Unsaturated, Diels-Alder

Compounds containing a double or triple bond, usually activated by additional unsaturation (carbonyl, cyano, nitro, phenyl, etc.) In the ap position, add to the I 4-positions of a conjugated (buta-1 3-diene) system with the formation of a ax-membered ring. The ethylenic or acetylenic compound is known as the dieTwphile and the second reactant as the diene the product is the adduct. The addition is generally termed the Diels-Alder reaction or the diene synthesis. The product in the case of an ethylenic dienophile is a cyctohexene and in that of an acetylenic dienophile is a cyctohexa-1 4-diene. The active unsaturated portion of the dienophile, or that of the diene, or those in both, may be involved in rings the adduct is then polycyclic. 

Under the usual conditions their ratio is kinetically controlled. Alder and Stein already discerned that there usually exists a preference for formation of the endo isomer (formulated as a tendency of maximum accumulation of unsaturation, the Alder-Stein rule). Indeed, there are only very few examples of Diels-Alder reactions where the exo isomer is the major product. The interactions underlying this behaviour have been subject of intensive research. Since the reactions leadirig to endo and exo product share the same initial state, the differences between the respective transition-state energies fully account for the observed selectivity. These differences are typically in the range of 10-15 kJ per mole. ... 

Review Problem 7 a-p-Unsaturated lactones are nsefhl intermediates in syntliesis as they take part in Diels-Alder reactions to buhd larger molecules with more complex functionahty. How would you make tliis one ... 

No doubt we could continue with B by disconnecting the a,p-unsaturated carbonyl groups, but intermediate A should be recognisable as a Diels-Alder product, and this is the shorter route ... 

Vinyl ethers and a,P unsaturated carbonyl compounds cyclize in a hetero-Diels-Alder reaction when heated together in an autoclave with small amounts of hydroquinone added to inhibit polymerisation. Acrolein gives 3,4-dihydro-2-methoxy-2JT-pyran (234,235), which can easily be hydrolysed to glutaraldehyde (236) or hydrogenated to 1,5-pentanediol (237). With 2-meth5lene-l,3-dicarbonyl compounds the reaction is nearly quantitative (238). 

In the area of moleculady designed hot-melt adhesives, the most widely used resins are the polyamides (qv), formed upon reaction of a diamine and a dimer acid. Dimer acids (qv) are obtained from the Diels-Alder reaction of unsaturated fatty acids. Linoleic acid is an example. Judicious selection of diamine and diacid leads to a wide range of adhesive properties. Typical shear characteristics are in the range of thousands of kilopascals and are dependent upon temperature. Although hot-melt adhesives normally become quite brittle below the glass-transition temperature, these materials can often attain physical properties that approach those of a stmctural adhesive. These properties severely degrade as the material becomes Hquid above the melt temperature. 

Chlorendic Acid. Chlorendic acid [115-28-6] and its anhydride [115-27-5] are widely used flame retardants. Chlorendic acid is synthesized by a Diels-Alder reaction of maleic anhydride and hexachlorocyclopentadiene (see CyclopentadlENE and dicyclopentadiente) in toluene followed by hydrolysis of the anhydride using aqueous base (60). The anhydride can be isolated directly from the reaction mixture or can be prepared in a very pure form by dehydration of the acid. The principal use of chlorendic anhydride and chlorendic acid has been in the manufacture of unsaturated polyester resins. Because the esterification rate of chlorendic anhydride is similar to that of phthalic anhydride, it can be used in place of phthalic anhydride in commercial polyester... 

Hydrocarbon resins based on CPD are used heavily in the adhesive and road marking industries derivatives of these resins are used in the production of printing inks. These resins may be produced catalyticaHy using typical carbocationic polymerization techniques, but the large majority of these resins are synthesized under thermal polymerization conditions. The rate constants for the Diels-Alder based dimerization of CPD to DCPD are weU known (49). The abiHty to polymerize without Lewis acid catalysis reduces the amount of aluminous water or other catalyst effluents/emissions that must be addressed from an environmental standpoint. Both thermal and catalyticaHy polymerized DCPD/CPD-based resins contain a high degree of unsaturation. Therefore, many of these resins are hydrogenated for certain appHcations. 

