1,3‐Dipolar cycloadditions of (4R*,5R*)‐1‐alkylidene‐4‐(benzoylamino)‐5‐phenyl‐3‐pyrazolidinon‐1‐azomethine imines

1,3‐Dipolar cycloadditions of azomethine imines 3a and 3b , available by acid‐catalyzed treatment of 3‐pyrazolidinone 1 with acetone ( 2a ) and butyraldehyde ( 2b ), respectively, were studied. Reactions of 3a with DMAD ( 4 ) afforded a mixture of products 9 and 10a , whilst treatment of 3b with DMAD ( 4 ) gave a mixture of compound 9 and epimeric cycloadducts 10 / 10′b . On the other hand, cycloadducts 13a,b‐16a,b were isolated as single diastereomers in 9–37% yields upon reactions of 3a,b with olefinic dipolarophiles 5–8 . The structures of cycloadducts 9, 10a, 10/10′b , and 13a,b‐16a,b were determined by ¹H nmr and NOESY spectroscopy. The structure of compound 13a was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction.