HOMO-controlled dipole

Type I There is an overlapping of the high-lying HOMO of the dipole with the LUMO of the dipolarophiles. Such a situation is often referred to as a HOMO-controlled dipole or a nucleophilic dipole and includes many commonly used dipoles such as azomethine ylide, carbonyl ylide, nitrile ylide, azomethine imine, carbonyl imine, and diazoalkane. There is a close similarity of these reactions with a normal electron-demand Diels—Alder reaction, which involves the overlapping of the diene HOMO and LUMO of the dienophile. 

Dipolar cydoadditions are one of the most useful synthetic methods to make stereochemically defined five-membered heterocydes. Although a variety of dia-stereoselective 1,3-dipolar cydoadditions have been well developed, enantioselec-tive versions are still limited [29]. Nitrones are important 1,3-dipoles that have been the target of catalyzed enantioselective reactions [66]. Three different approaches to catalyzed enantioselective reactions have been taken (1) activation of electron-defident alkenes by a chiral Lewis acid [23-26, 32-34, 67], (2) activation of nitrones in the reaction with ketene acetals [30, 31], and (3) coordination of both nitrones and allylic alcohols on a chiral catalyst [20]. Among these approaches, the dipole/HOMO-controlled reactions of electron-deficient alkenes are especially promising because a variety of combinations between chiral Lewis acids and electron-deficient alkenes have been well investigated in the study of catalyzed enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions. Enantioselectivities in catalyzed nitrone cydoadditions sometimes exceed 90% ee, but the efficiency of catalytic loading remains insufficient. 

When ene-nitrile oxidoisoquinolium betaine 131 was heated as a dilute solution in toluene to 120 °C (Scheme 1.15), near quantitative conversion to the cycloadduct 133, resulting from the undesired regioselectivity, was observed. While the near complete conversion to cycloadduct 133 of oxidoisoquinolinium betaine 131 indeed demonstrated complete avoidance of the conjugate addition pathway in favor of cycloaddition, initial production of undesired isomeric cycloadduct 133 (instead of 136) was disappointing. Notably, cycloadduct 133 is expected to be less kinetically favored based on frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis (assuming dipole HOMO-controlled cycloaddition) of the putative transition state. This result stands in contrast to the cycloaddition of nitroalkene oxidoisoquinolinium betaine... 

The reactions of 1,2,3-triazolium 1-imide (277) with a range of alkene and alkyne dipolarophiles give rise to a variety of new ring systems (Scheme 54). Compounds (276) and (278) are obtained from (277) by reaction with acrylonitrile and DMAD, respectively. These reactions are tandem 1,3-dipolar (endo) cycloadditions and sigmatropic rearrangements which are regio- and stereospecific <90JCS(Pl)2537>. Kinetic and mechanistic studies show that these reactions are dipole-HOMO controlled. The second-order rate constants are insensitive to solvent polarity, the reaction indicates... 

Hydrazones have also been used as azomethine imine precursors to achieve cycloadditions.157 Proto-nated hydrazones act under suitable conditions as quasi-azomethine imines in polar [3+ + 2] cycloadditions. Thus, r.cetaldehyde phenylhydrazone (201) was found to react with styrene in the presence of sulfuric acid in a regiospecific manner to give pyrazolidine (203 Scheme 47) as a diastereomeric mixture.157 The most commonly used azomethine imine has a phenyl group attached to one end of the dipole and hence has a raised HOMO relative to the unsubstituted system. Because the coefficients at the terminal atoms of the dipole are smaller in the LUMO than they are in the HOMO, the phenyl group does not lower the energy of the LUMO as much as it raises the energy of the HOMO. With electron-deficient di-polarophiles like methyl acrylate, the reaction is dipole HOMO-controlled, and mixtures can be expected. In fact, a 1 1 mixture of regioisomers was obtained in the reaction of (201) with acrylonitrile (equation 9).157... 

