1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of the anion of diethyl 1-diazomethylphosphonate, generated in situ from diethyl 1-diazo-2-oxopropylphosphonate (Bestmann-Ohira reagent), with conjugated nitroalkenes provides regioisomerically pure phosphonylpyrazoles in moderate to good yield. These pyrazoles are formed in one pot via spontaneous elimination of the nitro group. However, nitropyrazoles could be synthesized by the same strategy using alpha-bromonitroalkenes. The methodology works for the synthesis of phosphonylpyrazoles fused to other carbo- and heterocycles as well. [reaction: see text]

Application of diethyl 1-diazo-2-oxopropylphosphonate (Bestmann-Ohira reagent) as a cycloaddition partner with nitroalkenes has been extensively investigated. Base-mediated reaction of the Bestmann-Ohira reagent with various nitroalkenes such as beta-substituted, alpha,beta-disubstituted, and nitroethylene that are part of a carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring provided functionalized phosphonylpyrazoles through a one-pot regioselective reaction at room temperature in high yield. The substituted nitroalkenes employed in these reactions also included Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts of conjugated nitroalkenes with various electrophiles. Detailed dynamic NMR studies were performed on the prototropic tautomerism exhibited by the phosphonylpyrazoles using CDCl(3) and DMSO-d(6) as solvents and (1)H and (31)P as the probe nuclei. These studies unraveled the existence of two tautomers in solution with a small energy difference but considerable barrier to interconversion.

No abstract

The synthesis of 3,4-ene-1,5-diynes, the key structural moiety present in several naturally occurring antitumor antibiotics, from 1,2-enedialdehydes under two different experimental conditions is reported. One method involves the dibromomethylenation of dialdehydes under Corey-Fuchs conditions (CBr 4 , Ph 3 P, and Zn) and treatment of the resulting tetrabromides with nBuLi or LDA to afford enediynes. The second method involves a base-mediated reaction of enedialdehydes with diethyl (1-diazo-2-oxopropyl)phosphonate (Bestmann-Ohira reagent) and subsequent transformation of the bis(diazo) compounds generated in situ to enediynes. While the transformation of bis(diazo) compounds to enediynes could take place exclusively through alkylidenecarbenes, generated in situ by geminal elimination of N 2 , an

The conjugate addition of nucleophiles such as allylmercaptan, allyl‐ and homoallylmalonate and diallylamine to β‐furyl enones and acrylate, provides the Michael adducts in good yield. A facile intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction between the unsaturated tether and the furan diene ensues when these adducts are heated in a solvent such as toluene orxylene to afford the cycloadducts in good yield and excellent stereoselectivity in most cases. The structure and stereochemistry of these cycloadducts were confirmed by extensive NMR experiments and X‐ray crystallography. Quantum chemical calculations on the transition state and product geometries suggest that the formation of the cycloadducts, in which the newly formed ring is exo‐fused to the oxanorbornene framework, is favored over the endo‐fused product due to less strain in the former and its transition state.(© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008)