In the ozonolyses of highly methylated
3,3,4,4,5,5-hexamethyl-1,2-bis(methylene)cyclopentane
(1a)
and 3,3,6,6-tetramethyl-1,2-bis(methylene)cyclohexane
(1b), the epoxidation competed with the
cleavage of the C−C double bond, whereas only the latter process was
observed in the case of the
nonmethylated 1,2-bis(methylene)cycloalkanes
1c,d. Competition experiments revealed that
the
reactivity of the highly methylated
1,2-bis(methylene)cycloalkanes 1a,b is
significantly smaller
than that of the nonmethylated ones (1c,d),
suggesting that the formation of the primary ozonides
2c,d occurs by a concerted 1,3-dipolar
cycloaddition process.