Ylides, pyrolysis

Fluorinated alkynes are readily prepared by treatment of the mtermediate formed by acylation with a second equivalent of ylide followed by pyrolysis [63. 64, 65] (equation 57)... 

Hexafluorabenzene may also add to methylene Lnphenylphosphorane to form a new pentafluorophenyl-bearing yhde Treatment of tins ylide with an acid fluonde or acid anhydride followed by pyrolysis (shown in equation 58) forms the corresponding pentafluorophenylacetylene [66] (equation 58). 

On the other hand, poly(ethoxycarbonylimino-4-vi-nylpyridinium ylide) (Scheme 13) was prepared essentially by the same method from 1-ethoxycarbonylimino-pyridinium ylide, as described by Hafner [15] from the reaction of poly (4-vinylpyridine) with nitrene, generated from the pyrolysis of ethyl azidoformate. 

Eberbach has shown that pyrolysis of the system 39, in which both A and B represent benzene rings, the product is the stable dihydrodibenzo[c,e]oxepine 40, (A,B = benzo), in which the intermediate ylide undegoes a 1,7-electrocyclisation followed by a [1,5] H shift (Scheme 9) <85CB4035>. This work has now been extended by Sharp to include systems where B is a thiophene or pyridine, offering a route to the corresponding thieno- and pyrido-benzoxepines <96JCS(P1)515>. 

Savignac et al. [26] excellently reviewed this topic, but Aitken and coworkers investigated further the flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) of the )0-oxophosphorus ylides (Scheme 5). 

In contrast to this behavior stabilized sulfonyl ylides 125 lose PhjP under flash vacuum pyrolysis conditions to give sulfonyl carbenes 127 which evolve to the formation of various products among which the alkenes 129, observed in all the cases (Scheme 35) [129]. 

Hynninen and coworkers <99JCS(PT1)2403> used a similar approach to prepare phytochlorin-C6o diad 38 (Scheme 11). The protocol employed the pyrolysis of the natural chlorophyll a molecule 35, followed by transesterification and demetallation to furnish derivative 36. Subsequent oxidation of 36 with OsCU and NaI04 has allowed the synthesis of the formyl derivative 37, which was further used as precursor of the azomethinic ylide intermediate in the 1,3-DC reaction with Cm leading to the formation of diad 38. Photochemical studies revealed that this diad underwent a fast intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer in polar solvents such a benzonitrile <99JACS9378>. 

Flash vacuum pyrolysis (600 °C) of arylmethylsulfonyl-stabilized phosphorus ylides... 

Flash vacuum pyrolysis of oxiranes 156, accessible by a two-step procedure, results in carbonyl ylides 157, conjugated with a diene system formed by benzene and heterocyclic substituents R. They further undergo 1,7-electrocyclization and subsequent 1,5-sigma tropic hydrogen shift to give oxepines 158 and 159 (Scheme 31 (1997JCS(P1)3025, 1996JCS(P1)515)). 

Sharp and co-workers (32) observed that carbonyl ylides can participate in electrocyclic ring closures. Flash vacuum pyrolysis of epoxy ester 101 led initially... 

The first example of the direct observation of a thermally generated nitrile ylide has been reported (3). This was achieved by studying the thermal flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) decomposition of the oxazaphospholes 3 (R = t-Bu, Ph) via the... 

The cyano-substituted nitrile ylides 123 have been generated via 1,1-elimination reactions. For example, the benzyhdene derivative 122 (R=Ph) eliminated benzene on vapor phase pyrolysis to give 123 (R=Ph), which reacted via 1,5-electrocycli-zation [see also (66)] to give the isoindole 124 (41%) (67). In a similar way, 122 [R=(CH2)3CH=CH2] gave the corresponding nitrile yhde that reacted via intramolecular cycloaddition to give the pyrroline derivative 126. 

A new stabilized phosphorus ylide 357 designed to undergo thermal tandem cyclization has been prepared. Upon flash vacuum pyrolysis at 850 °C, loss of PhsPO and Me radical results in tandem cyclization to give [l]ben-zothieno[3,2- ][l]benzothiophene 356 (Equation 7) <1998J(P1)3937>. 

Imine ylides 7 and carbonyl ylides 8 are not stable but may be generated in situ by pyrolysis of suitably substituted aziridines and oxiranes. The energy of the HOMO, and therefore the nucleophilicity of the parent 18-electron dipoles, decreases from very high to very low across the series 7-18. In the same series, the electrophilicity increases from moderate to high, being consistently higher when the central atom is oxygen. 

There is less evidence for the participation of azomethine ylides 88 in the early examples of the thermal cyclization reactions of Meldrum s acid derivatives 86. This reaction, conducted under flash vacuum pyrolysis conditions, may proceed via the methyleneketene 87. Hydrogen transfer from this highly unstable species may lead to the dipolar intermediate 88, which could cyclize either in a 6zr, to give 89, or 8tt, to give 90, manner (Scheme 27) [83JCS(CC)988 85TL833 87JCS(CC)140]. 

Diene systems of the type 158 have been studied by O Shea and Sharp [96JCS(Pl)515].The oxiranes 157 were subjected to flash vacuum pyrolysis at 625°C, to yield some new hetero-fused dihydrobenzoxepines 159. This 1,7-electrocyclization of carbonyl ylides 158, irrespective of whether the heterocyclic ring under attack is electron rich or electron poor, parallels the cyclization of the analogous nitrile ylides (Scheme 48). 

Muchall et al. (98CC238) have recently investigated the gas-phase thermolysis of 2,5-dihydro-2,2-dimethoxy-2,5,5-trimethyl-l//-l,2,4-oxadiazole (75) by PE spectroscopy. Decomposition of 75 was induced by means of a continuous wave (CW) C02 laser as directed heat source at 26 W, which corresponds to a temperature of 500 50°C. When the PE spectra of acetone, tetramethoxyethene, and dimethyl oxalate were subtracted from the pyrolysis spectrum, a sim-ple spectrum remained that could be identified as that of dimethoxycarbene. Thermolysis in solution (94JA1161) had shown formation of tetramethoxyethene, and FVP experiments (92JA8751) gave dimethyl oxalate, both of which arise from the common precursor, dimethoxycarbene. Thermolysis of oxadiazolines similar to 75 in solution affords dialkoxycarbenes via an intermediate carbonyl ylide (94JOC5071). 

Unactivated dipolarophiles readily participate in intramolecular azomethine ylide cycloadditions with a more reactive azomethine ylide. Thus, flash vacuum pyrolysis of aziridine (113) afforded a 67% yield of the 5,5-fused bicyclic pyrrolidine (Scheme 34).59 A singly stabilized azomethine ylide was the apparent intermediate. Similarly, cyclization of the azomethine ylides derived from (114a-c) gave the corresponding cw-fused 6,6-bicyclic pyrrolidines in 69%, 26% and 16% yield, respectively the original double bond stereochemistry was retained in the latter two cases. 

Nitrile oxides are often generated by the dehydration of nitro compounds by reagents such as phenyl isocyanate. Azomethine ylides can be generated by the pyrolysis of aziridines or by the prototopic isomerization of imines upon heating. 

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