Retro-cycloadditions 1,3-dipolar

Isoxazolidines sometimes undergo retro 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to give back alkenes and nitrones (77AHC(2D207). 

In this section are described those domino reactions which start with a retro-pericy-clic reaction. This may be a retro-Diels-Alder reaction, a retro-l,3-dipolar cycloaddition, or a retro-ene reaction, which is then usually followed by a pericyclic reaction as the second step. However, a combination is also possible with another type of transformation as, for example, an aldol reaction. 

A retro-l,3-dipolar cycloaddition followed by an 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition was used for a highly efficient total synthesis of (-)-histrionicotoxin (4-354) (HTX) by Holmes and coworkers [123]. HTX is a spiropiperidine-containing alkaloid which was isolated by Doly, Witkop and coworkers [124] from the brightly colored poison-arrow frog Dendrobates histrionicus. It is of great pharmacological interest as a noncompetitive inhibitor of acetylcholine receptors. 

The key step in the synthesis of 4-354 is the retro-1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the isoxazolidine 4-351 to give the nitronate 4-352, which underwent an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The obtained cycloadduct 4-353 can be transformed in a few steps into the desired target 4-354 (Scheme 4.78). 

Intramolecular cycloadditions are among the most efficient methods for the synthesis of fused bicyclic ring systems [30]. From this perspective, the hetisine skeleton encompasses two key retro-cycloaddition key elements. (1) a bridging pyrrolidine ring accessible via a [3+2] azomethine dipolar cycloaddition and (2) a [2.2.2] bicyclo-octane accessible via a [4+2] Diels-Alder carbocyclic cycloaddition (Chart 1.4). While intramolecular [4+2] Diels—Alder cycloadditions to form [2.2.2] bicycle-octane systems have extensive precedence [3+2], azomethine dipolar cycloadditions to form highly fused aza systems are rare [31-33]. The staging of these two operations in sequence is critical to a unified synthetic plan. As the proposed [3+2] dipolar cycloaddition is expected to be the more challenging of the two transformations, it should be conducted in an early phase in the forward synthetic direction. As a result, a retrosynthetic analysis would entail initial consideration of the [4+2] cycloaddition to arrive at the optimal retrosynthetic C-C bond disconnections for this transformation. 

A convenient synthetic method for 1,2,3-triazoles unsubstituted at C-4 and C-5 utilizes a reaction of azides with norbornadiene, for example, Scheme 29 <2004JOC1081>. The process is performed in refluxing dioxane. In the first step, norbornadiene undergoes 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to glucose-derived azide 225 to give triazoline 226. The following retro Diels-Alder reaction results in the elimination of cyclopentadiene to furnish triazole derivative 227 in 79% yield. 

The l,2,4-oxadiazolidin-5-ones 139 undergo retro-l,3-dipolar cycloaddition when heated in vacuum to give the nitrones 140. Treatment in acetonitrile in the presence of base results in attack of the exocyclic a-proton and fission of the N-O bond followed by loss of carbon dioxide and formation of the benzylidenaniline 141 in undisclosed yields via the mechanism shown in Scheme 16 <2006SC997>. 

The treatment of imidazo-l,2,4-oxadiazol-5-thiones 142 (Equation 20) with ethanolic HC1 results in a retro-1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the imidazo ring to give an azomethine ylide together with the 4,5-dihydro-l,2,4-oxadiazol-5-thiones 143 <2003PS881>. 

The retro-1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of imidazo[l,5- ][l,2,4]oxadiazoles 40, promoted by reaction with triphenylphos-phine at reflux in THF, gives the cyclic nitrones 187 (unreported yields) (Equation 15) <1997T13873>. The ring opening of compounds 40 leading to heterocycles 187 (Equation 15) can also be achieved thermally in the condensed phase under vacuum <1997TL2299>. 

The imino dioxazolidine derivatives (45) are thermally isomerized to oxadiazolinone (64) and also decomposed, probably via a retro-1,3-dipolar cycloaddition mode (Scheme 3) <75JOC3112), to phenyl isocyanate and the transient 1,3-dipole (64a), which in turn rearranges to the diaziridinone (65). 

Azolines of type (13) undergo thermal decomposition in an analogous way to that already discussed for azolones (see Section 4.14.5.2) (Scheme 19). Path (i) is followed by those azolines having Z = S and path (ii) by those with Z = O. Path (i) is a typical retro-1,3-dipolar cycloaddition process, via an intermediate nitrile sulfide, while path (ii) might involve an acyl (Y = Z = O) or thioacyl (Y = S, Z = O) nitrene intermediate (136), which in turn rearranges to iso(thio)cyanate. However, no systematic attempts to trap this possible nitrene intermediate seem to have been made, and so a concerted pathway for the fragmantation cannot be ruled out. 

