Cycloadditions onto methylene- and alkylidenecyclopropane derivatives

Abstract

Alkylidenecyclopropanes are a peculiar class of olefinic compounds characterized by a high ring strain, but at the same time a sufficient stability to permit their use in organic synthesis. The strain associated with the structure of these compounds is in general responsible for the good reactivity of the carbon-carbon double bond, even in sterically encumbered substrates. The key role of these compounds in organic synthesis resides in the exclusive, and by far the most useful, possibility of the introduction of a cyclopropyl ring in a more complex molecule through reactions onto the exocyclic double bond. For this reason the investigations on the synthesis and reactivity of these compounds has exploded in the last decade. This article will deal with all the reactions which involve the exocyclic double bond of alkylidenecyclopropanes in cycloaddition processes. Albeit most of the reactions are true pericyclic cycloaddition processes, also those reactions which lead to cycles by stepwise processes will be reported with comments on the mechanism.