Reactions of 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione with 2-pyrazolines

4-Phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD) acts as an efficient Michael acceptor in reactions with 1-unsubstituted 2-pyrazolines, giving substituted (3,5-dioxo-4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazol-idin-1-yl)-1-pyrazolines in quantitative yields. Through elimination of molecular nitrogen, the latter are easily transformed into the corresponding cyclopropanes. A reaction of methyl 5-methyl-2-pyrazoline-5-carboxylate with a twofold excess of PTAD leads to an intermediate bisadduct, which undergoes dediazotization to form a 1,3,5-triazabicyclo[3.3.0]octane-2,4-dione derivative. 1-Substituted 2-pyrazolines also add to PTAD with the exception that the 2-pyrazoline structure is retained in the product because of the migration of the C(3)H proton to PTAD.