Methyl cycloaddition with

Photochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition is a powerful way to produce cyclobutanes, which, in turn, are reactive synthesis intermediates. N-Methylpyrrole adds aldehydes via [2 -I- 2] photocycloaddition to give transient oxetanes with high regioselectivity Ring-opening produces 3-(oi-hydroxyalkyl)pyrroles which are oxidized easily to 3-arylpyrroles, such as 3-BUTYROYL-l-METHYL-PYRROLE. With a special apparatus, ethylene is conveniently added to 3-methyl-... 

Heterocyclic enamines often undergo two-step 1,3 cycloaddition with methyl vinyl ketone. This involves electrophilic attacks by an olefinic carbon and by a carbonyl carbon (24,25). For example, 1,2-dimethyl-Zl -pyrroline (14), when treated with methyl vinyl ketone, produces 1,6-dimethyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydroindole (15) (24). The requirement which must be met so that this type of cyclization reaction can take place is that the a position of the heterocyclic enamine be carbon substituted. This provides... 

Enamines have been observed to act both as dienophiles (46-48) and dienes (47,49) (dienamines in this case) in one-step, Diels-Alder type of 1,4 cycloadditions with acrylate esters and their vinylogs. This is illustrated by the reaction between l-(N-pyrrolidino)cyclohexene (34) and methyl t/-a i-2,4-pentadienoate (35), where the enamine acts as the dienophile to give the adduct 36 (47). In a competitive type of reaction, however, the... 

Evans s bis(oxazolinyl)pyridine (pybox) complex 17, which is effective for the Diels-Alder reaction of a-bromoacrolein and methacrolein (Section 2.1), is also a suitable catalyst for the Diels-Alder reaction of acrylate dienophiles [23] (Scheme 1.33). In the presence of 5 mol% of the Cu((l )-pybox)(SbF5)2 catalyst with a benzyl substituent, tert-butyl acrylate reacts with cyclopentadiene to give the adduct in good optical purity (92% ee). Methyl acrylate and phenyl acrylate underwent cycloadditions with lower selectivities. 

One of the most useful features of the Diels-Alder reaction is that it isstaeo-specific, meaning that a single product stereoisomer is formed. Furthermore, the stereochemistry of the reactant is maintained. If we carry out the cycloaddition with a cis dienophile, such as methyl ds-2-butenoate, only the cis-substituted cyclohexene product is formed. With methyl tmtts-2-butenoate, only thetrans-substituted cyclohexene product is formed. 

Di-tert-butylthiepin (9) undergoes a [4+2] cycloaddition with ethenetetracarbonitrile over two weeks at room temperature to give the 1 1 adduct 10 in 49% yield. Almost the same result was obtained at 60°C and 8500 atm over three days (46% yield). Methyl acrylate is inert to thiepin 9 under similar conditions.87... 

Treatment of methyl 6-phenyl-l,2,4-triazine-3-carboxylate (41) with cyclopropene produces methyl 6-phenyl-4//-azepine-2-carboxylate (42) in equilibrium with its bicyclic valence tautomer 43, which undergoes a second cycloaddition with cyclopropene to yield the bisadduct 44.112... 

A recent variation of these reactions uses 6/f-l, 3-oxazin-6-ones as the electron-deficient heterodiene in place of the triazine.113114 With cyclopropene at — 35 C oxazinone 45 furnishes the 4//-azepine 46 in excellent yield. Likewise, with 3-methylcyclopropene the 4-methyl derivative 46 (R = Me) is formed. Cycloaddition with 1-methylcyclopropene, however, generates a mixture of 7-tert-butyl, 2-methyl 3-methyl- and 5-methyl-4//-azepine-2,7-dicarboxylate in a 2 1 ratio and a 97 % overall yield. 

Reports of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with l -azepines are uncommon. Methyl l//-azepine-l-carboxylate, however, with iV-phenylbenzylideneamine iV-oxide (42) undergoes cycloaddition at the C4 —C5 double bond to yield a 1 1 mixture (48 %) of the two stereoisomers of methyl 2,3-diphenyl-2,3,3a,8a-tetrahydro-6//-isoxazolo[4,5-r/]azepine-6-carboxylate (43).83 268... 

The tricarbonylchromium complex 6 of methyl 1/f-azepine-l-carboxylate undergoes photoin-duced [6 + 4] 7t-cycloadditions with dienes, e.g. 7, to give, after decomplexation with oxygen, azabicyclo[4.4.1]undecanes, e.g. 8, in high yields.276... 

Substituted azocine systems are much more stable than the parent compound, and 2-methoxy derivatives have been intensively examined. Starting from cyclohexa-1,4-diene (3), a [2 + 2] cycloaddition with chlorosulfonyl isocyanate, followed by removal of the chlorosulfonyl group, leads to the /3-lactam 4, which can be transformed by O-methylation with Meerwein s salt into the corresponding imidate. Monobromination with A-bromosuccinimide and subsequent treatment with base results in a methoxyazabicyclo[4.2.0]octatriene derivative, which spontaneously isomerizes to 2-methoxyazocine (5).13,14... 

