[60]Fullerene adducts with 9-substituted anthracenes: mechanochemical preparation and retro Diels-Alder reaction

Three 9-substituted anthracene derivatives, that is, 9-hydroxymethylanthracene (2), 9-methoxymethylanthracene (3) and bis(9-anthrylmethyl) adipate (6), were chosen as the model compounds to evaluate the reactivity in their Diels-Alder reactions with [60]fullerene and in retro Diels-Alder reactions of the formed cycloadducts. Corresponding adducts 4, 5 and 7 were prepared in high yields under solvent-free conditions using high-speed vibration milling technique. In order to determine thermal stabilities of adducts 4, 5 and 7, their dissociations in the temperature range of 40-65 °C were investigated. Fitting the dissociation rates and temperatures to the Arrhenius equation gives the activation energies of 25.8, 21.8 and 24.9 kcal/mol for compounds 4, 5 and 7, respectively.     

Cycloaddition of methyl 2-(2,6-dichorophenyl)-2H-azirine-3-carboxylate to electron-rich 2-azadienes

tert-Butyldimethylsililoxy-2-aza-1,3-butadienes react with 2H-azirine 3 leading to Diels-Alder cycloadducts in moderate yields. The reactions are endo- and regioselective with the azirine being added by its less hindered face. There is only one product in the case of 1b, 4b. There are two isomers (4 and 5) from 1a, 1c and 1d. A different result was obtained with the diene 1e. Diene 1e formed products 4e and 8. Some of compounds 4 and 5 have been hydrolysed leading to functionalised aziridines 7. Compound 8 gave aziridine 9.     

A mechanistic study on the intramolecular ionic Diels-Alder reaction of 2-methyl-3,9,11-tridecatriene-2-ol and 2,11-dimethyl-1,3,9,11-dodecatetraene

Intramolecular ionic Diels-Alder reaction of 2-methyl-3,9,11-tridecatriene-2-ol (1) was studied under acidic conditions. Treatment of 2-methyl-3,9,11-tridecatriene-2-ol (1) with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid yielded 7-methyl-8-isopropenyl-1,2,3,4,4aR^∗,7R^∗,8R^∗,8aS^∗-octahydronaphthalene (4) and (1Z)-1-((E)-but-2-enylidene)-2-(2-methylpropenyl)cyclohexane (5) through regioselective intramolecular ionic Diels-Alder reaction. The reaction appeared to proceed partly through a stepwise mechanism involving a carbocation intermediate. However, a concerted pathway rather than a stepwise one is suggested to be involved in the acid-catalyzed intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of 2,11-dimethyl-1,3,9,11-dodecatetraene (13).     

A new approach to the bicyclo[4.3.0] ring system of natural products from the liverwort: total synthesis of (±)-chiloscyphone and (±)-isochiloscyphone

Construction of the tricyclic derivative 5, a common intermediate for the synthesis of sesquiterpenoids 1-4, was accomplished by using the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction. Availability of 5 was demonstrated by effective total synthesis of chiloscyphone 1 and isochiloscyphone 2.     

Sodium dithionite initiated addition of 1-bromo-1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane to allylaromatics: Facile synthesis of conjugated dienes substituted with terminal CF3 group

Sodium dithionite effectively promotes the addition of 1-bromo-1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane to the terminal double bond of allylbenzenes 1. The reactions proceeded in MeCN/H₂O to give a 3:1 mole ratio of diastereoisomers of 1-(2-bromo-4-chloro-5,5,5-trifluoropentyl)benzenes 2 as the main products together with small amounts of its reductive debromination products 3. Total yields of 2 and 3 were dependent on the nature of the aromatic ring substituents in 1. Treatment of adducts 2 with DBU in refluxing hexanes resulted in double dehydrohalogenation affording, in good yields, conjugated dienes 4 (1,1,1-trifluoro-5-phenyl-2,4-pentadienes) terminated with the CF₃ group at the one end and the phenyl group at the opposite end. These dienes were found to be sufficiently reactive to undergo Diels-Alder condensation with active dienophiles to give trifluoromethylated carbocycles. The reactions of CF₃CHClBr with allylheterocycles were less successful and lead to low yields of mixtures of hardly separable compounds or to polymeric resins.     

