The enzyme SpnF, involved in the biosynthesis of spinosyn A, catalyzes a formal [4+2] cycloaddition of a 22-membered macrolactone, which may proceed as a concerted [4+2] Diels-Alder reaction or a stepwise [6+4] cycloaddition followed by a Cope rearrangement. Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations combined with free energy simulations show that the Diels-Alder pathway is favo...

The total synthesis of (+)-cavicularin is described. The synthesis features an enantio- and regioselective pyrone Diels-Alder reaction of a vinyl sulfone to construct the cyclophane architecture of the natural product. The Diels-Alder substrate was prepared by a regioselective one-pot three-component Suzuki reaction of a non-symmetric dibromoarene.

A synthetic route developed for the preparation of the A-ring of Taxol family of molecules is reported. By means of an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction an asymmetric approach to this ring has been accomplished. Also, initial studies to prepare the A ring using an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction have been successful.

Herein we disclose the radical cation Diels–Alder reaction of aryl vinyl ethers by electrocatalysis, which is triggered by an oxidative SET process. The reaction clearly proceeds in a stepwise fashion, which is a rare mechanism in this class. We also found that two distinctive pathways, including “direct” and “indirect”, are possible to construct the Diels–Alder adduct. Introduction Umpolung, a...

Initially, lasubin II was synthesized diastereoselectively in racemic form [3]. Asymmetric syntheses of lasubin II were achieved based on stereoselective transformations of enantiomerically pure substrates [4] or, for example, via a diastereoselective aza-Diels-Alder reaction using a resolved chiral arylaldehyde tricarbonylchromium complex [5]. Recently, an enantioselectively catalyzed aza-Diel...

Substituted 3,4-dihydro-1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)-ones have been synthesized with the inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction from 1,2,4-triazines bearing an acylamino group with a terminal alkyne side chain. Alkynes were first subjected to the Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction with aryl halides, the product of which then underwent an intramolecular inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder react...

Synthesis of bisfunctionalized unsymmetrical 2,2'-bipyridines 8 or their sulfonyl derivatives 12a,b are described. They were prepared via the Diels-Alder reaction of 1-methyl-4-pyrrolidin-1-yl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (6) with 3,3'-bis(methyl- sulfanyl)-5,5'-bi-1,2,4-triazine (1). The reaction leads to the single cycloaddition product 7 which undergoes Diels-Alder reaction with cyclic enamine...

SpnF is the first monofunctional Diels-Alder/[6+4]-ase that catalyzes a reaction leading to both Diels-Alder and [6+4] adducts through a single transition state. The environment-perturbed transition-state sampling method has been developed to calculate free energies, kinetic isotope effects, and quasi-classical reaction trajectories of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and the uncatalyzed reaction in ...

Unlike normal Diels-Alder reactions of acyclic alkadienes with alkenes, the vinylbicyclo[2.2.2]octene employed in the Baran total synthesis of vinigrol undergoes a quantitative Diels-Alder reaction with a tethered alkene at room temperature. Density functional theory calculations reveal that this unprecedented reactivity originates from a combination of preorganization, diene strain, and tether...

The Diels-Alder cycloadditions of cyclopentadiene and 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene to a range of 2-thio-3-chloroacrylamides under thermal, catalytic and microwave conditions is described. The influence of reaction conditions on the outcome of the cycloadditions, in particular the stereoselectivity and reaction efficiency, is discussed. While the cycloadditions have been attempted at the sulfide, ...