LUMO 4+2 -cycloaddition

Let us now examine the Diels-Alder cycloaddition from a molecular orbital perspective Chemical experience such as the observation that the substituents that increase the reac tivity of a dienophile tend to be those that attract electrons suggests that electrons flow from the diene to the dienophile during the reaction Thus the orbitals to be considered are the HOMO of the diene and the LUMO of the dienophile As shown m Figure 10 11 for the case of ethylene and 1 3 butadiene the symmetry properties of the HOMO of the diene and the LUMO of the dienophile permit bond formation between the ends of the diene system and the two carbons of the dienophile double bond because the necessary orbitals overlap m phase with each other Cycloaddition of a diene and an alkene is said to be a symmetry allowed reaction... 

HOMO of one ethylene mol ecule and the LUMO of an other do not have the proper symmetry to permit two O bonds to be formed in the same transition state for concerted cycloaddition... 

Figure 10 12 shows the interaction between the HOMO of one ethylene molecule and the LUMO of another In particular notice that two of the carbons that are to become ct bonded to each other m the product experience an antibondmg interaction during the cycloaddition process This raises the activation energy for cycloaddition and leads the reaction to be classified as a symmetry forbidden reaction Reaction were it to occur would take place slowly and by a mechanism m which the two new ct bonds are formed m separate steps rather than by way of a concerted process involving a sm gle transition state... 

Chemical Properties. The chemistry of ketenes is dominated by the strongly electrophilic j/)-hybridi2ed carbon atom and alow energy lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). Therefore, ketenes are especially prone to nucleophilic attack at Cl and to [2 + 2] cycloadditions. Less frequent reactions are the so-called ketene iasertion, a special case of addition to substances with strongly polarized or polarizable single bonds (37), and the addition of electrophiles at C2. For a review of addition reactions of ketenes see Reference 8. 

The ring opening of 2//-azirines to yield vinylnitrenes on thermolysis, or nitrile ylides on photolysis, also leads to pyrrole formation (B-82MI30301). Some examples proceeding via nitrile ylides are shown in Scheme 92. The consequences of attempts to carry out such reactions in an intramolecular fashion depend not only upon the spatial relationship of the double bond and the nitrile ylide, but also upon the substituents of the azirine moiety since these can determine whether the resulting ylide is linear or bent. The HOMO and second LUMO of a bent nitrile ylide bear a strong resemblance to the HOMO and LUMO of a singlet carbene so that 1,1-cycloadditions occur to carbon-carbon double bonds rather than the 1,3-cycloadditions needed for pyrrole formation. The examples in Scheme 93 provide an indication of the sensitivity of these reactions to structural variations. 

Since 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of diazomethane are HOMO (diazomethane)-LUMO (dipolarophile) controlled, enamines and ynamines with their high LUMO energies do not react (79JA3647). However, introduction of carbonyl functions into diazomethane makes the reaction feasible in these cases. Thus methyl diazoacetate and 1-diethylaminopropyne furnished the aminopyrazole (620) in high yield. 

The same conclusions are drawn by analysis of the frontier orbitals involved in cycloadditions. For the most common case of the Diels-Alder reaction, which involves dienophiles with electron-attracting substituents, the frontier orbitals are l/2 of the diene (which is the HOMO) and n of the dienophile (which is the LUMO). Reaction occurs by interaction of the HOMO and LUMO, which can be seen from the illustration below to be allowed. 

When both the 1,3-dipoIe and the dipolarophile are unsymmetrical, there are two possible orientations for addition. Both steric and electronic factors play a role in determining the regioselectivity of the addition. The most generally satisfactory interpretation of the regiochemistry of dipolar cycloadditions is based on frontier orbital concepts. As with the Diels-Alder reaction, the most favorable orientation is that which involves complementary interaction between the frontier orbitals of the 1,3-dipole and the dipolarophile. Although most dipolar cycloadditions are of the type in which the LUMO of the dipolarophile interacts with the HOMO of the 1,3-dipole, there are a significant number of systems in which the relationship is reversed. There are also some in which the two possible HOMO-LUMO interactions are of comparable magnitude. 

Fig. 11.16. Concerted cycloaddition of a ketene and an olefin. The orbitals represented are the HOMO of the olefin and the LUMO of the ethylenic portion of the ketene.

