Oxadiazoline 6 was synthesized to generate endo-tricyclo[3.2.1.0(2,4)]octan-8-ylidene (3) by either photolysis or thermolysis. Diastereomer 6a thermally decomposed twice as fast as 6b. Carbene 3 was trapped stereoselectively by acrylonitrile and diethylamine in high yields. It behaved as a nucleophilic carbene with electron-poor alkenes, like acrylonitrile, but as an electrophile with very electron-rich species, such as diethylamine. However, when the reactions were performed in cyclohexane and cyclohexene, isomerization of 3 was favored. Replacement of the double bond in 7-norbornenylidene (1) by the single bond in the endo-fused cyclopropane unit of carbene 3 led to similar outcomes. Carbene 3 rightfully belongs to the family of foiled carbenes.

endo-Tricyclo[3.2.1.0(2,4)]oct-8-ylidene is a foiled carbene reaction intermediate. It was generated by thermolyzing Δ(3)-1,3,4-oxadiazoline precursors dissolved in benzaldehyde and acetophenone. The products appear to stem from direct insertion of the carbene's divalent C atom into the α-bonds of the carbonyl compounds; however, this is only superficial. The strict stereochemistry observed is due to the topologies of the reaction intermediates of the proposed two-step mechanism. Bimolecular nucleophilic addition generates bent 1,3-zwitterions. The neutral reaction intermediates undergo pinacolic rearrangements to form the observed adducts. Product ratios reflect the migratory aptitudes of the carbonyl compounds' α-substituents. The carbene reaction was modeled using DFT. The singlet carbene's bicoordinate C atom bends 31° toward the endo-fused cyclopropane bond, elongating it to r = 1.69 Å. The resulting trishomocyclopropyl HOMO{-1} is a three-center two-electron bond responsible for the electron-deficient carbene's nucleophilicity. Its calculated properties are consistent with this assertion: (1) singlet-triplet (ΔE(S-T)) energy gap of -25 kcal/mol, (2) gas-phase proton affinity (PA) value of 272 kcal/mol, (3) hard and soft acid and base (HSAB) ΔN value of -0.2 in its initial reaction with the carbonyl compounds, and (4) negative frontier orbital interaction values ΔΔE(PhC(O)H) = -4.38 eV and ΔΔE(PhC(O)Me) = -3.97 eV.

Selected 5‐substituted derivatives 4 of 1,1‐diethoxy‐5‐hydroxypent‐3‐yn‐2‐one were treated with propane‐1,3‐dithiol under various conditions. The unprotected hydroxy ketones underwent cyclization during the dithiol addition and gave the corresponding 3‐(diethoxymethyl)‐2‐oxa‐6,10‐dithiaspiro[4.5]decan‐3‐ols 5 in 80–90% yield as the only products (Scheme 3 and Table 1). These products can be regarded as partly modified carbohydrates in the furanose form. When the benzyl‐protected analogues 10‐Bn of the 1,1‐diethoxy‐5‐hydroxypent‐3‐yn‐2‐one derivatives were treated with the same dithiol, however, no cyclization occurred; instead the corresponding 3‐{2‐[(benzyloxy)methyl]‐1,3‐dithian‐2‐yl}‐1,1‐diethoxypropan‐2‐one derivatives 11‐Bn were formed in good yield (up to 99%; Table 4). These 1,3‐dithianes were and are in the process of being converted to a number of new carbohydrate analogues, and here are reported high‐yield syntheses of functionalized molecules 17 belonging to the 5,5‐diethoxy‐1,4‐dihydroxypentan‐2‐one family of compounds (Table 7), via 15‐Bn (Table 5) and 16‐Bn (Table 6 and Scheme 8).

Propane-1,3-dithiol to α,β-Unsaturated Ketones. -MeONa-mediated addition of dithiol (II) to alkynes (I) is accompanied by an intramolecular cyclization to afford spiro compounds (III), which can be regarded as partly modified furanose derivatives. Standard transformations of the corresponding non-cyclized dithians (VII) afford compounds (VIII), which are versatile precursors to a number of modified carbohydrates, such as (IX) and (XI). -(VALDERSNES, S.; APELAND, I.; FLEMMEN, G.; SYDNES*, L. K.; Helv. Chim. Acta 95 (2012) 11, 2099-2122, http://dx.