Olefin polycyclization

Cationic olefin polycyclizations represent important transformations in the field of domino-type reactions. 

The early Escherunoser-Stork results indicated, that stereoselective cyclizations may be achieved, if monocyclic olefins with 1,5-polyene side chains are used as substrates in acid treatment. This assumption has now been justified by many syntheses of polycyclic systems. A typical example synthesis is given with the last reaction. The cyclization of a trideca-3,7-dien-11-ynyl cyclopentenol leads in 70% yield to a 17-acetyl A-norsteroid with correct stereochemistry at all ring junctions. Ozonolysis of ring A and aldol condensation gave dl-progesterone (M.B. Gravestock, 1978 see p. 279f.). 

The synthetic procedure described is based on that reported earlier for the synthesis on a smaller scale of anthracene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, dibenz[a,c]anthracene, and phenanthrene in excellent yields from the corresponding quinones. Although reduction of quinones with HI and phosphorus was described in the older literature, relatively drastic conditions were employed and mixtures of polyhydrogenated derivatives were the principal products. The relatively milder experimental procedure employed herein appears generally applicable to the reduction of both ortho- and para-quinones directly to the fully aromatic polycyclic arenes. The method is apparently inapplicable to quinones having an olefinic bond, such as o-naphthoquinone, since an analogous reaction of the latter provides a product of undetermined structure (unpublished result). As shown previously, phenols and hydro-quinones, implicated as intermediates in the reduction of quinones by HI, can also be smoothly deoxygenated to fully aromatic polycyclic arenes under conditions similar to those described herein. 

A new thermal preparation ot fluorinated species is copyrolysis Copyrolysis of fluorinated compounds like perfluorobenzene, fluorinated aromatic anhydndes, and fluorinated heteroaromatics with tetrafluoroethylene or other fluonnated olefins is a useful method of preparing fluorinated olefins [88 89], functionalized fluoroaromatics [90 91 92, 93, 94, 95], fluonnated benzocycloalkanes [80, 96, 97, 98, 99, 700], fluorinated heterocycles [80, 93, 101, 102, 103], and fluonnated polycyclic compounds [104] (equations 19 and 20)... 

Closely related to the polyepoxide cascade procedure for the synthesis of polycyclic systems is Corey s biomimetic-type, nonenzymatic, oxirane-initiated (Lewis acid-promoted) cation-olefin polyannulation. By this strategy, compound 96, containing the tetracyclic core of scalarenedial, was constructed by exposure of the acyclic epoxy triene precursor 95 to MeAlCl2-promoted cyclization reaction conditions (Scheme 8.25) [45]. 

Epoxides are often encountered in nature, both as intermediates in key biosynthetic pathways and as secondary metabolites. The selective epoxidation of squa-lene, resulting in 2,3-squalene oxide, for example, is the prelude to the remarkable olefin oligomerization cascade that creates the steroid nucleus [7]. Tetrahydrodiols, the ultimate products of metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, bind to the nucleic acids of mammalian cells and are implicated in carcinogenesis [8], In organic synthesis, epoxides are invaluable building blocks for introduction of diverse functionality into the hydrocarbon backbone in a 1,2-fashion. It is therefore not surprising that chemistry of epoxides has received much attention [9]. 

Diels-Alder reaction of the 1,3,4-oxadiazole with the pendant olefin and loss of N2, the C2-C3 7t bond participates in a subsequent 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with the carbonyl ylide to generate complex polycycles such as 45 as single diastereomers with up to six new stereocenters. That the cascade reaction is initiated by a Diels-Alder reaction with the alkene rather than with the indole is supported by the lack of reaction even under forcing conditions with substrate 46, in which a Diels-Alder reaction with the indole C2-C3 n bond would be required [26a]. 

Polycyclic oxetanes are obtained in good yields in intramolecular carbonyl-olefin cycloadditions, in an analogous way as the corresponding alicyclic systems are formed in intramolecular enone-olefin additions. Two applications are given in (4.78)492) and in (4.79)493). 

Deuterium secondary isotope effects in an olefinic cationic polycyclization have been reviewed by Borcic and coworkers237. 

Palladium-catalyzed cyclization of alkenes and alkynes were reported by Balme and co-workers.143 144 Intramolecular carbopalladation occurs to give polycyclic compounds. It has been shown that the nucleophile type has a large influence on the cyclization process. Both 5-exo- and 6-endo-cyclization are observed for substrates with nitrile (116 and 118) and ester (120, 122, and 124) substituents, respectively (Scheme 36). When a mixed nucleophile (CN and C02Me) is used, a mixture of 5-exo and 6-endo products is obtained. The chemoselectivity is controlled by the size of the nucleophile used. The stereochemistry of the initial double bond plays an important role on the stereoselectivity of the cyclization. (Z)-olefins (118 and 120) and (/. )-olefins (116 and 124) afford as- (119 and 121) and trans-cyclization products (117 and 123), respectively. 

Whereas Hegedus [335] and Danishefsky [336] were the first to discover a tandem Heck reaction from o-allyl-A -acryloylanilines leading to tricyclic pyrrolo[l,2-a]indoles or pyridino[l,2-a]indoles [336], it has been the fantastic work of Grigg to unleash the enormous potential of this chemistry. Grigg and his co-workers parlayed their Pd-catalyzed tandem polycyclization-anion capture sequence into a treasure trove of syntheses starting with IV-allyl-o-haloanilines [337-345], Diels-Alder and olefin metathesis reactions can be interwoven into the sequence or can serve as the culmination step, as can a wide variety of nucleophiles. An example of the transformation of 289 to 290 is shown below in which indole is the terminating nucleophile [340],... 

Maier and Schleyer (220) have studied the problem of the stability of bridgehead double bonds in bi- and polycyclic systems. They define an olefinic strain (OS) as the difference in strain energy between the olefin and its parent saturated... 

ET-induced cycloadditions of polycyclic olefins and cycloreversions of cyclobutane species have been studied by ESR spectroscopy [266]. Upon chemical and electrochemical reduction, 2,2 -distyrylbiphenyl rearranges by intramolecular coupling into a bis-benzylic dihydrophenanthrene dianion (Scheme 1), which can be either protonated to a 9,10 -dibenzyl-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene or oxidatively coupled to a cyclobutane species. It is interesting to note that the intramolecular bond... 

Polycyclic olefin copolymers target optical, medical and electronic applications. 

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