Nitrile oxides dipole/dipolarophiles

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. 

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]. 

Cycloaddition with nitrile oxides occur with compounds of practically any type with a C=C bond alkenes and cycloalkenes, their functional derivatives, dienes and trienes with isolated, conjugated or cumulated double bonds, some aromatic compounds, unsaturated and aromatic heterocycles, and fullerenes. The content of this subsection is classified according to the mentioned types of dipolarophiles. Problems of relative reactivities of dienophiles and dipoles, regio- and stereoselectivity of nitrile oxide cycloadditions were considered in detail by Jaeger and... 

Aldimines, Ketimines, and Related Compounds as Dipolarophiles Reactions of aldimines with nitrile oxides proceed readily to give 1,2,4-oxadiazolines independently of the nature of substituents both in dipole and dipolarophile molecules. 1,2,4-Oxadiazolines were prepared by the regiospe-cihc 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides with fluoro-substituted aldimines (295). Phosphorylnitrile oxides gave with azomethines, PhCH NR, phosphory-lated 1,2,4-oxadiazolines 129 (296). Expected 1,2,4-oxadiazolines were also obtained from azomethines, derived from 4-formylcoumarine (179) and 1,3-diphenylpyrazole-4-carbaldehyde (297). 

Cycloaddition at C=C Bonds Cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to triple carbon-carbon bonds is a rather trivial reaction. Therefore, most attention is to new types of dipoles and dipolarophiles as well as to unusual reaction routes... 

In the examples presented in CHEC-II(1996) in which a pyridazin-3(2//)-one is the 1,3-dipolarophile, two types of 1,3-dipoles are used nitrile oxides and diazoalkanes. Two other 1,3-dipoles have to be mentioned now. The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the azomethine ylide 95 generated in situ by thermal ring opening of dimethyl trans- -(A-methoxyphenyl)aziridine-2,3-dicarboxylate 94 to some 4- or 5-substituted 2-methylpyridazin-3(2//)-ones has been... 

Interestingly, furoxanes (274) have also been shown to be competent dipoles for the [3 + 2] cycloaddition. These compounds result from a dimerization of the corresponding nitrile oxide (Eq. 2.26) (237-241). Under elevated temperatures, the addition of a dipolarophile results in the cycloadduct 275. This intermediate is unstable under the reaction conditions and undergoes a retro-[3 + 2] cycloaddition to reveal a nitronate. In the presence of excess dipolarophile, the reaction proceeds to provide bicyclic isoxazolidines in moderate yield. 

Nitrile oxides are generally not isolable dipoles but are prepared in situ in the presence of a dipolarophile. However, some stable derivatives are known (see below). A common source of nitrile oxides (1) are aldehydes (2) (making it very convenient to obtain chiral, optically active derivatives) that are converted into the respective oximes (5). From these, there is a choice concerning the actual precursor. A hydroximoyl halide (4), or a nitroalkane (6) can be used, the latter also being... 

A number of intramolecular cycloadditions of alkene-tethered nitrile oxides, where the double bond forms part of a ring, have been used for the synthesis of fused carbocyclic structures (18,74,266-271). The cycloadditions afford the cis-fused bicyclic products, and this stereochemical outcome does not depend on the substituents on the alkene or on the carbon chain. When cyclic olefins were used, the configuration of the products found could be rationalized in terms of the transition states described in Scheme 6.49 (18,74,266-271). In the transition state leading to the cis-fused heterocycle, the dipole is more easily aligned with the dipolarophile if the nitrile oxide adds to the face of the cycloolefin in which the tethering chain resides. In the trans transition state, considerable nonbonded interactions and strain would have to be overcome in order to achieve good parallel alignment of the dipole and dipolarophile (74,266). 

The intramolecular cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to substituted furans was reported to occur with low stereoselectivity (274). Inserting a stereogenic unit within the chain connecting the dipole and dipolarophile did not increase the stereoselectivity (274). 

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. 

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. 

The characteristics of the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition mechanism of azides and other 1,3-dipoles (such as diazoalkanes, azo-methine imines, nitrones, nitrile imines, nitrile oxides) have been described in detail by Huisgen.191 19 According to the author, the addition of a 1,3-dipole (a b c) to a dipolarophile (d e) occurs by a concerted mechanism in which the two new a bonds are formed simultaneously although not necessarily at equal rates (32). As a consequence, a stereoselective cis addition is observed. Thus, the addition of p-methoxyphenyl azide to dimethyl fiynarate (33) yields l-(p-methoxyphenyl)-4,5-froiw-dicarbomethoxy-AMriazoline (34),194 and 4-nitrophenyl azide gives exclusively the respective cis-addition products 35 and 36 on addition to irons- and cis-propenyl propyl ether.196... 

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