Unsaturated carbonyl compounds triple reactivity

Nitrile, azo, and nitroso groups, and even the oxygen molecule, take part in such reactions, and acetylenic triple bonds in particular confer reactivity as philodiene. As for dienes, so for philodienes the reactivity depends on the constitution. Activating groups particularly favor addition. The most reactive components include <%,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds such as acrolein, acrylic acid, maleic acid and its anhydride, acetylenedicarboxylic acid, p-benzo-quinone and cinnamaldehyde, as well as saturated nitriles and <%,/ -unsaturated nitro compounds. Tetracyanoethylene also reacts with dienes.41,42 Conjugation of the double bond to an active group is not absolutely essential for a philodiene, for dienes add under certain conditions also to philodienes with isolated double bonds examples of the latter type are vinyl esters and vinyl-acetic acid. Ketenes do not undergo the Diels-Alder reaction with dienes, but instead yield cyclobutanone derivatives 43,44... 

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