N-Alkylation of optically active 1-benzyl-4-phenyl-4,5-dihydroimidazole with active alkyl halides and treatment of the so-formed 4,5-dihydroimidazolium ions with DBU in the presence of a range of electron-deficient alkene dipolarophiles, constitutes a 'one-pot' cascade terminating in a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction that affords optically active pyrrolo[1,2-a]imidazoles. Three bonds of the ...

The rhodium(II)-catalyzed formation of 1,3-dipoles has played a major role in facilitating the use of the dipolar cycloaddition reaction in modern organic synthesis. This is apparent from the increasing number of applications of this chemistry for the construction of heterocyclic and natural product ring systems. This chapter initially focuses on those aspects of rhodium(II) catalysis that cont...

The [2+3] dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to the double C = C bonds of thiophene-1, 1-dioxides leads to formation of the fused isoxazolines-2 (1, 2). Tumor growth inhibition of these compounds strongly depends on the nature of group IV A element increasing from slightly active tert-butyl derivatives to silicon and germanium containing analogues. The products of benzonitrile oxide cycloa...

A synthetic methodology based on the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction was developed to design enantiomerically pure liquid-crystalline fullerodendrimers.

The synthesis of C3-carbocyclic spirooxindoles was realized by way of an intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between a vinylidene indolin-2-one and an alkyne. The cycloaddition reaction occurs selectively with the distal double bond of the allene, is tolerant of a phenyl and trimethylsilyl group on the terminus of the alkyne, and can be used to access bicyclo[4.2.0]octadienes and bicy...

A variety of organocatalysts were screened for the catalysis of the naphthoquinone monoketal Diels-Alder reaction. In this study we found that Schreiner's thiourea catalyst 10 and Jacobson's thiourea catalyst 12 facilitate the cycloaddition of the sterically hindered naphthoquinone monoketal dienophile 3 with diene 4. The use of thiourea catalysis allowed for the first time the highly selective...

The mechanism of the cycloaddition reaction between singlet state dichlorosilylene germylidene (Cl2Si=Ge:) and acetone has been investigated with B3LYP/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G** method, from the potential energy profile, we predict that the reaction has one dominant reaction pathway. The presented rule of the reaction is that the two reactants firstly form a Si-heterocyclic four-membered ring ge...

The specific 1,3 dipolar Hüisgen cycloaddition reaction known as 'click-reaction' between azide and alkyne groups is employed for the synthesis of peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates. The peptide nucleic acids (PNA)/DNA and peptides may be appended either by azide or alkyne groups. The cycloaddition reaction between the azide and alkyne appended substrates allows the synthesis of the desired con...

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...

2+2] and [4+2] cycloaddition reactions of 1,3-cyclohexadiene on the Si(001) surface were studied. It is shown that not only the [4+2] cycloaddition reaction but also the [2+2] cycloadditions can occur on the Si(001) surface. Surface isomerization reactions connecting [4+2] and [2+2] are very unlikely due to a high energy barrier, implying that the surface reactions are kinetically controlled. T...