Titanium tetrachloride Diels-Alder reaction catalysts

Brimble and coworkers172 reported the asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions between quinones 265 bearing a menthol chiral auxiliary and cyclopentadiene (equation 73). When zinc dichloride or zinc dibromide was employed as the Lewis acid catalyst, the reaction proceeded with complete endo selectivity, but with only moderate diastereofacial selectivity affording 3 1 and 2 1 mixtures of 266 and 267 (dominant diastereomer unknown), respectively. The use of stronger Lewis acids, such as titanium tetrachloride, led to the formation of fragmentation products. Due to the inseparability of the two diastereomeric adducts, it proved impossible to determine which one had been formed in excess. 

Engler and colleagues256 demonstrated that the way in which catalyst 406 is prepared has a strong effect on the regioselectivity and enantioselectivity of quinone Diels-Alder reactions. The most effective catalyst was prepared from a 1 1 1 mixture of titanium tetrachloride, titanium tetraisopropoxide and chiral diol 416. The cycloadditions of 2-methoxy-l,4-benzoquinones such as 414 with simple dienes to give adducts like 415 proceeded with high yields and enantioselectivities of up to 80% ee using this catalytic system (equation 123). 

The Diels-Alder reaction of enantiomerically pure chiral aery he esters with cyclopen-tadiene leads to a pair of diastereomers. Their ratio depends strongly on the choice and amount of Lewis acid catalyst (Scheme 8)117. While titanium tetrachloride leads preferentially to the (2A )-diastercorner with high selectivity, ethyl aluminium dichloride gives the (2S )-diastereomer in only 56% de. 

Three reactions, which were known from the literature to be catalyzed by Lewis acids were selected as test reactions. A, was the Reetz alkylation of silyl enol ethers with -butyl chloride for which titanium tetrachloride is known to be useful [52]. B, was the Diels-Alder reaction between furan and acetylenedicarboxylic ester for which aluminium trichloride is a good catalyst [53]. C, was a Friedel-Crafts acylation for which aluminium trichloride is the preferred catalyst [54]. The reactions are summarized in Scheme 6. 

Titanium tetrachloride is a moisture-sensitive, highly flammable liquid reacting violently with water (34). It is a strong Lewis acid capable of promoting Diels-Alder reactions (35) and induces the addition of silyl enol ethers and allyl silanes to carbonyl compounds and derivatives (34r-36). It is a less commonly used catalyst in Friedel-Crafts reactions but very useful for the acylation of activated alkenes and in the Fries rearrangement. 

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