Methallyl cation 4 + 3 cycloaddition reactions

Diels-Alder reactions are classified as [4 + 2] cycloadditions, and the reaction giving the cyclobutane would be a [2 + 2] cycloaddition. This classification is based on the number of electrons involved. Diels-Alder reactions are not the only [4 + 2] cycloadditions. Conjugated ions like allyl cations, allyl anions and pentadienyl cations are all capable of cycloadditions. Thus, an allyl cation can be a 2-electron component in a [4 + 2] cycloaddition, as in the reaction of the methallyl cation 6.2 derived from its iodide 6.1, with cyclo-pentadiene giving a seven-membered ring cation 6.3. The diene is the 4-electron component. The product eventually isolated is the alkene 6.4, as the result of the loss of the neighbouring proton, the usual fate of a tertiary cation. This cycloaddition is also called a [4 + 3] cycloaddition if you were to count the atoms, but this is a structural feature not an electronic feature. In this chapter it is the number of electrons that counts. 

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