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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Accessing Valuable Ligand Supports for Transition Metals: A Modified, Intermediate Scale Preparation of 1,2,3,4,5-Pentamethylcyclopentadiene
Published on: March 20, 2017
The Hexadehydro-Diels-Alder Cycloisomerization Reaction Proceeds by a Stepwise Mechanism
Tao Wang1, Dawen Niu1, Thomas R Hoye1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
Abstract:
We report here experiments showing that the hexadehydro-Diels-Alder (HDDA) cycloisomerization reaction proceeds in a stepwise manner-i.e., via a diradical intermediate. Judicious use of substituent effects was decisive. We prepared (i) a series of triyne HDDA substrates that differed only in the R group present on the remote terminus of the diynophilic alkyne and (ii) an analogous series of dienophilic alkynes (n-C7H15COC≡CR) for use in classical Diels-Alder (DA) reactions (with 1,3-cyclopentadiene). The R groups were CF3, CHO, COMe/Et, CO2Me, CONMe2/Et2, H, and 1-propynyl. The relative rates of both the HDDA cyclization reactions and the simple DA cycloadditions were measured. The reactivity trends revealed a dramatic difference in the behaviors of the CF3 (slowest HDDA and nearly fastest DA) and 1-propynyl (fastest HDDA and slowest DA) containing members of each series. These differences can be explained by invoking radical-stabilizing energies rather than electron-withdrawing effects as the dominating feature of the HDDA reaction.
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