| Abstract: | Substituents capable of stabilizing negative charge endow ethylene oxides with the ability to undergo electrocyclic ring opening at the CC bond; heating or irradiation generates small equilibrium concentrations of carbonyl ylides which can engage in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions. Apart from the normal conrotatory mode of ring opening, predicted by the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, the disrotatory process, forbidden by orbital symmetry, also appears to occur in the case of α-cyano-cis-stilbene oxide. Kinetic studies on α-cyano-trans -and -cis-stilbene oxide permit construction of the energy profile for electrocyclic ring opening to give the stereoisomeric carbonyl ylides and for their recyclization and rotation. |