The 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions offluonnatedallenes provide a rich and varied chemistry Allenes, such as 1,1-difluoroallene and fluoroallene, that have fluorine substitution on only one of their two cumulated double bonds are very reactive toward 1,3-dipoles Such activation derives from the electron attracting inductive and hyperconjugative effects of the allylic fluorine substituent(s) that give nse to a considerable lowering of the energy of the LUMO of the C(2)-C(3) n bond [27]... 

Because the fluorine substituents both inductively and hyperconjugatively withdraw electron density from the C(2)-C(3) tt bond, the LUMO is located there, and Diels-Alder reactions take place exclusively with this bond [25] 1,1 -Difluoro allene and fluoroallene reaet readily with a large selection of cyclic and acyclic dienes, and acyclic dienes, [2+2] cycloadditions compete with the Diels-Alder processes As shown in the example in equation 79, a significantly different regiochemistry is observed for the [2+4] cycloaddition compared with the [2+2]... 

Early work established that S4N4 forms di-adducts with alkenes such as norbornene or norbomadiene. Subsequently, structural and spectroscopic studies established that cycloaddition occurs in a 1,3-S,S"-fashion. The regiochemistry of addition can be rationalized in frontier orbital terms the interaction of the alkene HOMO with the low-lying LUMO of S4N4 exerts kinetic control. Consistently, only electron-rich alkenes add to S4N4. 

Cycloaddition reactions also have important applications for acyclic chalcogen-nitrogen species. Extensive studies have been carried out on the cycloaddition chemistry of [NSa]" which, unlike [NOa]", undergoes quantitative, cycloaddition reactions with unsaturated molecules such as alkenes, alkynes and nitriles (Section 5.3.2). ° The frontier orbital interactions involved in the cycloaddition of [NSa]" and alkynes are illustrated in Fig. 4.13. The HOMO ( Tn) and LUMO ( r ) of the sulfur-nitrogen species are of the correct symmetry to interact with the LUMO (tt ) and HOMO (tt) of a typical alkyne, respectively. Although both... 

LUMO energies for free and complexed acrylonitrile are. 103 and. 089 au (65 and 56 kcal/mol), respectively. On the basis of orbital energies, would you expect BF3 to enhance, retard, or leave unchanged the rate of Diels-Alder cycloaddition ... 

INVERSE-ELECTRON DEMAND LUMO(jjend dienephile controliGd cycloaddition reactions... 

A simple approach for the formation of 2-substituted 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrans, which are useful precursors for natural products such as optically active carbohydrates, is the catalytic enantioselective cycloaddition reaction of a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds with electron-rich alkenes. This is an inverse electron-demand cycloaddition reaction which is controlled by a dominant interaction between the LUMO of the 1-oxa-1,3-butadiene and the HOMO of the alkene (Scheme 4.2, right). This is usually a concerted non-synchronous reaction with retention of the configuration of the die-nophile and results in normally high regioselectivity, which in the presence of Lewis acids is improved and, furthermore, also increases the reaction rate. 

Scheeren et al. reported the first enantioselective metal-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrones with alkenes in 1994 [26]. Their approach involved C,N-diphenylnitrone la and ketene acetals 2, in the presence of the amino acid-derived oxazaborolidinones 3 as the catalyst (Scheme 6.8). This type of boron catalyst has been used successfully for asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions [27, 28]. In this reaction the nitrone is activated, according to the inverse electron-demand, for a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with the electron-rich alkene. The reaction is thus controlled by the LUMO inone-HOMOaikene interaction. They found that coordination of the nitrone to the boron Lewis acid strongly accelerated the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction with ketene acetals. The reactions of la with 2a,b, catalyzed by 20 mol% of oxazaborolidinones such as 3a,b were carried out at -78 °C. In some reactions fair enantioselectivities were induced by the catalysts, thus, 4a was obtained with an optical purity of 74% ee, however, in a low yield. The reaction involving 2b gave the C-3, C-4-cis isomer 4b as the only diastereomer of the product with 62% ee. 

How can we predict whether a given cycloaddition reaction will occur with suprafacial or with antarafacial geometry According to frontier orbital theory, a cycloaddition reaction takes place when a bonding interaction occurs between the HOMO of one reactant and the LUMO of the other. An intuitive explanation of this rule is to imagine that one reactant donates electrons to the other. As with elec-trocyclic reactions, it s the electrons in the HOMO of the first reactant that are least tightly held and most likely to be donated. But when the second reactant accepts those electrons, they must go into a vacant, unoccupied orbital—the LUMO. 