Experimental and theoretical studies of Diels-Alder dimerization of 1,2,3,4,5-pentachlorocyclopentadiene and of Diels-Alder cycloaddition of polychlorinated cyclopentadienes to norbornadiene

Diels-Alder cyclodimerization of 1,2,3,4,5-pentachlorocyclopentadiene (1) affords 2a as the exclusive reaction product. Diels-Alder cycloaddition of 1 to norbornadiene also proceeds stereoselectively to produce a single [4+2] cycloadduct, 4c. The structures of 2a and 4c were established unequivocally via application of single crystal X-ray crystallographic techniques. The origins of the observed diastereofacial selectivity in each of these cycloaddition processes have been investigated by application of semiempirical (AM1 Hamiltonian) and ab initio (Hartree-Fock 3-21G*) calculations. The computational results thereby obtained, which are based upon consideration of the kinetically favored transition state for each of the two cycloaddition reactions studied, are consistent with experiment. These semiempirical and ab initio methods also have been used to investigate the mechanisms of the Diels-Alder reactions that have been used to prepare aldrin and isodrin (7 and 8, respectively). The results thereby obtained suggest that isodrin formation via Diels-Alder cycloaddition of cyclopentadiene to 1,2,3,4,7,7-hexachloronorbornadiene proceeds with kinetic control of product stereochemistry.     

The perfluoroallylation of alkynes and transformation of the products

The addition of perfluoroallyl iodide to alkynes 1 initiated by AIBN in the absence of solvent 65 °C gave the corresponding 1:1 adducts (1,1,2,3,3-pentafluoro-5-iodopenta-1,4-dienes) 2. The reaction of 2 with boronic acids 3 and terminal alkynes 1 in the presence of catalytic palladium afforded the cross-coupling products 4 and 5, respectively.     

A substrate controlled, very highly diastereoselective Morita-Baylis-Hillman reaction: a remote activation of the diastereofacial selectivity in the synthesis of C-3-branched deoxysugars

The Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reaction of p-nitrobenzaldehyde with C (6) acyl protected enuloside 1 in the presence of TiCl₄/TBAI yielded highly diastereoenriched C-3-branched deoxysugar derivative or MBH adduct 1′a in high yield, while reactions of unprotected enuloside 2a and C (6) alkyl protected enulosides 2d-e with p-nitrobenzaldehyde under the same conditions afforded the adducts 2′a and 2′d-e, respectively, in low yield with moderate selectivity. Several representative aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes were selected to undergo MBH reaction with 1 to give their respective adducts in very good yield with a very high diastereoselectivity. A plausible mechanism based on the assumption of a Zimmerman-Traxler-type transition state was proposed to explain the excellent selectivity observed with adducts derived from 1. The synthetic application of these adducts were shown by their stereoselective reduction to corresponding threo isomers in very good yield.     

Total synthesis of seco-lateriflorone

A convergent strategy toward the synthesis of lateriflorone (5) is described. Our approach is based on biosynthetic considerations and draws on a sequence of prenylation, oxygenation and Claisen reactions for the construction of chromenequinone 6, and a tandem Claisen/Diels-Alder reaction cascade for the synthesis of caged tricycle 7. Union of fragments 6 and 7 led to the synthesis of seco-lateriflorone (49).     

A novel approach to conformationally strained 2,2′-bipyridine thiacrown ethers and their chiral sulfoxides by sequential homo-coupling/DA-rDA reaction of 5,5′-bi-1,2,4-triazine-containing thiamacrocycles

The synthesis of conformationally strained 2,2′-bipyridine thiamacrocycles 5, 6, 9, 10 and their chiral sulfoxides 11-14 is elaborated using, (1) homo-coupling of 1,2,4-triazine sulfide 3 with potassium cyanide and (2) Diels-Alder/retro Diels-Alder (DA-rDA) with 2,5-norbornadiene or 1-pyrrolidino-1-cyclopentene as the key steps. The crystal structure determinations of 4-6 and the theoretical calculations at DFT/B3LYP/6-311G^∗∗ level were conducted thus establishing conformational preferences of the target thiamacrocycles     

Synthesis of polycyclic and 4,5-diacylthiophene-2-carboxylates via intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylations and unusual autooxidative fragmentation of the derivatives obtained from the samarium diiodide-promoted coupling reactions of thiophene-2-carboxylate with carbonyl compounds

Our present study provides an expedient method for the synthesis of novel polycyclic and multi-substituted thiophene derivatives. A series of 4,5-di(hydroxyalkyl)-4,5-dihydrothiophene-2-carboxylates (e.g., 4a-c and 10) were prepared by the SmI₂-promoted three-component coupling reactions of thiophene-2-carboxylate with aromatic aldehydes and 4-methoxyacetophenone. Diol 4a was oxidized by DDQ or pyridinium dichromate to give 5-acyl-4-hydroxyalkyl-4,5-dihydrothiophene-2-carboxylate 6a, which was subjected to dehydration to give either alkene 7 with terminal CC double bond or alkene 15a having conjugation with the ester group, depending on the reaction conditions using different quantities of p-toluenesulfonic acid. Alkene 7 underwent an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation to give a tetralone-fused thiophene-2-carboxylate 9. By the similar procedure, a carbazole-fused thiophene 14 was also prepared. Alkenes 15a-c underwent autooxidative fragmentation to give 4,5-diacylthiophene-2-carboxylates 5a-c that were elaborated to pyridazine-fused thiophenes.     

