvolatile by-products are finally removed by two vacuum distillations. The by-products are burned. The yield of malononitrile amounts to 66% based on cyanogen chloride or acetonitrile. 

Sorbic acid is oxidized rapidly in the presence of molecular oxygen or peroxide compounds. The decomposition products indicate that the double bond farthest from the carboxyl group is oxidized (11). More complete oxidation leads to acetaldehyde, acetic acid, fumaraldehyde, fumaric acid, and polymeric products. Sorbic acid undergoes Diels-Alder reactions with many dienophiles and undergoes self-dimerization, which leads to eight possible isomeric Diels-Alder stmctures (12). 

Sulfur dioxide acts as a dienophile ia the Diels-Alder reaction with many dienes (253,254) and this reaction is conducted on a commercial scale with butadiene. The initial adduct, sulfolene [77-79-2] is hydrogenated to a solvent, sulfolane [126-33-0] which is useful for selective extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from... 

Myrcene with its conjugated diene system readily undergoes Diels-Alder reactions with a number of dienophiles. For example, reaction with 3-meth.5i-3-pentene-2-one with a catalytic amount of AlCl gives an intermediate monocyclic ketone, which when cyclized with 85% phosphoric acid produces the bicycHc ketone known as Iso E Super [54464-57-2] (49). The product is useful in providing sandalwood-like and cedarwood-like fragrance ingredients (91). 

Diels-Alder reactions with butadiene are generally thermally reversible and can proceed in both gas and Hquid phases. The reactions are exothermic and foUow second-order kinetics first-order with respect to each reactant. 

Conjugation as well as geometric and positional isomerization occur when an alkadienoic acid such as linoleic acid is treated with a strong base at an elevated temperature. CycHc fatty acids result from isomerization of linolenic acid ia strong base at about 250°C (58). Conjugated fatty acids undergo the Diels-Alder reaction with many dienophiles including ethylene, propylene, acryUc acid, and maleic anhydride. 

Flame Retardants. Although the use of chlorinated derivatives of DCPD has been restricted in the pesticide area, some are widely used in flame and fire retardant chemicals (see Flame retardants). The starting material is the fliUy chlorinated DCPD cracked to monomeric hexachlorocyclopentadiene, which is then converted via a Diels-Alder reaction with maleic anhydride to a reactive bicycHc anhydride (9), known as chlorendic anhydride [115-27-5]. 

The dimer acids [61788-89-4] 9- and 10-carboxystearic acids, and C-21 dicarboxylic acids are products resulting from three different reactions of C-18 unsaturated fatty acids. These reactions are, respectively, self-condensation, reaction with carbon monoxide followed by oxidation of the resulting 9- or 10-formylstearic acid (or, alternatively, by hydrocarboxylation of the unsaturated fatty acid), and Diels-Alder reaction with acryUc acid. The starting materials for these reactions have been almost exclusively tall oil fatty acids or, to a lesser degree, oleic acid, although other unsaturated fatty acid feedstocks can be used (see Carboxylic acids. Fatty acids from tall oil Tall oil). 

Since diazaquinones are among the most powerful dienophiles, they undergo [4+2] cycloaddition (Diels-Alder) reactions with a great variety of dienes to give various heterocyclic systems accessible with difficulty by other methods. Diazaquinone reacts with butadiene and substituted butadienes, carbocyclic and heterocyclic dienes, 1-vinylcycloalkenes, polyaromatic compounds and vinylaromatic compounds to afford bicyclic and polycyclic bridgehead diaza systems, including diazasteroids (Scheme 56). 

Maleimides have three principal reaction pathways. These are radical addition to vinyl compounds the Michael addition with compounds having active hydrogens and the Diels-Alder reaction with dienes (Fig. 3). Any of the three can be tools for forming thermosetting adhesives. 

Knunyants showed that such perfluoroalkenes, under forcing conditions, undergo Diels-Alder reactions with cyclic dienes such as cyclohexadiene [72] (equation 65) or furan [7J] (equation 66). 

