Reinvestigation of the reactions of camphorketene: structural evidence for pseudopericyclic pathways

The stereochemistry of the dimers (3 and 4) of camphorketene (2) have been determined. The crystal structures of 3, 20 and of related compounds show ground-state distortions that are interpreted as prefiguring planar, pseudopericyclic transition states for retro-cycloadditions to form alpha-oxoketenes. The B3LYP/6-31G* optimized geometry for the transition structure (10) for the dimerization of s-Z-formylketene (8) is consistent with this mechanism. Trapping of 2 with alcohols shows selectivity comparable to other alpha-oxoketenes. The lack of reaction of 2 with benzaldehyde and the lack of enol tautomers in camphoric acid derivatives is attributed to angle strain in the bicyclic camphor moiety.