Styrenes 4+2 cycloadditions, 1,2,4,5-tetrazine

A large number of pyridazines are synthetically available from [44-2] cycloaddition reactions. In one general method, azo or diazo compounds are used as dienophiles, and a second approach is based on the reaction between 1,2,4,5-tetrazines and various unsaturated compounds. The most useful azo dienophile is a dialkyl azodicarboxylate which reacts with appropriate dienes to give reduced pyridazines and cinnolines (Scheme 89). With highly substituted dienes the normal cycloaddition reaction is prevented, and, if the ethylenic group in styrenes is substituted with aryl groups, indoles are formed preferentially. The cycloadduct with 2,3-pentadienal acetal is a tetrahydropyridazine derivative which has been used for the preparation of 2,5-diamino-2,5-dideoxyribose (80LA1307). 

The hetero-Diels-Alder reaction can also employ dienes containing heteroatoms. Cycloaddition of substituted styrenes with di-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine was investigated by Engberts (Eq. 12.56).127 Again, the rate of the reaction increased dramatically in water-rich media. Through kinetic studies, they showed that the solvent effects on the... 

Much larger effects of this type are observed in cycloadditions of enol ethers to tetrazines (Fig. 26), a reaction shown by Sauer and co-workers to be an example of a Diels-Alder reaction with inverse electron demand 75. The rates of 3,6-di-(2 -pyridyl)-s-tetrazine to various enol ethers and styrenes are summarized in Fig. 27. These were obtained by measuring the disappearance of the 540 nm band in the absorption spectra of the tetrazine76. These results are of particular interest, since there is little or no correspondence between the electron-donor ability of the enol ether, as measured by the ir ionization potentials (Table 5), and the rate of reaction of the enol ether. For example, although the conversion of methyl vinyl ether to 1,1-dimethoxyethylene results in a 4.3 times increase in rate, in line with the 0.2 — 0.3 eV decrease in IP, the 1,2-dimethoxyethylenes are 13 to 25 times less reactive than methyl vinyl ether, even though the IPs of these molecules are much lower... 

Wijnen, f.W., Zavarise, S., Engberts, J.B.F.N. and Charton, M., Substituent effects on an inverse electron demand hetero Diels Alder reaction in aqueous solution and organic solvents cycloaddition of substituted styrenes to di(2 pyridyl) 1,2,4,5 tetrazine, /. Org. Chem., 1996,61, 2001-2005. 

---