As reported before (see Section 4.14.6.1, Scheme 19), thermolysis of oxathiazolines (169) proceeds via a retro 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to produce the carbonyl compound and the nitrile sulfide intermediate. Trapping reactions have been carried out with DMAD, ECF (ethyl cyano formate), and benzonitrile to give respectively isothiazoles (170) and thiadiazoles (171) and (172). However in two particular cases (R = 4-MeOC6H4, 4-ClCgH4, thermolysis in the presence of benzonitrile gives (172) and the thiadiazole (173) in very low yields. It has been suggested that the latter arises... 

Dumitrascu and co-workers (52) transformed 4-halosydnones into 5-halopyr-azoles by cycloaddition with DMAD and methyl propiolate followed by retro-Diels-Alder loss of CO2. Turnbull and co-workers (194) reported that the cycloadditions of 3-phenylsydnone with DMAD and diethyl acetylenedicarboxylate to form pyrazoles can be achieved in supercritical carbon dioxide. Nan ya et al. (195) studied this sydnone in its reaction with 2-methylbenzoquinone to afford the expected isomeric indazole-4,7-diones. Interestingly, Sasaki et al. (196) found that 3-phenylsydnone effects the conversion of l,4-dihydronaphthalene-l,4-imines to isoindoles, presumably by consecutive loss of carbon dioxide and A-phenylpyrazole from the primary cycloadduct. Ranganathan et al. (197-199) studied dipolar cycloadditions with the sydnone 298 derived from A-nitrosoproline (Scheme 10.43). Both acetylenic and olefinic dipolarophiles react with 298. In... 

Three new syntheses of fro-condensed heteroaromatic pyrroles and their derivatives were described <1995T193, 2003T1477> using retro-malonate addition and/or 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition-cycloreversion methods. 

Generally, cycloadditions represent powerful reactions for construction of heterocycles. Tandem intramolecular Diels-Alder/retro-Diels-Alder reaction sequences were applied in the syntheses of many A,B-diheteropentalenes <1996GHEC-II(7)1>. Gribble and co-workers <1998SL1061> reported new syntheses of pyrrolo[3,4-, ]indoles 426, benzo[4,5]furo[2,3-f]pyrroles 429, and benzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-4pyrroles 430 using the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition... 

The [,4 + 2] cycloaddition of dienophiles with 1-substituted pyrroles is also a reversible reaction, which has been utilized in the synthesis of 3,4-disubstituted pyrroles (b-77MI305oq) and, via the initial reaction of the pyrrole with benzyne, for the synthesis of isoindoles (81 AHC(29>341). The retro-reaction can be controlled and aided by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the intermediate adduct with benzonitrile oxide (74TL2163, 76RTC67) (Scheme 61). 

Selva and co-workers155 studied the mass spectral decomposition patterns of fifteen 5-aryl-3-phenyl- and four 3-aryl-5-phenyloxadiazoles and found the principal cleavage to be a retro 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. In the latter group, the positive charge resided mainly on the 3-aryl fragment as shown by pathway la of Eq. (40) when X was varied from... 

Tandem intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions and cycloreversion, phosphinimine alkylidenemalonate cyclization, and retro-malonate additions have been reviewed.52 The origins of the stereoselection in the 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions to chiral alkenes53 and the 3 + 2-cycloadditions of fullerene, Cea, have been reviewed.54 The selectivity of the double 3 + 2-cycloaddition of tethered double vinyl carbene species in die presence of C6o varies witii the nature of the tether.55... 

A coozonolysis (two compounds in presence of ozone) is possible if one precursor generates the carbonyl oxide in situ that then reacts with the second compound - the carbonyl. JV-Methyl oximes have been found to be ideal precursors, because they readily react as dipolarophiles in a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with ozone. A retro- 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition then leads to the formation of the carbonyl oxide and methyl nitrite ... 

Thermal decomposition of azolines of type 13 follows an analogous pathway to that already discussed for azolones (see Section 6.04.5.2). As depicted in Scheme 11, those azolines having X = S follow a typical retro-l,3-dipolar cycloaddition process (path a) affording carbonyl compounds and nitrile sulfide intermediates, which in the absence of a trapping... 

Retroelectrocyclic and retro-l,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of the 1,2,3,4-thiatriazole ring were theoretically studied by the HF and DFT methods <2000CPL276, 2003JOC6049>. 

The mechanism of the decomposition reaction of 5-methoxy- 1,2,3,4-thiatriazole to dinitrogen sulfide and methoxy-nitrile was studied by the DFT method at the CCSD(T)//MP2/6-31+G level of theory <2003JOC6049>. The calculations indicated that this is a concerted retro-[2+3]-dipolar cycloaddition process with an activation energy of 28.9 kcal mol 1 and a reaction energy of 1.9 kcal mol. This unimolecular decomposition is favored due to the entropy gain (25.8 eu) involved in the overall reaction (Scheme 1 and Table 2). 

Several examples of allowed syn cycloadditions follow, but the reader may recall the 4 + 2 Diels-Alder and retro Diels-Alder processes in equations (20) and (21), parts c and d, and the 4 + 2 dipolar cycloaddition in (26). 

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