The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is a chemical reaction between a 1,3-dipole and a dipolarophile to form a five-membered ring. The earliest 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions were described in the late 19th century to the early 20th century, following the discovery of 1,3-dipoles. Mechanistic investigation and synthetic application were established in the 1960s, primarily through the work of Rolf Huisgen. Hence, the reaction is sometimes referred to as the Huisgen cycloaddition (this term is often used to specifically describe the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between an organic azide and an alkyne to generate 1,2,3-triazole). 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is an important route to the regio- and stereoselective synthesis of five-membered heterocycles and their ring-opened acyclic derivatives. The dipolarophile is typically an alkene or alkyne, but can be other pi systems. When the dipolarophile is an alkyne, aromatic rings are generally produced.
Mechanistic overview
Originally two proposed mechanisms describe the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition: first, the concerted pericyclic cycloaddition mechanism, proposed by Rolf Huisgen; and second, the stepwise mechanism involving a diradical intermediate, proposed by Firestone. After much debate, the former proposal is now generally accepted—the 1,3-dipole reacts with the dipolarophile in a concerted, often asynchronous, and symmetry-allowed π4s + π2s fashion through a thermal six-electron Huckel aromatic transition state. However, a few examples exist of a stepwise mechanism for the catalyst-free 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of thiocarbonyl ylides, and nitrile oxides
Pericyclic mechanism
Huisgen investigated a series of cycloadditions between the 1,3-dipolar diazo compounds and various dipolarophilic alkenes. The following observations support the concerted pericyclic mechanism, and refute the stepwise diradical or the stepwise polar pathway.
Substituent effects: Different substituents on the dipole do not exhibit a large effect on the cycloaddition rate, suggesting that the reaction does not involve a charge-separated intermediate. Solvent effects: Solvent polarity has little effect on the cycloaddition rate, in line with the pericyclic mechanism where polarity does not change much in going from the reactants to the transition state. Stereochemistry: 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions are always stereospecific with respect to the dipolarophile (i.e., cis-alkenes giving syn-products), supporting the concerted pericyclic mechanism in which two sigma bonds are formed simultaneously. Thermodynamic parameters: 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions have an unusually large negative entropy of activation similar to that of the Diels-Alder reaction, suggesting that the transition state is highly ordered, which is a signature of concerted pericyclic reactions.
1,3-Dipole
A 1,3-dipole is an organic molecule that can be represented as either an allyl-type or a propargyl/allenyl-type zwitterionic octet/sextet structures. Both types of 1,3-dipoles share four electrons in the π-system over three atoms. The allyl-type is bent whereas the propargyl/allenyl-type is linear in geometry. 1,3-Dipoles containing higher-row elements such as sulfur or phosphorus are also known, but are utilized less routinely.
Resonance structures can be drawn to delocalize both negative and positive charges onto any terminus of a 1,3-dipole (see the scheme below). A more accurate method to describe the electronic distribution on a 1,3-dipole is to assign the major resonance contributor based on experimental or theoretical data, such as dipole moment measurements or computations. For example, diazomethane bears the largest negative character at the terminal nitrogen atom, while hydrazoic acid bears the largest negative character at the internal nitrogen atom.
Consequently, this ambivalence means that the ends of a 1,3-dipole can be treated as both nucleophilic and electrophilic at the same time. The extent of nucleophilicity and electrophilicity at each end can be evaluated using the frontier molecular orbitals, which can be obtained computationally. In general, the atom that carries the largest orbital coefficient in the HOMO acts as the nucleophile, whereas that in the LUMO acts as the electrophile. The most nucleophilic atom is usually, but not always, the most electron-rich atom. In 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, identity of the dipole-dipolarophile pair determines whether the HOMO or the LUMO character of the 1,3-dipole will dominate (see discussion on frontier molecular orbitals below).
Dipolarophile
The most commonly used dipolarophiles are alkenes and alkynes. Heteroatom-containing dipolarophiles such as carbonyls and imines can also undergo 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. Other examples of dipolarophiles include fullerenes and nanotubes, which can undergo 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with azomethine ylide in the Prato reaction.
Solvent effects
1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions experience very little solvent effect because both the reactants and the transition states are generally non-polar. For example, the rate of reaction between phenyl diazomethane and ethyl acrylate or norbornene (see scheme below) changes only slightly upon varying solvents from cyclohexane to methanol.
Lack of solvent effects in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is clearly demonstrated in the reaction between enamines and dimethyl diazomalonate (see scheme below). The polar reaction, N-cyclopentenyl pyrrolidine nucleophilic addition to the diazo compound, proceeds 1,500 times faster in polar DMSO than in non-polar decalin. On the other hand, a close analog of this reaction, N-cyclohexenyl pyrrolidine 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to dimethyl diazomalonate, is sped up only 41-fold in DMSO relative to decalin.