The cycloaddition of azides to multiple -ir-bonds is an old and widely used reaction. Organic azides are well known to behave as 1,3-dipoles in thermal cycloaddition reactions.178 The first example of this reaction was observed by Michael in 1893.179 Since then the addition of azide to carbon-carbon double and triple bonds has become the most important synthetic route to 1,2,3-triazoles, -triazolines and their derivatives.180-184 The cycloadditions of simple organic azides with electron-rich dipolarophiles are LUMO controlled.3 Since the larger terminal coefficients are on the unsubstituted nitrogen in the azide and unsubstituted terminus in the dipolarophiles, the 5-substituted A2-triazolines are favored, in agreement with experiment.185-187 Reactions with electron-deficient dipolarophiles are HOMO controlled, and... 

However, this interaction should also be increased by alkyl substituents, which lower the alkene IP, or, equivalently, raise the alkene HOMO energy. Experimentally, there is either no change in rate, or a small decrease, as the IP of the alkene decreases. Thus, an apparent contradiction is revealed in these examples dipole LUMO-alkene HOMO control nicely accounts for regioselectivity and the nitrile oxide substituent effect, but does not explain the decrease in rate for increasing alkyl substitution. More potent electron-donors do, indeed, accelerate the reaction, but only feebly. For example, butyl vinyl ether reacts 2.1 times faster than ethylene with BNO at 0 °C, while styrene reacts only 1.2 times faster than ethylene with BNO, in spite of the low IP of styrene (8.48 eV)72. ... 

Dipolar cycloaddition reactions are generally classified into three types, dipole HO controlled, dipole LU controlled or HO,LU controlled, depending upon the relative energies of the dipole and dipolarophile frontier molecular orbitals. If the energy gap separating the dipole HOMO from the dipolarophile LUMO is smaller than that between the dipole LUMO and the dipolarophile HOMO, then the reaction is said to be dipole HO controlled. If the dipole LUMO-dipolarophile HOMO energy gap is smaller, then dipole LU control prevails. If the energy difference between the dipole HOMO and the dipolarophile LUMO is about the same as that between the dipole LUMO and the dipolarophile HOMO, dien neither interaction dominates and HO,LU control is operable. 

Type II Because of the similar energy gap in either direction, HOMO of the dipole can interact with LUMO of the dipolarophiles or HOMO of the dipolarophile can interact with LUMO of the dipole. The situation is referred to as a HOMO—LUMO-controlled dipole or an ambiphilic dipole and includes nitrile imine, nitrone, carbonyl oxide, nitrile oxide, and azide. 

The reaction of simple diazoalkanes with electron-deficient and conjugated alkenes is dipole-HOMO controlled, with the carbon atom of the diazoalkane attacking the terminal carbon of the alkene, resulting in an exclusive formation of the 3-substituted pyrazolines (Figure 5.17). 

The cycloaddition of carbonyl ylides with electron-deficient and conjugated aUtenes are dipole-HOMO controlled. The carbon atom of the ylide HOMO, which has the largest atomic orbital coefficient, attacks the terminal carbon of the alkene, which has the largest LUMO coefficient. The fact that the reaction of the unsymmetrical dipolarophile gives a 2 1 mixture of two regioisomers indicates that in the HOMO of the carbonyl ylide, the electron density at the unsubstituted carbon is greater than that at the substituted carbon atom. 

The [3 + 2]-cycloaddition reactions of allenes with 1,3-dipoles are useful for the construction of a variety of five-membered heterocycles with a high degree of regio- and stereochemical control [67]. Generally, the dipolar cycloaddition reactions are concerted and synchronous processes with a relatively early transition state. The stereoselectivities and regiochemistries are accounted for by the FMO theory The reaction pathway is favored when maximal HOMO-LUMO overlap is achieved. 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of organic azides with nitriles could give rise to two regioisomers. Since organic azides are Type II 1,3-dipoles on the Sustmann classification (approximately equal HOMO-LUMO gaps between the interacting frontier orbital pairs) the reactions could be dipole HOMO or LUMO controled and the regioselectivity should be determined by the orbital coefficients for the dominant HOMO-LUMO interaction. Such systems show U-shaped kinetic curves in their... 