It has been established that alkoxy alkenylcarbene complexes participate as dienophiles in Diels-Alder reactions not only with higher rates but also with better regio- and stereoselectivities than the corresponding esters [95]. This is clearly illustrated in Scheme 51 for the reactions of an unsubstituted vinyl complex with isoprene. This complex reacts to completion at 25 °C in 3 h whereas the cycloaddition reaction of methyl acrylate with isoprene requires 7 months at the same temperature. The rate enhancement observed for this complex is comparable to that for the corresponding aluminium chloride-catalysed reactions of methyl acrylate and isoprene (Scheme 51). 

Similarly a marked increase of regioselectivity has been shown in the catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions of the chiral bicyclic lactame 24 (Scheme 3.9) with a variety of dienes [27] (isoprene, mircene, (E,E)-L4-dimethylbutadiene, 2,3-di-methylbutadiene, 2-siloxybutadiene). The catalyzed reactions were more regio-selective and totally enJo-antz-diastereoselective anti with respect to the bridgehead methyl group). The results of the cycloadditions with isoprene and mircene are reported in Scheme 3.9. The cycloadducts have then been used to provide interesting fused carbocycles [28] with high enantiomeric purity as shown in Scheme 3.10. 

Canthin-6-one, which is a cytotoxic alkaloid, is synthesized in six steps from harmalane (Scheme 84) <1999TL7075>. The second step is a [4+2] cycloaddition with methyl 2-(dimethylamino)acrylate under singleelectron-transfer electrolysis. 

Ethyl 3-azido-l-methyl-177-indole-2-carboxylate 361 is prepared in 70% yield by diazotization of amine 360 followed by substitution of the created diazonium group with sodium azide. In cycloadditions with nitrile anions, azide 361 forms triazole intermediates 362. However, under the reaction conditions, cyclocondensation of the amino and ethoxycarbonyl groups in 362 results in formation of an additional ring. This domino process provides efficiently 4/7-indolo[2,3-i ]l,2,3-triazolo[l,5- ]pyrimidines 363 in 70-80% yield (Scheme 57) <2006TL2187>. 

Thermolysis of a stable radical 4-[(hydroxyimino)nitromethyl]-2,2,5,5-tetra-methyl-3-imidazolin-l-oxyl 13 gives the corresponding spin-labeled nitrile oxide. It was also identified in isoxazolines formed in cycloadditions with olefins (88). 

Formation of mixtures of the above type, which is common with internal olefins, do not occur with many functionalized alkenes. Thus, tertiary cinnamates and cinnamides undergo cycloadditions with benzonitrile oxides to give the 5-Ph and 4-Ph regioisomers in a 25-30 75-70 ratio. This result is in contrast to that obtained when methyl cinnamate was used as the dipolarophile (177). 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to ethyl o -hydroxycinnamate proceeds regiose-lectively to afford the corresponding ethyl fra s-3-aryl-4,5-dihydro-5-(2-hydro-xyphenyl)-4-isoxazolecarboxylates 36 (178). Reaction of 4-[( )-(2-ethoxycarbo-nylvinyl)] coumarin with acetonitrile oxide gives 37 (R = Me) and 38 in 73% and 3% yields, respectively, while reaction of the same dipolarophile with 4-methoxy-benzonitrile oxide affords only 37 (R = 4-MeOCr>H4) (85%) (179). 

In this approach, the SENA skeleton is assembled from nitroalkene (42) and nucleophile 56.With the exception of two examples (entries 1 and 2 in Table 3.2), the reaction does not stop at SENA 51, which either undergoes intramolecular cyclization through [3 + 2]-cycloaddition to give fused heterocycles (as a rule after elimination of trimethylsilanol) (198-200) or is involved in [3+ 2]-cycloaddition with specially added methyl vinyl ketone or methyl acrylate to form (after elimination of silanol) substituted isoxazolines in rather high yields (201). 

Substituted cyclopropanols were also obtained, albeit in moderate yields, upon reaction of esters such as methyl pentanoate with l,4-bis(bromomagnesium)butane (38) in the presence of titanium tetraisopropoxide. This corroborates the formation of a titanacy-clopropane—ethylene complex 40 from an initially formed titanacyclopentane derivative 39 (Scheme 11.12) [103], Apparently, an ester molecule readily displaces the ethylene ligand from 40, and a subsequent insertion of the carbonyl group into the Ti—C bond, a formal [2S + 2J cycloaddition, leads to the oxatitanacyclopentane 42, the precursor to 1-butylcyclopropanol (43). 

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