Stepwise addition double bond additions

Formally, higher oligoquinanes can be formed from fulvene 1 by consecutive addition of etheno bridges (Scheme 1 a). This concept has actually been successfully applied in the synthesis of pentalene 2 but it is unlikely to be practicable for higher members of this family due to the drastical increase in ring strain on going from, e.g., 2 to 3. Therefore all realistic approaches towards compounds 3-7 start from a less unsaturated skeleton and try to introduce the additional double bonds in a stepwise fashion (e. g. 3 8 or 9 10, Scheme 1 b). 

In view of the very direct but anyway inefficient access to tribenzotriquinacene 128, a stepwise synthesis was developed [69,103] (Scheme 27), based on diindanone 36 [64] (cf. Scheme 6). Introduction of an additional double bond... 

The second part of lanosterol biosynthesis is catalyzed by oxidosqualene lanosterol cyclase and occurs as shown in Figure 27.14. Squalene is folded by the enzyme into a conformation that aligns the various double bonds for undergoing a cascade of successive intramolecular electrophilic additions, followed by a series of hydride and methyl migrations. Except for the initial epoxide protonation/cyclization, the process is probably stepwise and appears to involve discrete carbocation intermediates that are stabilized by electrostatic interactions with electron-rich aromatic amino acids in the enzyme. 

According to the stepwise electrophilic reaction mechanism, the differences in the stereochemistries of the products from the reactions of alkenes with cyclic 49 and acyclic 51 disulfonium dications can be explained by the larger rates of the intramolecular reactions. In the case of a cyclic dication, the carbocationic center in intermediate 94, which is formed as the result of initial attack by a S-S dication on a double C=C bond reacts with nucleophile intramolecularly, thus conserving the configuration of the substituents at the double bond. On the other hand, an acyclic dication undergoes transformation to two separate particles (95 and dimethylsulfide) with a consequent loss of stereoselectivity. Additional experiments with deuteretad alkenes confirm that reaction is not stereoselective, lending further support to the stepwise mechanism (Scheme 36).106... 

As with an isolated double bond, epoxide formation in an aromatic ring, i.e., arene oxide formation, can occur mechanistically either by a concerted addition of oxene to form the arene oxide in a single step, pathway 1, or by a stepwise process, pathway 2 (Fig. 4.78). The stepwise process, pathway 2, would involve the initial addition of enzyme-bound Fe03+ to a specific carbon to form a tetrahedral intermediate, electron transfer from the aryl group to heme to form a carbonium ion adjacent to the oxygen adduct followed by... 

A very remote secondary H/D isotope effect has been measured for the 2 + 2-cycloaddition of TCNE to 2,7-dimethylocta-2,fran -4,6-triene. The reaction of nitric oxide with iV-benzylidene-4-methoxyaniline to produce 4-methoxybenzenediazonium nitrate and benzaldehyde is thought to proceed via a 2 + 2-cycloaddition between nitric oxide and the imine double bond. A novel mechanism for the stepwise dimerization of the parent silaethylene to 1,3-disilacyclobutane involves a low-barrier [1,2]-sigmatropic shift. Density functional, correlated ab initio calculations, and frontier MO analysis support a concerted 2 + 2-pathway for the addition of SO3 to alkenes. " The enone cycloaddition reactions of dienones and quinones have been reviewed. The 2 + 2-photocycloadditions of homochiral 2(5H)-furanones to vinylene carbonate are highly diastereoisomeric. ... 

A multi-step reaction sequence was then realized to prepare the precursor (178) for the pivotal macrocyclization reaction. Alternate stepwise chain elongations were achieved according to Schemes 28 and 29. Reaction of the tosylate prepared from the alcohol 162 with lithium acetylide afforded the alkyne 174 (Scheme 28). Following the introduction of a tosylate at the upper branch, a one-carbon chain elongation of the terminal alkyne afforded the methyl alkynoate 175. A methyl cuprate 1,4-addition was used to construct the tri-substituted C double bond stereoselectively. For this purpose, the alkynoate 175 was initially transformed into the Z-configured a,/ -unsat-... 

Olefins can add to double bonds in a reaction different from those discussed in 5-15, which, however, is still formally the addition of RH to a double bond. This reaction is called the ene synthesis44,1 and bears a certain similarity to the Diels-Alder reaction (5-47). For the reaction to proceed without a catalyst, one of the components must be a reactive dienophile (see 5-47 for a definition of this word) such as maleic anhydride, but the other (which supplies the hydrogen) may be a simple alkene such as propene. There has been much discussion of the mechanism of this reaction, and both concerted pericyclic (as shown above) and stepwise mechanisms have been suggested. The reaction between maleic anhydride and optically active PhCHMeCH=CH2 gave an optically active product,441 which is strong evi-... 

Mechanism. The generally accepted mechanism for the hydrogenation of double bonds over heterogeneous catalysts was first proposed by Horiuti and Polanyi,50,51 and was later supported by results of deuteration experiments. It assumes that both hydrogen and alkene are bound to the catalyst surface. The hydrogen molecule undergoes dissociative adsorption [Eq. (11.1)], while the alkene adsorbs associa-tively [Eq. (11.2)]. Addition of hydrogen to the double bond occurs in a stepwise manner [Eqs (11.3) and (11.4)] ... 

Irradiation of cycloalkenones in the presence of excess olefin results in cycloaddition to the olefin.420,421 The major products are those which would be predicted to arise from stepwise addition with intermediate biradical formation if the 2 position adds first to the double bond. 

In allyl fluorides, substitution of fluorine can proceed virtually according to an SN2 mechanism. Actually, this substitution is more likely a stepwise reaction with addition of an amine and subsequent elimination of fluoride to form a shifted double bond.11 14... 

The highly strained double bond in methylenecyclopropane displays enhanced reactivity in cycloaddition reactions. In addition to normal [4+2] cycloaddition to 1,3-dienes (e.g. equation 13)32, methylenecyclopropane and its derivatives have a pronounced tendency to undergo thermal [2+2] cycloaddition reactions. For example, thermal dimerization of methylenecyclopropane in the gas phase results in formation of isomeric dispirooctanes 16 and 17 (equation 14)33. This unusual cyclization is considered to proceed via a stepwise radical mechanism involving the intermediacy of biradical 18 (equation 15)34. Equation 15 demonstrates that methylenecyclopropanes possessing substituents capable of stabilizing intermediate radicals undergo efficient [2+2] dimerization even... 

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