In situ preparation of cyclopropanones with the bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-6-one skeleton (substituted examples of the Loftfield intermediate). Confirmation of a very facile intramolecular alkyl cyclopropanone – dienol rearrangement

Four substituted bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-6-ones (cyclopropanones) were prepared in situ, starting from the corresponding 2,6-dibromocyclohexanone and reductively removing the bromine atoms with the organometallic salt PPN+Cr(CO)4NO− The reaction is essentially instantaneous at −78 or−100 °C, and can be conveniently carried out in an NMR tube for easy characterization of the products by low-temperature 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The1,5-di-tert-butyl and 1-tert-butyl analogs were thermally stable to ca. 0 °C, but the 1-tert-butyl-5-methyl and 1-tert-butyl-5-ethyl derivatives were extremely labile, rearranging at ca. −80 °C into a cross-conjugated enol, where the methyl (or ethyl) substituent was converted into an exomethylene group. These enols were also characterized as in situ species using 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, and by allowing the enol → α,β-unsaturated ketone rearrangement to take place at about 25 °C. The mechanism of the enol formation was investigated using a 1 -tert-butyl-5-CD3 analog, and the kH/kD ratio for enol formation was determined to be 6 ± 2. From this, the rate-determining step in the enol formation was postulated as a C-H → H-O transfer of a hydrogen atom in a cyclohexyl oxyallyl intermediate. The 1,5-di-tert-butylbicyclohexanone shows dynamic 1H NMR line broadening, the origin of which is also proposed to involve a cyclohexyl oxyallyl intermediate. Key words: cyclopropanone, oxyallyl, bicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-6-one, dienol, sigmatropic rearrangement.