Dipolarophiles nitrile ylides, cycloaddition reactions

Confirmation was provided by the observation that the species produced by the photolysis of two different carbene sources (88 and 89) in acetonitrile and by photolysis of the azirine 92 all had the same strong absorption band at 390 nm and all reacted with acrylonitrile at the same rate (fc=4.6 x 10 Af s" ). Rate constants were also measured for its reaction with a range of substituted alkenes, methanol and ferf-butanol. Laser flash photolysis work on the photolysis of 9-diazothioxan-threne in acetonitrile also produced a new band attributed the nitrile ylide 87 (47). The first alkyl-substituted example, acetonitrilio methylide (95), was produced in a similar way by the photolysis of diazomethane or diazirine in acetonitrile (20,21). This species showed a strong absorption at 280 nm and was trapped with a variety of electron-deficient olefinic and acetylenic dipolarophiles to give the expected cycloadducts (e.g., 96 and 97) in high yields. When diazomethane was used as the precursor, the reaction was carried out at —40 °C to minimize the rate of its cycloaddition to the dipolarophile. In the reactions with unsymmetrical dipolarophiles such as acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, or methyl propiolate, the ratio of regioisomers was found to be 1 1. 

Extensive work has been done to determine and understand the factors controlling diastereoselectivity in the cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to alkenes but very little is known about nitrile ylides in this regard. Work on their reactions with alkenes that are geminally disubstituted with electron-withdrawing groups (e.g., 187) has illustrated some of the difficulties in such studies. When the imidoyl chloride-base route was used to generate the nitrile ylides it was found that the products 188 epimerized under the reaction conditions. When the azirine route was used, the reaction was complicated by the photochemical isomerization of the dipolarophiles (96,97). Thus, in both cases, it proved impossible to determine the kinetic product ratio. 

Intramolecular cycloaddition of nitrile ylides to olefinic dipolarophiles linked to the dipole by a three-atom chain leads to pyrazoles fused to five-membered rings. Work on stereoselectivity in such reactions has been carried out using the reactant 266 in which the alkene moiety is linked to the C-terminus via a tether that incorporates an enantiomerically pure (R) stereogenic group (165). Both diastereo-isomers 267 and 268 were isolated and it was found that the reaction showed moderate stereoselectivity favoring 267. 

This chapter deals mainly with the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of three 1,3-dipoles azomethine ylides, nitrile oxides, and nitrones. These three have been relatively well investigated, and examples of external reagent-mediated stereocontrolled cycloadditions of other 1,3-dipoles are quite limited. Both nitrile oxides and nitrones are 1,3-dipoles whose cycloaddition reactions with alkene dipolarophiles produce 2-isoxazolines and isoxazolidines, their dihydro derivatives. These two heterocycles have long been used as intermediates in a variety of synthetic applications because their rich functionality. When subjected to reductive cleavage of the N—O bonds of these heterocycles, for example, important building blocks such as p-hydroxy ketones (aldols), a,p-unsaturated ketones, y-amino alcohols, and so on are produced (7-12). Stereocontrolled and/or enantiocontrolled cycloadditions of nitrones are the most widely developed (6,13). Examples of enantioselective Lewis acid catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions are summarized by J0rgensen in Chapter 12 of this book, and will not be discussed further here. 

These results are rationalized on the basis of the intermediate formation of thio-substituted nitrile ylides 58 that undergo regioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with the dipolarophiles. Some examples are shown in Scheme 7.15. If a dipolaro-phile is not present in the reaction mixture the nitrile ylides 58 (R2 = Me) isomerize to give the 2-aza-1,3-butadienes 59 that can be trapped in a Diels-Alder reac-... 

Phosphites and 2,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)-5(2//)-oxazolone 71 react with elimination of carbon dioxide to give 2-aza-4-phospha-l,l-bis(trifluoromethyl)-l,3-butadiene 72 that can be used as a synthon for the previously unknown hydrogen-substituted nitrile ylide 72a in [3 + 2]-cycloaddition reactions. Examples of cycloadditions of 72a with dipolarophiles to give heterocyclic compounds 12t-ll are shown in Scheme 7.18. 

The 4-phospha-1,3-butadiene 77/80 serves as an effective synthon for the unknown H-substituted nitrile ylide 79 in [3 + 2]-cycloaddition reactions with a range of electron-poor dipolarophiles (e.g., reaction with DMAD gave 78 in 80% yield). Similar yields were also obtained using methyl propiolate, azodicaboxylic esters, ethyl acrylate, and acrylonitrile (39). The reactant was generated under very mild conditions from 75 as shown below. 

Over the last 25 years both nitrile ylides and nitrile imines have continued to provide fascinating and synthetically useful chemistry. In both cases, the exploitation of [3 + 2]-cycloaddition chemistry with an increasing range of dipolarophiles has continued as a key route to five-membered heterocycles. The major development of new chemistry, however, has been in the extensive exploration of intramolecular reactions both in cycloaddition chemistry and in the electrocycliza-tion of 1,3-dipoles with extended conjugation. Such chemistry harnesses the unique reactivity of 1,3-dipoles in the synthesis of relatively elaborate structures but does require the design and preparation of quite complex reactants containing both the 1,3-dipole precursor and the dipolarophilic component. However, access to this chemistry is becoming much easier via the application of new synthetic procedures... 

Irradiation of phenyl-2//-azirines in the presence of carbon dioxide leads to the formation of the 3-oxazoline-5-one system121-123 and, in some cases, to the isomeric 2-oxazolin-5-one122 [Eq. (24)1. The azirines serve as incipient nitrile ylides, whose 1,3-dipolar structure permits cycloaddition to the dipolarophile C02123 [Eq. (25)1. The reverse reaction, photolytic extrusion of C02 from pseudoxazolones, is synthetically useful, since the dipolar nitrile ylide thus formed can be trapped with a variety of dipolarophiles. Thus, 2,2,4-triphenyl-3-oxazolin-5-one (48) is readily converted into the stabilized ylide (49)124 [Eq. (26)1, and the use of methyl acrylate,122 acrylonitrile,122 and dimethylacetylene dicarboxy-... 

Photo-triggered ring opening of 2//-azirines is a well-known reaction to produce pyrrolines [8, 71]. Padwa and co-workers showed that photoirradiation of azirines with a mercury arc lamp (450 W) equipped with Vycor filter generated the reactive nitrile ylide intermediate (72), which can be stabilized by the phenyl substituents. The nitrile ylide (72) then reacts with the electron-deficient olefins (73) such as acrylate and acrylonitrile in a cycloaddition reaction to form A -pyrrolines (74) (Scheme 10) [8]. Steenken and co-workers studied reaction kinetics of azirines with dipolarophiles as well as nucleophiles such as alcohols [72]. They showed that the reaction rate depends on the azirine substituents, the nucleophilicity of the reactant and the acidity of the alcohol. 

Dipolarophiles which contain an electron-deficient substituent undergo smooth cycloaddition reactions with nitrile ylides. The relative reactivity of the nitrile ylide toward a series of dipolarophiles is determined primarily by the extent of stabilization afforded the transition state by interaction of the dipole highest-occupied (HO) and dipolarophile lowest-unoccupied (LU) orbitals. Substituents which lower the dipolarophile LU energy accelerate the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. For example, fumaronitrile undergoes cycloaddition at a rate which is 189,000 times faster than methyl crotonate. Ordinary olefins react so sluggishly that their bimolecular rate constants cannot be measured. 

---