Alkynes substituted with one or two trifluoromethyl groups are also highly reactive dienophiles [9] Indeed, hexafluoro-2-butyne is used increasingly as a definitive acetylenic dienophile in "difficult Diels-Alder reactions. It was used, for example, to prepare novel inside-outside bicycloalkanes via its reaction with cir,trnns -l,3-undecadiene [74] (equation 67) and to do a tandem Diels-Alder reaction with a l,l-bis(pyrrole)methane [75] (equation 68) Indeed, its reactions with pyrrole derivatives and furan have been used in the syntheses of 3,4-bis(tri-fluoromethyl)pyrrole [76, 77] (equation 69) and ],4-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene-2,3-oxide [78] (equation 70), respectively. 

On the other hand, Chambers found that the related perfluorobiscyclobut-yhdene undergoes Diels-Alder reactions with butadiene, cyclopentadiene, and furan [79, 56] (equation 71) Such enhanced reactivity may be due to strain in the substrate... 

Strained pertrifluoromethyl-substituted valence tautomers of aromatic systems, such as tetrakis(trifiuoromethyl)Dewar thiophene [87] and hexalas(tnfluorQ-methyl)benzvalene [acyclic dienes (equations 76 and 77). 

Allenes carrying trifluoromethyl groups, such as l,l-dichloro-3,3-bis(tn fluoromethyl)allene, undergo facile, room-temperature Diels-Alder reactions with cyclopentadiene (87%) and furan (95%) [94]... 

Bis(trifluoromethyl)-l,l-dicyanoethylene is a very reactive dienophile. It undergoes facile and high-yield [2+4] cycloadditions with 1,3-dienes, cyclopen-tadiene, and anthracene [707] (equation 86). It is reactive enough in a Diels-Alder reaction with styrene [702] (equation 86). 

Fluorine-substituted heterodienes are particularly prone to inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reactions with electron-rich dienophiles, as can be seen from the examples in equations 94-97 [113, 114, 115, 116, 117]... 

The use of trifluoromethyl-substituted a-pyrones in Diels-Alder reactions with all types of dienophiles provides an interesting route to trifluoromethyl-benzenes [I/Sj (equation 98)... 

One of the features of Diels-Alder reactions with most alkyl and aryl nitriles that has made them rather unattractive as dienophiles is the requirement of very high reaction temperatures Again, only when electron-withdrawing substituents are directly bonded to the nitnle function do [4+2] cycloaddition reactions occur at reasonably low temperatures [ 48, 231, 232] A high yield [4+2] cycloaddition was observed on reaction of 4,4-bis(trifluoromethyl) 1 thia-3-aza-l,3-butadienes with trifluoroacetonitrile at 150 °C [225]... 

Bis(trifluoromethyl)-substituted heterodienes are electron-deficient species They therefore react preferentially with electron-rich multiple bond systems to give [4+2] cycloadducts (Diels-Alder reaction with inverse electron demand) [238]... 

Dimethylquinoxaline (303) has been reported to undergo a Diels-Alder reaction with maleic anhydride to give 304, 305 having been postulated to be the reactive form. However, attempted confirmation of this unexpected result has shown that 304 is not the correct structure of the reaction product. " In 1931, other chemical evidence was advanced in support of structure 305,but it would no longer be considered valid. 

The ability of 1,2 (or l,6)-dihydropyridines to undergo a Diels-Alder reaction with dienophiles such as methyl vinyl ketone, methyl acrylate, and acrylonitrile has been utilized in the synthesis of polyfunctional isoquinuclidine as a key intermediate in the synthesis of aspidosperma- and iboga-type alkaloids (66JA3099). 

Tandem reactions of heterocycles combining Diels-Alder reactions with sig-matropic rearrangements 98S227. 

Tandem reactions combining Diels-Alder reactions with sigmatropic rearrangements in syntheses of heterocycles 98S227. 

Development and application of hetero Diels-Alder reactions with participation of amino acid-derived chiral acylnitroso compounds 98T1317. 

Phenylsulfonyl)indole 330 was converted to a ketone by a set of standard reactions followed by the selenium dioxide oxidation of the resulting acetyl goup to the ketoaldehyde 332 (Scheme 101). Methylthiosemicarbazide hydroiodide reacted with 332 to the triazine 333 in 83% yield. As Diels-Alder reactions with 1 -pyrrolidinocyclohexene failed, 333 was first oxidized... 

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