One hundred years after the birth of Kurt Alder and seventy-five years after the discovery of his famous reaction, one of the most important and fascinating transformations in chemistry, research on that process continues to surprise, excite, delight, and inform the chemical community. This article is based on presentations given first at the University of Cologne, Germany (Kurt Alder lecture, ...

In these experiments, which were used in the problemsolving mode (1), the stereoselectivity of the Diels–Alder cycloaddition of N-phenylmaleimide to furan is deduced by the characteristic splitting patterns in the proton-NMR spectra. The relationship of coupling constants to dihedral angle, as described by the Karplus equation, is illustrated. The data can also be used to demonstrate the concep...

A stereocontrolled synthesis of the core of eunicellin is described featuring a Claisen rearrangement and a diastereoselective organocatalytic Diels-Alder reaction as the key steps.

A concise total synthesis of the antiproliferative macrolide (+)-neopeltolide has been completed, utilising a Jacobsen hetero Diels-Alder reaction to install the trisubstituted tetrahydropyran ring.

We explore the potential of the Diels-Alder cycloaddition for the functional tagging of DNA strands. A deoxyuridine triphosphate derivative carrying a diene at position 5 of the pyrimidine base was synthesized using a two-step procedure. The derivative was efficiently accepted as substrate in enzymatic polymerization assays. Diene carrying strands underwent successful cycloaddition with maleimi...

[reaction: see text] An enantioselective formal total synthesis of the sesterterpene (-)-dysidiolide 1 beginning with an intermolecular Diels-Alder reaction of the allene ester 3 and the silyloxydiene 10 is reported.

Synthesis of 2,3- and 3,4-cyclopentenopyridines, 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolines and 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroisoquinolines from 1,2,4-triazine derivatives is reported. Introduction of an alpha-functionalized methyl substituent (e.g. arylsulphonyl, sulphonamide, sulphonic acid ester) into position 3- or 6- of triazines by vicarious nucleophilic substitution of hydrogen and subsequent alkylation with alky...

The total synthesis of the recently reported marine natural product colombiasin A (1) and determination of its absolute configuration are reported. Two Diels-Alder cycloadditions and a palladium-catalyzed rearrangement are employed as key reactions to construct the tetracyclic framework of the target molecule. The enantioselective synthesis of colombiasin A utilizes Mikami's [(S)-BINOL-TiCl2] c...

In a previous paper (J. Phys. Chem. A2009, 113, 9721), we analyzed theoretically the Diels-Alder cycloaddition between cyclopentadiene and C(60) for which experimental results on energy barriers and reaction energies are known. One of the main conclusions reached was that the two-layered ONIOM2(B3LYP/6-31G(d):SVWN/STO-3G) method provides results very close to the full B3LYP/6-31G(d) ones. Unfor...