Journal of the American Chemical Society
centers. DFT calculations suggest that stepwise and con-
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certed reaction pathways are operative in the cycloaddi-
tions and predict the observed selectivity trends. Moreo-
ver, the strategic manipulation of nitrone cycloadducts
demonstrates the utility of this methodology for the as-
sembly of compounds bearing multiple heterocyclic
units. These studies are expected to prompt the further
exploitation of traditionally avoided reactive intermedi-
ates in chemical synthesis.
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Commun. 2015, 51, 34–45.
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ASSOCIATED CONTENT
2001. (b) Schmidt, M. W.; Angus, R. O.; Johnson, R. P. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 1982, 104, 6838–6839. (c) Wentrup, C.; Gross, G.; Maquestiau, A.;
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nonen, H. M. Chem. Eur. J. 2009, 15, 7287–7291.
Supporting Information Available. Detailed experimental
and computational procedures, compound characterization,
Cartesian coordinates, electronic energies, entropies, en-
thalpies, Gibbs free energies and lowest frequencies of the
calculated structures. This material is available free of
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Authors
7
(a) Moore, W. R.; Moser, W. R. J. Org. Chem. 1970, 35, 908–912. (b)
Bottini, A. T.; Corson, F. P.; Fitzgerald, R.; Frost, K. A., II; Tetrahedron
1972, 28, 4883–4904. (c) Christl, M.; Schreck, M. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed.
Engl. 1987, 26, 449–451. (d) Christl, M.; Fischer, H.; Arnone, M.; Engels,
B. Chem. Eur. J. 2009, 15, 11266–11272. (e) Quintana, I.; Peña, D.; Pé-
rez, D.; Guitián, E. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2009, 5519–5524.
8
(a) Balci, M.; Jones, W. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1980, 102, 7607–7608.
(b) Tolbert, L. M.; Islam, M. N.; Johnson, R. P.; Loiselle, P. M.; Shake-
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are grateful to the NIH-NIGMS (R01
GM090007 for N.K.G.), the NSF (CHE-1361104 for
K.N.H.), Bristol–Myers Squibb, the A. P. Sloan Founda-
tion, the Dreyfus Foundation, the University of California,
Los Angeles, the Foote Family (H. V. P. and E.D.S.), and
the Chemistry–Biology Interface training program (J.S.B.,
9
Another attractive aspect of using 1,2-cyclohexadiene (7) as a synthetic
intermediate is the potential to access sp3-rich heterocycles, especially in
comparison to benzyne cycloadducts. The synthesis of sp3-rich heterocy-
cles is a current priority area in medical chemistry; see: a) Lovering, F.;
Bikker, J.; Humblet, C. J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 6752–6756. b) Ritchie,
T. J.; Macdonald, S. J. F. Drug Discov. Today 2009, 14, 1011–1020. c)
Lovering, F. Med. Chem. Commun. 2013, 4, 515–519.
10
USPHS
National
Research
Service
Award
Our efforts to prepare the known trimethylsilyl counterpart of 12 were
thwarted by complications associated with the synthesis and purification
of 2-(trimethylsilyl)cyclohexanone.
5T32GM008496-20) for financial support. These studies
were supported by shared instrumentation grants from the
NSF (CHE-1048804) and the NIH NCRR (S10RR025631).
Computations were performed with resources made availa-
ble from the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery
Environment (XSEDE), which is supported by the National
Science Foundation (OCI-1053575), as well as the UCLA
Institute of Digital Research and Education (IDRE).
11 See Supporting Information for the synthesis of silyltriflate 12.
12
In some cases, improved yields were obtained using 2 equiv of the
nitrone trapping agent. Optimal conditions used for each substrate are
indicated.
The modest dr observed in the formation of 20 is currently not well
13
understood.
We also explored the use of nitrones bearing chiral auxiliaries. Use of
14
Vasella’s mannose-derived nitrones led to modest dr’s, whereas the use of
phenethylamine derivatives gave the corresponding cycloadducts in 1.5:1
dr. For Vasella’s mannose derivative, see: Vasella, A. Helv. Chim. Acta
1977, 60, 1273–1295.
15 All geometries were optimized using the density functional B3LYP with
a 6-31G(d) basis set. Free energies were then determined using B3LYP
single point calculations with the D3 correction (with no Becke-Johnson
damping) to account for dispersion, in conjunction with the larger 6-
311+G(d,p) basis set. The conductor-like polarizable continuum model
(CPCM) for acetonitrile was used to simulate implicit solvent. Minima
and transition states were located and verified with 0 and 1 imaginary
frequencies, respectively.
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