Heteroatom functionalized terpene resins are also utilized in hot melt adhesive and ink appHcations. Diels-Alder reaction of terpenic dienes or trienes with acrylates, methacrylates, or other a, P-unsaturated esters of polyhydric alcohols has been shown to yield resins with superior pressure sensitive adhesive properties relative to petroleum and unmodified polyterpene resins (107). Limonene—phenol resins, produced by the BF etherate-catalyzed condensation of 1.4—2.0 moles of limonene with 1.0 mole of phenol have been shown to impart improved tack, elongation, and tensile strength to ethylene—vinyl acetate and ethylene—methyl acrylate-based hot melt adhesive systems (108). Terpene polyol ethers have been shown to be particularly effective tackifiers in pressure sensitive adhesive appHcations (109). 

Diels-Alder Reaction. In 1928, Diels and Alder discovered that 1,3-unsaturated organic compounds reacted with quinoid systems to give partially hydrogenated, cycHc compounds. In the course of their work, they found that 1 mol of 1,4-naphthoquinone [130-15-4] reacted readily with 1 mol of 1,3-butadiene [106-99-0] to give a partially hydrogenated anthraquinone (11) l,4,4a,9a-tetrahydro-9,10-anthracenedione [56136-14-2] which, on oxidation with chromic oxide, produced anthraquinone (43) ... 

Cyclopentadiene contains conjugated double bonds and an active methylene group and can thus undergo a Diels-Alder diene addition reaction with almost any unsaturated compound, eg, olefins, acetylene, maleic anhydride, etc. The number of its derivatives is extensive only the reactions and derivatives considered most important are discussed. 

The dimer acids [61788-89-4] 9- and 10-carboxystearic acids, and C-21 dicarboxylic acids are products resulting from three different reactions of C-18 unsaturated fatty acids. These reactions are, respectively, self-condensation, reaction with carbon monoxide followed by oxidation of the resulting 9- or 10-formylstearic acid (or, alternatively, by hydrocarboxylation of the unsaturated fatty acid), and Diels-Alder reaction with acryUc acid. The starting materials for these reactions have been almost exclusively tall oil fatty acids or, to a lesser degree, oleic acid, although other unsaturated fatty acid feedstocks can be used (see Carboxylic acids. Fatty acids from tall oil Tall oil). 

Structure and Mechanism of Formation. Thermal dimerization of unsaturated fatty acids has been explaiaed both by a Diels-Alder mechanism and by a free-radical route involving hydrogen transfer. The Diels-Alder reaction appears to apply to starting materials high ia linoleic acid content satisfactorily, but oleic acid oligomerization seems better rationalized by a free-radical reaction (8—10). 

The following compounds have been obtained from thiete 1,1-dioxide Substituted cycloheptatrienes, benzyl o-toluenethiosulfinate, pyrazoles, - naphthothiete 1,1-dioxides, and 3-subst1tuted thietane 1,1-dioxides.It is a dienophile in Diels-Alder reactions and undergoes cycloadditions with enamines, dienamines, and ynamines. Thiete 1,1-dioxide is a source of the novel intermediate, vinylsulfene (CH2=CHCH=SQ2). which undergoes cyclo-additions to strained olefinic double bonds, reacts with phenol to give allyl sulfonate derivatives or cyclizes unimolecularly to give an unsaturated sultene. - Platinum and iron complexes of thiete 1,1-dioxide have been reported. 

Another stereochemical feature of the Diels-Alder reaction is addressed by the Alder rule. The empirical observation is that if two isomeric adducts are possible, the one that has an unsaturated substituent(s) on the alkene oriented toward the newly formed cyclohexene double bond is the preferred product. The two alternative transition states are referred to as the endo and exo transition states ... 

Subsbtuting vinylic hydrogen in a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compounds with vinylic fluonne does not affect their dienophilic character negatively Indeed, 3,3-difluoroacrylic acid is more reactive toward furan than its nonfluonnated counterpart [95] (equation 81) Consistent with this observation is the fact that tctrafluorobenzoquinone forms only a bis-Diels-Alder adduct m 68% yield in its reaction with cyclopentadiene at room temperature [96, 97 ... 

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