Diels-Alder Reaction of Cyclopentadiene with Maleic Anhydride

Introduction In 1950, the chemists Otto Paul Hermann Diels, from Germany, and Kurt Alder, originally born in Prussia and then moved to Germany after World War I, received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the discovery of a new way to synthesize cyclic molecules. Aptly titled the Diels-Alder Cycloaddition Reaction, this new mechanism allowed conjugated dienes to undergo addition reactions with alkenes, yielding substituted cyclohexene products (McMurry 492). While there were numerous immediate uses for this new reaction mechanism, commercial exploits led to the development of powerful insecticides. These particular compounds usually consisted of a carbon ring (or rings) and many chlorine atoms. Chemicals such as Aldrin, Dieldrin, Chlordane, and DDT were all used to protect fruits, vegetables and cotton from soil insects, termites and moths. Some had other applications and were used to treat parasites like fleas, ticks and lice (Pavia 412). Although