Methyl acrylate, as dienophile

The first report of an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction with chiral Lewis acids (252) was made by Russian chemists in 1976 (253). Koga was probably the first to report a meaningful enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction (Scheme 105) in which the cyclopentadiene-methacro-lein exo adduct was obtained in 72% ee with the aid of 15 mol % of a menthol-modified aluminum chloride (254). The ee is highly dependent on the structures of the substrates, and asymmetric induction has not been observed with methyl acrylate as dienophile. Disproportionation... 

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