Sciencemadness Discussion Board

diels alder with less reactive dienophiles

Cloner - 9-5-2006 at 00:07

I have a compound that undergoes a high yielding diels alder reaction with maleic anhydride in melt phase on about 110 degrees centigrade.

Now I would like to redo this reaction with other dienophiles, all containing a triple bond. So far, it has been unsuccessful. The triple bond seems to be less reactive than maleic anhydride, even if a beta halogen atom or ester group is present.

Is it possible to use a catalyst to perform this kind of reaction?

IPN - 9-5-2006 at 03:42

You could try the reaction with a lewis acid (something like AlCl3) as those generally activate dienophiles in diels alder reactions.