A new type of intermolecular rhodium(II)-catalyzed [5+3] cycloaddition has been developed. This higher-order cycloaddition between pyridinium zwitterion 1,5-dipole equivalents and enol diazoacetates enables the formation of eight-membered heterocyclic skeletons, which are otherwise difficult to construct. The optimized cycloaddition occurs efficiently under mild conditions with a wide range of pyridinium zwitterions and with high functional-group tolerance.
A metal-catalyst-free, mild, and efficient synthetic protocol for polycyclic 1,4-benzodiazepines via cascade [5 + 2]/[2 + 2] cycloadditions between pyridinium zwitterions and arynes is reported. Mechanistic experiments revealed that pyridinium zwitterions act as 1,5-dipoles in [5 + 2] cycloadditions with arynes for the construction of 1,4-benzodiazepines, which further undergo [2 + 2] cycloaddition resulting in the one-pot formation of one C-N bond and three C-C bonds.
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