Nitrile oxide, as 1,3-dipole

Fig. 1 Cycloaddition reactions employed in nucleic acid labeling with reporter groups (green star). A Cu -mediated azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) of a terminal alkyne with an azide. B Strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) of an azide with a cyclooctyne derivative. C Staudinger ligation of an azide with a phosphine derivative (not a cycloaddition reaction, see below). D Norbornene cycloaddition of a nitrile oxide as 1,3-dipole and a norbornene as dipolarophile. E Inverse electron-demand Diels- Alder cycloaddition reaction between a strained double bond (norbornene) and a tetrazine derivative. F Photo-cUck reaction of a push-pull-substituted diaiyltetrazole with an activated double bond (maleimide)...

The intramolecular cycloaddition of a nitrile oxide (a 1,3-dipole) to an alkene is ideally suited for the regio- and stereocontrolled synthesis of fused polycyclic isoxazolines.16 The simultaneous creation of two new rings and the synthetic versatility of the isoxa-zoline substructure contribute significantly to the popularity of this cycloaddition process in organic synthesis. In spite of its high degree of functionalization, aldoxime 32 was regarded as a viable substrate for an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. Indeed, treatment of 32 (see Scheme 17) with sodium hypochlorite... 

Some researchers have elaborated synthesis of PCSs employing bis(nitrile oxide)s as 1,3-dipoles and diynes, dinitriles, and a number of other compounds as dipolaro-philes154-156). 

The intermolecular dimerization of nitrile oxides has been described as a procedure to prepare Fx with identical substituent both in the 3 and 4 position (Fig. 3). This procedure is a [3 -F 2] cycloaddition where one molecule of nitrile oxide acts as 1,3-dipole and the other as dipolarophile [24-26]. Yu et al. has studied this procedure in terms of theoretical calculus [27,28]. Rearrangement of isocyanates competes with the bimolecular dimerization, with the former becoming dominant at elevated temperatures. 

The radical cations (47) produced by T oxidation of aryl aldehyde hydrazones acted as 1,3-dipoles in reaction with nitriles to form, after a second T oxidation, 1,2,4-triazoles (Scheme 4) (85TL5655). 

Nitrile oxides 7 react as 1,3-dipoles with alkynes in a [3+2] cycloaddition to give isoxazoles (Quilico synthesis). The nitrile oxides are generated in situ. They are obtained, for instance, by dehy-drohalogenation of hydroxamic acid chlorides (cr-chloraldoximes) with triethylamine ... 

In the second example, Hamelin et al. [47] reported the first microwave-assisted solvent-free catalyzed conditions for generation of nitrile oxide intermediates 17. In this work, a mixture of methyl nitroacetate 16 (as 1,3-dipole precursor), dimethyl acetylene dicarboxylate (DMAD) 18 (as dipolarophile), and p-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) as catalyst (10% w/w) was irradiated neat for 30 min. The reaction was performed in an open vessel from which water was continuously removed [48]. In this manner, the desired isoxazole adduct 19 was obtained in excellent yield (91%). 

The 1,3-dipolar systems involved in the cycloaddition reaction with cumulenes include azides, nitrile oxides, nitrile imines, nitrones, azomethine imines and diazo compounds. However, some 1,3-dipolar systems are also generated in the reaction of precursors with catalysts. Examples include the reaction of alkylene oxides, alkylene sulfldes and alkylene carbonates with heterocumulenes. Carbon cumulenes also participate as 1,3-dipols in [3+2] cycloaddifion reactions. Examples include thiocarbonyl sulfides, R2C=S=S, and l-aza-2-azoniaallenes. 

Isothiazolylphosphonate 29 (Section II.B.2) reacted with 1,3-dipoles such as diazomethane and nitrile oxides, affording regioselectively 30a,b or 32. By reacting 30b and 32 with bases, pyrazolylphosphonate 31 and isoxazolylsulfonamide 33 were obtained (01T(57)5453). 

Primary nitro compounds are good precursors for preparing nitriles and nitrile oxides (Eq. 6.31). The conversion of nitro compounds into nitrile oxides affords an important tool for the synthesis of complex natural products. Nitrile oxides are reactive 1,3-dipoles that form isoxazolines or isoxazoles by the reaction with alkenes or alky nes, respectively. The products are also important precursors for various substrates such as P-amino alcohols, P-hydroxy ketones, P-hydroxy nitriles, and P-hydroxy acids (Scheme 6.3). Many good reviews concerning nitrile oxides in organic synthesis exist some of them are listed here.50-56 Applications of organic synthesis using nitrile oxides are discussed in Section 8.2.2. 

