The present work demonstrates the ability of carboxylic acid-tethered cyclopropanated oxabenzonorbornadienes (CPOBDs) to undergo ring-opening reactions in mild acidic conditions. The optimized reaction conditions involve the use of pTsOH in DCE at 90 °C. Two regioisomers are formed but the reactions are highly regioselective towards type 3 ring-opened products. It was observed that substitution at the C-5 and aryl positions of CPOBD significantly hinders the ring opening reactions leading to decreased yields of ring-opened product, although high regioselectivity for the Type 3 ring-opened product is still maintained. Herein, we report the first examples of acid-catalyzed intramolecular ring-opening reactions of CPOBD with carboxylic acid nucleophiles.
Tetraalkyl cyclobutene-1,2,3,4-tetracarboxylates, prepared by intramolecular Wittig reaction between a vinylphosphonium salt and diethyl 2-oxobutanedioate, undergo electrocyclic ring-opening reactions, in boiling toluene, to produce highly electron-deficient 1,3-dienes.
Stereoselective Synthesis of Tetraalkyl Cyclobutene-1,2,3,4-tetracarboxylates. Synthesis of Tetraalkyl (Z,Z)-Buta-1,3-diene-1,2,3,4-tetracarboxylates