Frontier molecular orbital theory
1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions are pericyclic reactions, which obey the Dewar-Zimmerman rules and the Woodward–Hoffmann rules. In the Dewar-Zimmerman treatment, the reaction proceeds through a 5-center, zero-node, 6-electron Huckel transition state for this particular molecular orbital diagram. However, each orbital can be randomly assigned a sign to arrive at the same result. In the Woodward–Hoffmann treatment, frontier molecular orbitals (FMO) of the 1,3-dipole and the dipolarophile overlap in the symmetry-allowed π4s + π2s manner. Such orbital overlap can be achieved in three ways: type I, II and III. The dominant pathway is the one which possesses the smallest HOMO–LUMO gap.
Type I
The dipole has a high-lying HOMO which overlaps with LUMO of the dipolarophile. A dipole of this class is referred to as a HOMO-controlled dipole or a nucleophilic dipole, which includes azomethine ylide, carbonyl ylide, nitrile ylide, azomethine imine, carbonyl imine and diazoalkane. These dipoles add to electrophilic alkenes readily. Electron-withdrawing groups (EWG) on the dipolarophile would accelerate the reaction by lowering the LUMO, while electron-donating groups (EDG) would decelerate the reaction by raising the HOMO. For example, the reactivity scale of diazomethane against a series of dipolarophiles is shown in the scheme below. Diazomethane reacts with the electron-poor ethyl acrylate more than a million times faster than the electron rich butyl vinyl ether.
This type resembles the normal-electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction, in which the diene HOMO combines with the dienophile LUMO.
Type II
HOMO of the dipole can pair with LUMO of the dipolarophile; alternatively, HOMO of the dipolarophile can pair with LUMO of the dipole. This two-way interaction arises because the energy gap in either direction is similar. A dipole of this class is referred to as a HOMO-LUMO-controlled dipole or an ambiphilic dipole, which includes nitrile imide, nitrone, carbonyl oxide, nitrile oxide, and azide. Any substituent on the dipolarophile would accelerate the reaction by lowering the energy gap between the two interacting orbitals; i.e., an EWG would lower the LUMO while an EDG would raise the HOMO. For example, azides react with various electron-rich and electron-poor dipolarophile with similar reactivities (see reactivity scale below).
Type III
The dipole has a low-lying LUMO which overlaps with HOMO of the dipolarophile (indicated by red dashed lines in the diagram). A dipole of this class is referred to as a LUMO-controlled dipole or an electrophilic dipole, which includes nitrous oxide and ozone. EWGs on the dipolarophile decelerate the reaction, while EDGs accelerate the reaction. For example, ozone reacts with the electron-rich 2-methylpropene about 100,000 times faster than the electron-poor tetrachloroethene (see reactivity scale below).
This type resembles the inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder reaction, in which the diene LUMO combines with the dienophile HOMO.
Reactivity
Concerted processes such as the 1,3-cycloaddition require a highly ordered transition state (high negative entropy of activation) and only moderate enthalpy requirements. Using competition reaction experiments, relative rates of addition for different cycloaddition reactions have been found to offer general findings on factors in reactivity.
Conjugation, especially with aromatic groups, increases the rate of reaction by stabilization of the transition state. During the transition, the two sigma bonds are being formed at different rates, which may generate partial charges in the transition state that can be stabilized by charge distribution into conjugated substituents. More polarizable dipolarophiles are more reactive because diffuse electron clouds are better suited to initiate the flow of electrons. Dipolarophiles with high angular strain are more reactive due to increased energy of the ground state. Increased steric hindrance in the transition state as a result of unhindered reactants dramatically lowers the reaction rate. Hetero-dipolarophiles add more slowly, if at all, compared to C,C-diapolarophiles due to a lower gain in sigma bond energy to offset the loss of a pi bond during the transition state. Isomerism of the dipolarophile affects reaction rate due to sterics. trans-isomers are more reactive (trans-stilbene will add diphenyl(nitrile imide) 27 times faster than cis-stilbene) because during the reaction, the 120° bond angle shrinks to 109°, bringing eclipsing cis-substituents towards each other for increased steric clash.
Stereospecificity
1,3-dipolar cycloadditions usually result in retention of configuration with respect to both the 1,3-dipole and the dipolarophile. Such high degree of stereospecificity is a strong support for the concerted over the stepwise reaction mechanisms. As mentioned before, many examples show that the reactions were stepwise, thus, presenting partial or no stereospecificity.
With respect to dipolarophile
cis-Substituents on the dipolarophilic alkene end up cis, and trans-substituents end up trans in the resulting five-membered cyclic compound (see scheme below).
With respect to dipole
Generally, the stereochemistry of the dipole is not of major concern because only few dipoles could form stereogenic centers, and resonance structures allow bond rotation which scrambles the stereochemistry. However, the study of azomethine ylides has verified that cycloaddition is also stereospecific with respect to the dipole component. Diastereopure azomethine ylides are generated by electrocyclic ring opening of aziridines, and then rapidly trapped with strong dipolarophiles before bond rotation can take place (see scheme below). If weaker dipolarophiles are used, bonds in the dipole have the chance to rotate, resulting in impaired cycloaddition stereospecificity.
These results altogether confirm that 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is stereospecific, giving retention of both the 1,3-dipole and the dipolarophile.
Diastereoselectivity