α,β-unsaturated oximes : Isoxazoline formation by thermal cyclisation of compounds related to benzalacetophenone oxime and isoxazoline thermal cycloreversion reactions

At about 300° the title compounds yield fragments attributed to cyclisation to isoxazolines and subsequent cycloreversion. Isoxazolines are formed at about 200° and can usually be isolated. At 300° they yield the same products as the oximes.Thus benzalacetophenone oxime gives 3,5-diphenylisoxazoline which then largely undergoes two distinct cycloreversions: (a) 1,3-cleavage (numbers refer to isoxazoline bonds) yielding benzonitrile and acetophenone and (b) reductive 1,4-cleavage yielding benzaldehyde and 1-phenylethylimine hydrolysis products. By-products are 2,4,6-triphenylpyridine, water and ammonium benzoate. With α-methylchalcone oxime reductive 1,4-cleavage is suppressed and with β-methylchalcone oxime both modes of cleavage are suppressed and 5-methyl-3,5-diphenylisoxazole is the stable product. An analogue of α-methylchalcone oxime, 2-methyl-1-phenyl-3-(2-thienyl)prop-2-ene-1-one oxime gives fragments attributed to both cleavage modes of an unisolatable and hitherto unknown isoxazoline.Possible mechanisms for the cyclisation and cycloreversions are discussed and the reductive 1,4-cleavage is believed to be a cycloreversion of a vinyl-nitrene.