As discussed in Section 6.2, nitro compounds are good precursors of nitrile oxides, which are important dipoles in cycloadditions. The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides with alkenes or alkynes provides a straightforward access to 2-isoxazolines or isoxazoles, respectively. A number of ring-cleaving procedures are applicable, such that various types of compounds may be obtained from the primary adducts (Scheme 8.18). There are many reports on synthetic applications of this reaction. The methods for generation of nitrile oxides and their reactions are discussed in Section 6.2. Recent synthetic applications and asymmetric synthesis using 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides are summarized in this section. 

One obvious synthetic route to isoxazoles and dihydroisoxazoles is by [3+2] cycloadditions of nitrile oxides with alkynes and alkenes, respectively. In the example elaborated by Giacomelli and coworkers shown in Scheme 6.206, nitroalkanes were converted in situ to nitrile oxides with 1.25 equivalents of the reagent 4-(4,6-di-methoxy[l,3,5]triazin-2-yl)-4-methylmorpholinium chloride (DMTMM) and 10 mol% of N,N-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) as catalyst [373], In the presence of an alkene or alkyne dipolarophile (5.0 equivalents), the generated nitrile oxide 1,3-dipoles undergo cycloaddition with the double or triple bond, respectively, thereby furnishing 4,5-dihydroisoxazoles or isoxazoles. For these reactions, open-vessel microwave conditions were chosen and full conversion with very high isolated yields of products was achieved within 3 min at 80 °C. The reactions could also be carried out utilizing a resin-bound alkyne [373]. For a related example, see [477]. 

The many successful applications of nitrile oxide cycloadditions in synthesis are intimately linked with theory, both the simple FMO variety as well as the more sophisticated ab initio treatment, where the work of Sustmann and subsequently of Houk and his group has been seminal. We, the practitioners, have thus been supplied with a consistent view on the nature of 1,3-dipoles, their reactivity toward dipolarophiles, and the origin and interpretation of stereoselectivity of cycloaddition chemistry. It is of course desirable that our understanding of the relative reactivities of alkenes as well as of many 1,3-dipoles would be also improved, thereby leading to simple, extended recipes for the chemist practicing synthetics. We hope that this account will stimulate further advances in this field of cycloaddition chemistry and promote further uses of nitrile oxides in organic synthesis. 

Extensive studies on diastereoselectivity in the reactions of 1,3-dipoles such as nitrile oxides and nitrones have been carried out over the last 10 years. In contrast, very little work was done on the reactions of nitrile imines with chiral alkenes until the end of the 1990s and very few enantiomerically pure nitrile imines were generated. The greatest degree of selectivity so far has been achieved in cycloadditions to the Fischer chromium carbene complexes (201) to give, initially, the pyrazohne complexes 202 and 203 (111,112). These products proved to be rather unstable and were oxidized in situ with pyridine N-oxide to give predominantly the (4R,5S) product 204 in moderate yield (35-73%). 

This chapter deals mainly with the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of three 1,3-dipoles azomethine ylides, nitrile oxides, and nitrones. These three have been relatively well investigated, and examples of external reagent-mediated stereocontrolled cycloadditions of other 1,3-dipoles are quite limited. Both nitrile oxides and nitrones are 1,3-dipoles whose cycloaddition reactions with alkene dipolarophiles produce 2-isoxazolines and isoxazolidines, their dihydro derivatives. These two heterocycles have long been used as intermediates in a variety of synthetic applications because their rich functionality. When subjected to reductive cleavage of the N—O bonds of these heterocycles, for example, important building blocks such as p-hydroxy ketones (aldols), a,p-unsaturated ketones, y-amino alcohols, and so on are produced (7-12). Stereocontrolled and/or enantiocontrolled cycloadditions of nitrones are the most widely developed (6,13). Examples of enantioselective Lewis acid catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions are summarized by J0rgensen in Chapter 12 of this book, and will not be discussed further here. 

In all of the above reactions, a chiral center of the alkene was located in the allylic position. However, as shall be demonstrated next, more distant chiral centers may also lead to highly selective cycloadditions with 1,3-dipoles. In two recent papers, the use of exocyclic alkenes has been applied in reactions with C,N-diphenylnitrone (165,166). The optically active alkenes 109 obtained from (S)-methyl cysteine have been applied in reactions with nitrones, nitrile oxides, and azomethine ylides. The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of 109 (R=Ph) with C,N-diphenyl nitrone proceeded to give endOa-1 Q and exOa-110 in a ratio of 70 30 (Scheme 12.36). Both product isomers arose from attack of the nitrone 68 at the... 

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