| Abstract: | The orientation of the cycloaddition of diazomethane on unsaturated branchedchain sugars has been studied. For 3-C-cyanomethylidene-3-deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-glycero-tetrofuranose the orientation was ‘normal’ and did not depend on the configuration at the double bond. The same situation prevailed with derivatives of 3-deoxy-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-3-C-methylidene-α-D-xylo-hexofuranose. For the 3-C-acylmethylidene- and the 3-C-cyanomethylidene-3-deoxy-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-D-ribo-hexofuranoses, the trans-(H–C(3′)–C(2))-isomer gave the ‘normal’ cycloadduct whereas the cis-isomer gave predominantly the αabnormal spiro-pyrazoline. This observation represents the first instance where the regioselectivity of a cycloaddition reaction is affected by the geometrical isomerism of the dipolarophile. The most probable explanation of the phenomenon is the conformational perturbation about the C(4)--C(5) bond of the unsaturated sugars induced by a change in the configuration at C(3). The consequence of that ‘conformational transmission’ of a difference in configuration at C(3) is that the steric crowding on the cis- than in the trans-isomer. Several novel examples of a new series of C-glycosylidenic derivatives, the spiro-pyrazolines, are described. |
