Dipole and dipolarophile

An interesting perspective for synthesis is offered by the reaction sequence cycloaddition/cycloreversion. It often does not lead to the initial reactants, but to a different pair of dipole and dipolarophile instead ... 

Formation of trans isomers in overwhelming predominance in the ISOC reaction leading to five-membered rings (Entries a-d) has been ascribed to the orientation in which H% H , and R are on the exo face of TS 182b (this avoids a possible strain between R and NO or between H and [48b] that is presumably present in TS 182 a). Since elimination of silanol involving H in no way interferes with the orientation of H and R, a trans relationship between H and is abundantly clear. This fully accords with the widely accepted view that approach of the dipole and dipolarophile takes place in two parallel planes [49] and that the endo TS is preferred in the absence of obvious steric effects [50]. Formation of approximately 5% cis isomer when the dipolarophile terminus is disubstituted is accountable in terms of the cycloaddition taking place via TS 182a. 

Aldimines, Ketimines, and Related Compounds as Dipolarophiles Reactions of aldimines with nitrile oxides proceed readily to give 1,2,4-oxadiazolines independently of the nature of substituents both in dipole and dipolarophile molecules. 1,2,4-Oxadiazolines were prepared by the regiospe-cihc 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides with fluoro-substituted aldimines (295). Phosphorylnitrile oxides gave with azomethines, PhCH NR, phosphory-lated 1,2,4-oxadiazolines 129 (296). Expected 1,2,4-oxadiazolines were also obtained from azomethines, derived from 4-formylcoumarine (179) and 1,3-diphenylpyrazole-4-carbaldehyde (297). 

Cycloaddition at C=C Bonds Cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to triple carbon-carbon bonds is a rather trivial reaction. Therefore, most attention is to new types of dipoles and dipolarophiles as well as to unusual reaction routes... 

The high diastereofacial selectivity of the reaction is believed to be due to the highly ordered endo transition state in which the Sm(ll) cation is coordinated to the dipole and dipolarophile, a situation not possible in the exo transition state (Fig. 3.22). 

A number of intramolecular cycloadditions of alkene-tethered nitrile oxides, where the double bond forms part of a ring, have been used for the synthesis of fused carbocyclic structures (18,74,266-271). The cycloadditions afford the cis-fused bicyclic products, and this stereochemical outcome does not depend on the substituents on the alkene or on the carbon chain. When cyclic olefins were used, the configuration of the products found could be rationalized in terms of the transition states described in Scheme 6.49 (18,74,266-271). In the transition state leading to the cis-fused heterocycle, the dipole is more easily aligned with the dipolarophile if the nitrile oxide adds to the face of the cycloolefin in which the tethering chain resides. In the trans transition state, considerable nonbonded interactions and strain would have to be overcome in order to achieve good parallel alignment of the dipole and dipolarophile (74,266). 

The intramolecular cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to substituted furans was reported to occur with low stereoselectivity (274). Inserting a stereogenic unit within the chain connecting the dipole and dipolarophile did not increase the stereoselectivity (274). 

In a novel total synthesis of the tricyclic sesquiterpene (—)-longifolene, an intramolecular diazoalkane cycloaddition to a cyclohexadienone ring followed by thermal ring contraction of the resulting pyrazoline gave the tricychc vinylcyclo-propane 261 and this constitutes the key steps in this synthesis (314) (Scheme 8.63). The interesting features of this sequence are the separation of dipole and dipolarophile by five atoms and the formation of a seven-membered ring in the cycloaddition step. 

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