Regioselective synthesis of 3,4,6,7-tetrahydro-3,3-dimethyl-9-phenyl-2H-xanthene-1,8(5H,9H)-diones through ascorbic acid catalyzed three-component domino reaction

An efficient, three-component domino reaction of dimedone 1, aromatic aldehydes (2a–o), and 1,3-cyclohexanedione 1a in the regio-selective synthesis of 3,3-dimethyl-9-phenyl-2H-xanthene-1,8(5H,9H)-diones (3a–o) is reported. The desired product, 3 is efficiently promoted by ascorbic acid as an organo catalyst.     

Specific features of the reactions of quinazoline and its 4-hydroxy and 4-chloro substituted derivatives with C-nucleophiles

Reactions of quinazoline 1 with indole, pyrogallol and 1-phenyl-3-methylpyrazol-5-one in the presence of acid led to C-4 adducts 2, 3 and 5. Adduct 4 is formed by heating 1 with 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid without acid catalysis. 1-Phenyl-3-methylpyrazol-5-one reacts with 1 without acid catalysis to form dipyrazolylmethane 6. 4-Chloroquinazoline 8 reacts with 1-phenyl-3-methylpyrazol-5-one to form 4-(1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-oxopyrazol-4-yl) quinazoline 9 and dipyrazolylmethane 6. Heating 8 with 2-methylindole leads to the formation of 4-(2-methylindol-3-yl) quinazoline 10 and tris(2-methylindol-3-yl)methane 11.     

Synthesis and ring opening reactions of 2-glyco-1,4-dimethyl-3-nitro-7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-enes

The high-pressure asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions of d-galacto- (1a) and d-manno-3,4,5,6,7-penta-O-acetyl-1,2-dideoxy-1-nitrohept-1-enitol (1b) with 2,5-dimethylfuran (2) afforded mixtures of cycloadducts, from which the (2S,3R)-3-exo-nitro (3a and 3b), (2R,3S)-3-exo-nitro (4a and 4b), and (2R,3S)-1′,2′,3′,4′,5′-penta-O-acetyl-1′-C-(1,4-dimethyl-3-endo-nitro-7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-en-2-exo-yl)-d-galacto-pentitol (5b) were isolated pure. Deacetylation of these compounds led to new chiral mono-, bi-, and tricyclic ethers, being their asymmetric centers arising from the chiral inductor used in the cycloaddition reaction. A ring opening mechanism through a 1-nitro-1,3-cyclohexadiene intermediate has been proposed.     

Cinchona-derived ammonium salts-catalyzed aza Diels-Alder reaction of Danishefsky’s diene with imines

Described is the efficiency of cinchona-derived quaternary ammonium salts as Lewis acid organocatalysts in aza Diels-Alder reaction of Danishefsky’s diene 1 with imines 2 and 16, providing 1,2-dialkyl-2,3-dihydro-4-pyridinones 3 and cyclic dihydropyridones 17, respectively. Among the nine of cinchonidine-derived quaternary ammonium catalysts prepared, N-2′,3′,4′-trifluorobenzyl-O-benzylcinchonidinum bromide (6) exhibited the highest chemical yield (up to 99%). Systematic study on structure-catalytic efficiency relationship revealed that 2′,3′,4′-trifluorobenzyl, quinuclidine, and quinoline moieties are essential.     

An improved synthesis of ethyl cis-5-iodo-trans-2-methylcyclohexanecarboxylate, a potent attractant for the Mediterranean fruit fly

Both racemic ethyl 5-iodo-2-methylcyclohexanecarboxylate (1), known as Mediterranean fruit fly attractant ceralure B₁, and its (−)-(1R,2R,5R) enantiomer 1a were conveniently synthesized from commercially available racemic trans-6-methyl-3-cyclohexenecarboxylic acid 2 or its (1R,6R) enantiomer 2a. Key steps included an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction using a sultam auxiliary and cyclization of the unwanted trans-5-iodo-trans-2-methylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid (8) to the intermediate lactone 7 (or 8a to 7a). The new method may circumvent chromatographic separations and seems amenable to scale-up.     

