| Abstract: | Substituted 3-(phenylthio)-3-sulfolenes (3) and (4) are good precursors for 2-(phenylthio)-1,3-butadienes (5) and (6). The Diels-Alder reaction of the dienes derived from (3) and (4) with various dienophiles was studied. It was found that heating of sulfolenes (3) with methyl propiolate and N-phenylmaleimide afforded the Diels-Alder adducts of (5) directly and with complete regio- and stereospecificity. The same reaction with methyl vinyl ketone gave a mixture of endo and exo addition products. If sulfolenes (3) were first converted to the dienes (5) using lithium aluminum hydride and then reacted with methyl vinyl ketone in the presence of anhydrous zinc chloride, the stereoselectivity could be improved. Sulfolenes (4) also underwent cycloreversion/cycloaddition with methyl acrylate, methyl vinyl ketone, and N-phenylmaleimide, but gave mostly the double bond-isomerized cycloaddition products. The regiochemistry of cycloaddition was delicately dependent on the dienophiles used. |
