A novel class of highly activated donor‐acceptor cyclopropanes bearing only a single, vinylogous acceptor is presented. These strained moieties readily undergo cycloadditions with aldehydes, ketones, thioketones, nitriles, naphth‐2‐ols and various other substrates to yield the corresponding carbo‐ and heterocycles. Diastereocontrol can be achieved through the choice of catalyst (Brønsted or Lewis acid). The formation of tetrahydrofurans was shown to be highly enantiospecific when chiral cyclopropanes are employed. A series of mechanistic and kinetic experiments was conducted to elucidate a plausible catalytic cycle and to rationalize the stereochemical outcome.

We describe a general electrochemical method to functionalize donor−acceptor (D−A) cyclopropanes and -butanes with arenes utilizing Friedel−Crafts-type reactivity. The catalystfree strategy relies on the direct anodic oxidation of the strained carbocycles, which leads after C(sp 3 )−C(sp 3 ) cleavage to radical cations that act as electrophiles for the arylation reaction. Broad reaction scopes in regard to cyclopropanes, cyclobutanes, and aromatic reaction partners are presented. Additionally, a plausible electrolysis mechanism is proposed.

We present a Lewis acid catalyzed nucleophilic ring‐opening of donor‐acceptor cyclopropanes and ‐butanes by sydnones, utilizing their respective 1,3‐ and 1,4‐reactivity. The same conditions can be applied for the addition of sydnones to Michael acceptors. We propose a Friedel‐Crafts like mechanism. The reaction provides a rare, low‐temperature, transition metal‐free, and functional group tolerant protocol for the late‐stage functionalization of these mesoionic compounds of emerging importance in catalysis and bio‐orthogonal chemistry.

We present a versatile method for the enantiospecific, cis-diastereoselective intermolecular and intramolecular cycloaddition of donor−acceptor cyclopropanes to electron-poor alkenes with cyclic acceptor groups to afford highly substituted spirocyclopentanes in good to excellent yields. The reaction can be applied to biologically interesting scaffolds, including barbiturates and isoxazolones. Mechanistic investigations were undertaken to explain the unusual diastereoselectivity and enantiospecificity; these suggest an iodination/Michael-cyclization cascade.

A flexible synthesis for highly substituted benzothietes that does not require flash-vacuum pyrolysis was developed. This allows for the use of a number of functional groups and nonvaporizable molecules. Highly stabilized derivatives were isolated. The molecular orbital properties of various benzothietes were evaluated by density functional methods. The mechanism of the cycloreversion of the four-membered ring was compared to that of the oxygen-containing analogues.