Diazo compounds also undergo cycloaddition with fullerenes [for reviews, see (104),(105)]. These reactions are HOMO(dipole)-LUMO(fullerene) controlled. The initial A -pyrazoline 42 can only be isolated from the reaction of diazomethane with [60]fullerene (106) (Scheme 8.12) or higher substituted derivatives of Ceo (107). Loss of N2 from the thermally labile 42 resulted in the formation of the 6,5-open 1,2-methanofullerene (43) (106). On the other hand, photolysis produced a 4 3 mixture of 43 and the 6,6-closed methanofullerene (44) (108). The three isomeric pyrazolines obtained from the reaction of [70]fullerene and diazomethane behaved analogously (109). With all other diazo compounds so far explored, no pyrazoline ring was isolated and instead the methanofullerenes were obtained directly. As a typical example, the reaction of Cgo with ethyl diazoacetate yielded a mixture of two 6,5-open diastereoisomers 45 and 46 as well as the 6,6-closed adduct 47 (110). In contrast to the parent compound 43, the ester-substituted structures 45 and 46, which are formed under kinetic control, could be thermally isomerized into 47. The fomation of multiple CPh2 adducts from the reaction of Ceo and diazodiphenylmethane was also observed (111). The mechanistic pathway that involves the extrusion of N2 from pyrazolino-fused [60]fullerenes has been investigated using theoretical methods (112). 

With respect to the large number of unsaturated diazo and diazocarbonyl compounds that have recently been used for intramolecular transition metal catalyzed cyclopropanation reactions (6-8), it is remarkable that 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with retention of the azo moiety have only been occasionally observed. This finding is probably due to the fact that these [3+2]-cycloaddition reactions require thermal activation while the catalytic reactions are carried out at ambient temperature. A7-AUyl carboxamides appear to be rather amenable to intramolecular cycloaddition. Compounds 254—256 (Scheme 8.61) cyclize intra-molecularly even at room temperature. The faster reaction of 254c (310) and diethoxyphosphoryl-substituted diazoamides 255 (311) as compared with diazoacetamides 254a (312) (xy2 25 h at 22 °C) and 254b (310), points to a LUMO (dipole) — HOMO(dipolarophile) controlled process. The A -pyrazolines expected... 

Diazoamides of type 300 rapidly cyclize to form aziridines 302 (342) (Scheme 8.73). It is conceivable that this reaction proceeds through a 1,2,3-triazoline intermediate 301, which is the consequence of a LUMO(dipole)— HOMO(dipolarophile) controlled intramolecular [3 + 2] cycloaddition. Some remarkable steric effects were encountered for this cyclization. While the piperidine derivative [300, = ( 112)4] readily cyclized by diazo group transfer at... 

In the full account of this work, Padwa et al. (41) demonstrated that the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is an endo cycloaddition and the regiochemistry is consistent with that of a HOMO-dipole controlled process as judged from the products 91 and 92 that arise from the reaction between isomiinchnone 90 and methyl propiolate and phenyl vinyl sulfone, respectively (Scheme 10.15). Iso-miinchnone 90 is also trapped with DMAD to give the expected furan in 41% yield. 

Whereas 260 does not react with electron-rich dipolarophiles, the more delocalized isomiinchnone 261 does react with both electron-rich and -deficient dipolarophiles (154). A detailed FMO analysis is consistent with these observations and with the regiochemistry exhibited by diethyl ketene acetal and methyl vinyl ketone as shown in Scheme 10.36. The reaction of 261 with the ketene acetal to give 262 is LUMO-dipole HOMO-dipolarophile controlled (so-called lype III process). In contrast, the reaction of 261 with methyl vinyl ketone to give 263 is HOMO-dipole LUMO-dipolarophile controlled (so-called lype I process). In competition experiments using a mixture of A-phenylmaleimide and ketene acetal only a cycloadduct from the former was isolated. This result is consistent with a smaller energy gap for... 

The mechanism of the reaction has generally been discussed in terms of a thermally allowed concerted 1,3-dipoIar cycloaddition process, in which control is realized by interaction between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of the dipole (diazoalkane) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the dipolarophile (alkyne).76 In some cases unequal bond formation has been indicated in the transition state, giving a degree of charge separation. Compelling evidence has also been presented for a two-step diradical mechanism for the cycloaddition77 but this issue has yet to be resolved. 

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