Maleic anhydrides additions, isoindole

Isoindole itself gives normal Diels-Alder addition products, (107 and 108), with maleic anhydride and A-phcnylmaleimide, these derivatives constituting the main evidence for forma,tion of the parent substance. 2-Alkyl- and 2-arylisoindoles also give normal addition products with these two dienophiles.Although only one product is generally isolated, it seems likely, in view of the known tendency of several Diels-Alder adducts of isoindoles to dissociate to their components (see below), that both exo and endo stereoisomers might be formed in certain cases. The reaction between 2-p-tolyl-isoindole and A-phenylmaleimide has been shown to give both e,xo (109) and endo (110) addition products. ... 

Benz[/]isoindole (125), recently prepared from the p-toluene-sulfonyl derivative (124), proved to be too unstable for isolation, but eould be trapped in solution as the Diels-Alder adduct (127). The corresponding 1-phenyl derivative (126) was also prepared and, aecording to spectral measurements, reacts with maleic anhydride to give the product (128) derived by additive substitution. This subsequently rearranged to the adduct (129). The same behavior is observed in the reaction of (126) with V-phenylmaleimide. This provides the first clear indication that substitution products from isoindole derivatives and dienophiles can be converted into the normal addition products. 

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