3-dipolar Cycloaddition

Cycloadditions are one of the most valuable and effective synthesis routes to form cyclic compounds. These are concerted pericyclic reactions between two unsaturated compounds resulting in a cyclic product with two new σ bonds formed at the expense of π bonds. The [4 + 2] cycloaddition, known as the Diels–Alder reaction, is the most common. The other example is a [2 + 2] cycloaddition. The feasibility of cycloaddition reactions under thermal and photochemical conditions can be predicted using...

Some cycloaddition reactions are activated by heat, while others are initiated by light. For example, a [2 + 2] cycloaddition between two ethylene molecules occurs only in the presence of light. It is photochemically allowed but thermally forbidden. Thermally-induced [2 + 2] cycloadditions are symmetry forbidden. This is because the ground state HOMO of one ethylene molecule and the LUMO of the other ethylene are out of phase, preventing a concerted suprafacial-suprafacial overlap. Absorption...

Conjugated dienes have lower heats of hydrogenation than cumulated and isolated dienes, making them more stable. The enhanced stabilization of conjugated systems can be understood from their π molecular orbitals. The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...

Thermal cycloadditions are reactions where the source of activation energy needed to initiate the reaction is provided in the form of heat. A typical example of a thermally-allowed cycloaddition is the Diels–Alder reaction, which is a [4 + 2] cycloaddition. In contrast, a [2 + 2] cycloaddition is thermally forbidden. The reaction occurs between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of one π component and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the other. These are known as...

The electrophilic addition of hydrogen halides such as HBr to alkenes and nonconjugated dienes gives a single product as per Markovnikov’s rule. With conjugated systems like 1,3-butadiene, the addition of one equivalent of HBr yields a mixture of products: 1,2 and 1,4-addition products. As shown below, the mechanism involves the addition of H+ across one of the double bonds of the conjugated diene to form a resonance stabilized allyl cation. This is followed by the nucleophilic attack of Br−...