Dipolar Cycloaddition Reactions of Nitrilimines.

A series of γ-substituted α-methylidene-γ-butyrolactone derivatives underwent regiospecific 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with N-methyl-C-phenylnitrilimine. These reactions proceeded regiospecifically and with high diastereoselectivity, generally favouring the anti diastereomer as determined by n.m.r. spectroscopy and semiempirical molecular orbital calculations. The assignment for one product was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. N-Methyl-C-phenylnitrilimine underwent regiospecific cycloaddition with a range of C=S-containing dipolarophiles. Substituted thioureas were generally unreactive as dipolarophiles, while 5-thio-substituted 1,3,4-thiadiazole-2(3H)-thiones underwent ready reaction to produce, rather than the expected cycloadducts, complex rearrangement products. The structure of one of these unusual products has been confirmed by X-ray crystallography. A series of disubstituted nitrilimines underwent regiospecific cycloaddition with thiobenzophenone; the structures of the products were confirmed by X-ray crystallography.