Fora [4 + 2 -7r-electron cycloaddition (Diels-Aldei reaction), let s arbitrarily select the diene LUMO and the alkene HOMO. The symmetries of the two ground-slate orbitals are such that bonding of the terminal lobes can occur with suprafacial geometry (Figure 30.9), so the Diels-Alder reaction takes place readily under thermal conditions. Note that, as with electrocyclic reactions, we need be concerned only with the terminal lobes. For purposes of prediction, interactions among the interior lobes need not be considered. 

Figure 30.9 Interaction of diene LUMO and alkene HOMO in a suprafacial 14 - 2] cycloaddition reaction (Diels-Alder reaction).

In contrast with the thermal [4 + 2] Diels-Alder reaction, the 2 + 2 cycloaddition of two alkenes to yield a cvclobutane can only be observed photo-chemically. The explanation follows from orbital-symmetry arguments. Looking at the ground-state HOMO of one alkene and the LUMO of the second alkene, it s apparent that a thermal 2 + 2 cycloaddition must take place by an antarafacial pathway (Figure 30.10a). Geometric constraints make the antarafacial transition state difficult, however, and so concerted thermal [2 + 2j cycloadditionsare not observed. 

In contrast with the thermal process, photochemical [2 + 2] cycloadditions me observed. Irradiation of an alkene with UV light excites an electron from i /, the ground-slate HOMO, to which becomes the excited-slate HOMO. Interaction between the excited-state HOMO of one alkene and the LUMO of the second alkene allows a photochemical [2 + 2j cycloaddition reaction to occur by a suprafacial pathway (Figure 30.10b). 

Figure 30.10 (a) Interaction of a ground-state HOMO and a ground-state LUMO in a potential [2 - 2] cycloaddition does not occur thermally because the antarafacial geometry is too strained, (b) Interaction of an excited-state HOMO and a ground-state LUMO in a photochemical [2 r 2] cycloaddition reaction is less strained, however, and occurs with suprafacial geometry. 

Cycloaddition reactions are those in which two unsaturated molecules add together to yield a cyclic product. For example, Diels-AJder reaction between a diene (four tt electrons) and a dienophile (two tt electrons) yields a cyclohexene. Cycloadditions can take place either by suprafacial or antarafacial pathways. Suprafacial cycloaddition involves interaction between lobes on the same face of one component and on the same face of the second component. Antarafacial cycloaddition involves interaction between lobes on the same face of one component ancl on opposite faces of the other component. The reaction course in a specific case can be found by looking at the symmetry of the HOMO of one component and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the other component. 

Lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), 500, 1181 cycloaddition reactions and. 1188-1189... 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions are a powerful kind of reaction for the preparation of functionalised five-membered heterocycles [42]. In the field of Fischer carbene complexes, the a,/ -unsaturated derivatives have been scarcely used in cyclo additions with 1,3-dipoles in contrast with other types of cyclo additions [43]. These complexes have low energy LUMOs, due to the electron-acceptor character of the pentacarbonyl metal fragment, and hence, they react with electron-rich dipoles with high energy HOMOs. 

According to frontier molecular orbital theory (FMO), the reactivity, regio-chemistry and stereochemistry of the Diels-Alder reaction are controlled by the suprafacial in phase interaction of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of one component and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the other. [17e, 41-43, 64] These orbitals are the closest in energy Scheme 1.14 illustrates the two dominant orbital interactions of a symmetry-allowed Diels-Alder cycloaddition. 

Lewis acids can greatly accelerate the cycloaddition. Instructive examples are the AlQs-catalyzed reaction of cycloalkenones with 1,3-butadienes [12]. The catalytic effect is explained by FMO theory considering that the coordination of the carbonyl oxygen by Lewis acid increases the electron-withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group on the carbon-carbon double bond and lowers the LUMO dienophile energy. 

Lewis-acid-catalyzed cycloadditions of dienophiles, such as a,/l-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, with open-chain carbon-dienes, are generally highly ortho-para regioselective because the oxygen complexation increases the difference of LUMO coefficients of the alkene moiety. 

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