Addition of alkenyl Grignard reagents to (1-methoxycarbonylpentadienyl)iron(1+) cation generates the corresponding (2-alkenylpent-3-en-1,5diyl)iron complexes. Oxidatively induced-reductive elimination of these complexes gives divinylcyclopropanes which can undergo subsequentCope rearrangement to give 1,4-cycloheptadienes.

The cycloaddition of 6‐phthalimidobicyclo[5.1.0]octa‐2,4‐diene and 7‐phthalimido‐1,3,5‐cycloheptatriene with nitrosobenzene and with 4‐phenyl‐1,2,4‐triazoline‐3,5‐dione each gave a single heterocyclic product. X‐ray crystallographic analysis of 8a indicated the regio‐ and stereoselectivity of this cycloaddition.

A diastereoselective route to the 5,7,5-tricyclic core of the guianolides is presented. This route relies on Cope rearrangement of a divinylcyclopropane prepared by alkenyl Grignard addition to a (pentadienyl)iron(+1) cation, followed by oxidative decomplexation. An additional key reaction involves oxidative rearrangement of a 3,4-epoxy-1,7-diol to generate a γ-lactone. The relative stereochemistry of this product was established by X-ray crystallography

The addition of carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles to (bicyclo[5.1.0]octadienyl)Fe(CO)(2)L(+) cations 5 or 8 (L = CO, PPh(3)) generally proceeds via attack at the dienyl terminus on the face of the ligand opposite to iron to generate 6-substituted (bicyclo[5.1.0]octa-2,4-diene)iron complexes (11 or 13). In certain cases, these products are unstable with respect to elimination of a proton and the nucleophilic substituent to afford (cyclooctatetraene)Fe(CO)(2)L (4 or 7). Decomplexation of 13f, arising from addition of phthalimide to 8, gave N-(bicyclo[5.1.0]octa-3,5-dien-2-yl)phthalimide (19). Oxidative cleavage of 19 (RuCl(3)/NaIO(4)) followed by esterification gave the cyclopropane diester 22, which upon hydrolysis gave cis-2-(2'-carboxycyclopropyl)glycine (CCG-III, 18) (eight steps from 4, 43% overall yield). This methodology was also utilized for preparation of stereospecifically deuterated CCG-III (d-18) and optically enriched (-)-18. Deprotonation of 22 resulted in cyclopropane ring opening to afford the benzoindolizidine (23).

A stereoselective route to cis-2-(2′-carboxycyclopropyl)glycine has been developed. exo-Nucleophilic addition to the (bicyclo[5.1.0]octadienyl)iron(1+) cation establishes the relative stereochemistry at the cyclopropane ring and the α-stereocenter. Subsequent removal of the metal and cleavage of the cyclic diene gave the protected target 10, which upon hydrolysis gave 1. A stereoselective route to cis-2-(2′-carboxycyclopropyl)glycine has been developed. exo-Nucleophilic addition to the (bicyclo[5.1.0]octadienyl)iron(1+) cation establishes the relative stereochemistry at the cyclopropane ring and the α-stereocenter.