Synthesis of polyfunctionalized furans from 3-acetyl-1-aryl-2-pentene-1,4-diones

The BF₃-catalyzed cyclization of 3-acetyl-1-aryl-2-pentene-1,4-diones 1a-e in the presence of water in boiling tetrahydrofuran gave bis(3-acetyl-5-aryl-2-furyl)methanes 2a-e in 26-79% yields along with a small amount of 3-acetyl-5-aryl-2-methylfurans 3a-e. The exact structure of 2a was determined by X-ray crystallography. The use of a half volume of the solvent for the reaction of 1a resulted in the formation of 2,4-bis(3-acetyl-5-phenyl-2-furfuryl)-3-acetyl-5-phenylfuran (4) together with 2a and 3a. A similar reaction of 1a was carried out in the presence of 3-acetyl-5-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylfuran (3d) to afford 4-(3-acetyl-5-phenyl-2-furfuryl)-3-acetyl-5-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylfuran (5) in 49% yield. The BF₃-catalyzed reaction of 1a with 2,4-pentanedione in dry tetrahydrofuran at 23°C gave 3-(3-acetyl-5-phenyl-2-furfuryl)-4-hydroxy-3-penten-2-one (6a) and 3-(3-acetyl-2-methyl-4-phenyl-5-furyl)-4-hydroxy-3-penten-2-one (7a) in 66 and 24% yields, respectively. The product distribution depended on the reaction temperature. A similar reaction of 1b-e also yielded the corresponding trisubstituted furans 6b-e and tetrasubstituted furans 7b-e in good yields. These results suggested the presence of the furfuryl carbocation intermediate A during the reaction. The one-pot synthesis of 6a and 7a was also achieved by a similar reaction using phenylglyoxal. The deoxygenation of 1a with triphenylphosphine gave 3a in 88% yield, while 1a was treated with concentrated hydrochloric acid to yield 3-acetyl-2-chloromethyl-5-phenylfuran (8) which was quantitatively transformed in ethanol into 3-acetyl-2-ethoxymethyl-5-phenylfuran (9) and in water into 3-acetyl-5-phenylfurfuryl alcohol (10), respectively. In addition, the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopantadiene with 1a gave the corresponding [4+2] cycloaddition products 11 and 12.     

Novel diaminoaluminum halides and a diaminoaluminum hydride: 1,3,2-Diazaalumina-[3]ferrocenophanes

The dilithiated derivative 2 of 1,1′-bis(trimethylsilylamino)ferrocene (1) reacts with the pyridine adducts of the aluminum trihalides AlX₃ (X = Cl, Br, I) to give the respective 1,3,2-diazaalumina-[3]ferrocenophanes (4b, c, d) as pyridine adducts. The fluoride 4a could not be obtained in this way. The reaction of 1,1′-bis(trimethylsilylamino)ferrocene (1) with the dimethyl(ethyl)amine- or pyridine adduct of aluminium trihydride gave the 1,3,2-diazaalumina-[3]ferrocenophanes (5) and (6) as the amine and pyridine adducts, respectively. Treatment of 5 with trimethyltin fluoride afforded the adduct 7 with an Al–F function. Addition of pyridine converted 7 into the desired pyridine adduct of the fluoride (4a). The molecular structures of the pyridine adducts 4a, 4b, 4c and 6 were determined by X-ray analysis. The pyridine is in the trans-position relative to the N–Si bond vectors, and temperature dependent solution-state NMR spectra prove that prominent structural features are retained in solution.     

Design and synthesis of (E)-4-((3-ethyl-2,4,4-trimethylcyclohex-2-enylidene)methyl)benzoic acid

(E)-4-((3-Ethyl-2,4,4-trimethylcyclohex-2-enylidene)methyl)benzoic acid, 6, was synthesized in 87% starting from β-cyclocitral. The target compound 6 was synthesized starting from 1 via a Grignard reaction to form alcohol 2. Compound 2 was converted to Wittig salt 3 by treatment with aldehyde 4 in butyllithium and hexane at −78 °C to form ester 5. Ester 5 was saponified and, following acidification, acid 6 was isolated as white solid yield 87%.     

Studies on isocyanides: synthesis of tetrazolyl-isoindolinones via tandem Ugi four-component condensation/intramolecular amidation

The Ugi four-component condensation between methyl o-formylbenzoates 1, anilines 2a-c, isocyanides 3, and trimethylsilyl azide (4) afforded the expected Ugi adducts 5a-d, which were cyclized to the title compounds 6a-d upon treatment with sodium ethoxide in ethanol. Starting from aralkyl- or alkylamines 2d-g the Ugi adducts underwent a spontaneous cyclization to tetrazolyl-isoindolinones 6e-j.