The halocyclization reaction of 4-penten-1-ol mediated by various bis(2-substituted pyridine) and (2,6- disubstituted pyridine)bromonium triflates (P(2)Br(+)OTf(-)) was investigated to determine the influence of the substituents on the mechanism of reaction. In all cases, the reaction proceeds via a two-step process where the starting P(2)Br(+) reversibly dissociates to a reactive monosubstituted PBr(+), which then is captured by 4-penten-1-ol to form halocyclized product (2-bromomethyltetrahydrofuran). The dissociation rate constant of P(2)Br(+) (k(d)) is sensitive to the steric bulk at the 2- and 6-positions, and in the case of the 2, 6-dicyclohexylpyridine or 2,6-dicyclopentylpyridine, the P(2)Br(+) species are too unstable to isolate. The partitioning ratio of the reactive intermediate (PBr(+)) between reversal and product formation (k(-)(d)/k(2)) is not particularly sensitive to the nature of the pyridine, the limiting values being 3-7 except in the case of bis(2(-)-menthylpyridine)bromonium triflate where the k(-)(d)/k(2) ratio is approximately 80. The reaction of 4-penten-1-ol and its OD isotopomer with bis(lutidine)bromonium triflate was investigated to determine the deuterium kinetic isotope effect (dkie) on the bromocyclization reaction. The (k(-)(d)/k(2))(H/D) ratio is 1.0, indicating that the rate-limiting step for the bromocyclization is probably formation of a PBr(+)-4-penten-1-ol complex which does not involve substantial changes in the bonding of the OH. The cyclization of 4-penten-1-ol and 4-pentenoic acid mediated by bis(2(-)-menthylpyridine)bromonium triflate produces an enantiomeric excess in the cyclized products of only 2.4% and 4.8% respectively.

Benzotriazole, 2,5-dimethoxytetrahydrofuran, and (S)-phenylglycinol in one step gave 80% of (3S, 5R,7aR)-5-(benzotriazol-1-yl)-3-phenyl-[2,1-b]oxazolopyrrolidine (6), whose crystal structure was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Novel chiral pyrrolidine synthon 6 reacts with organosilicon (allyltrimethylsilanes and vinyloxytrimethylsilanes), organophosphorus, organozinc, and Grignard reagents to afford chiral 2-substituted and 2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidines.

1,5-Disubstituted pyrrolidin-2-ones 18a-g, 19a-h, and 20a-f were synthesized in good to excellent yields via the nucleophilic substitution of 5-(benzotriazol-1-yl)-1-substituted-pyrrolidin-2-ones 9 with allylsilanes, organozinc reagents, and phosphorus compounds. Compounds 9 and 5-(benzotriazol-2-yl)-1-substituted-pyrrolidin-2-one isomers 10 are readily prepared in total 70-84% yields from 2, 5-dimethoxy-2,5-dihydrofuran (7), primary amines 8, and benzotriazole; 9 and 10 react identically with nucleophiles.

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