A nearly forgotten reaction discovered more than 60 years ago-the cycloaddition of a cyclic alkyne and an organic azide, leading to an aromatic triazole-enjoys a remarkable popularity. Originally discovered out of pure chemical curiosity, and dusted off early this century as an efficient and clean bioconjugation tool, the usefulness of cyclooctyne-azide cycloaddition is now adopted in a wide ra...

A novel and unexpected reaction of 2-alkynylbenzaldoximes with ketenes in the presence of silver triflate (10 mol%) under mild conditions is discovered. This reaction proceeds through 6-endo-cyclization, [3 + 2] cycloaddition, and rearrangement, leading to isoquinoline derivatives in moderate to good yields.

[reaction: see text] Eco-friendly direct solvent-free synthesis of flavones is achieved by microwave irradiation of phloroglucinol and beta-ketoesters. Heating with microwaves versus under classical conditions was shown to be higher yielding, cleaner, and faster. The reaction goes through a cycloaddition of an alpha-oxo ketene intermediate followed by an uncatalyzed thermal Fries rearrangement.

[reaction: see text] The first stereoselective synthesis of (-)-acanthoic acid (1) has been designed and accomplished. Our synthetic plan departs from (-) Wieland-Miesher ketone (7) and calls upon a Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction for the construction of the C ring of 1. The described synthesis confirms the proposed stereochemistry of 1 and represents an efficient entry into an unexplored cl...

A novel and highly stereoselective synthesis of Z-β-enaminonitriles from azides and α,β-unsaturated nitriles is reported. The reaction proceeds via a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition-ring cleavage-rearrangement cascade mediated by a catalytic amount of Sc(OTf)3. A plausible reaction mechanism for this process is depicted.

An efficient organocatalytic asymmetric [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between 3-substituted methylenebenzofuranone derivatives and diverse Morita-Baylis-Hillman carbonates to provide complex polysubstituted spirocyclopentenebenzofuranone scaffolds in a single step is reported. C2-symmetric phospholanes were efficient nucleophilic catalysts of this transformation under mild conditions, providin...

Templated DNA strand ligation by the ring-strain promoted alkyne-azide [3+2] cycloaddition reaction is very fast; with dibenzocyclooctyne, the reaction is essentially complete in 1 min. It is inhibited by the presence of a single mismatched base pair suggesting applications in genetic analysis.

New compounds with the ethyl hexahydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2-c]quinoline-2-carboxylate skeleton were prepared by microwave-assisted intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions. The reactions were carried out under solvent-free conditions and compared with the same reaction in the presence of a solvent and a catalyst. Steric effects on the selectivity of the reaction were noted and evaluated.

The gold-catalyzed [3+3]-cycloaddition reaction of propargyl esters and azomethine imines has been developed. The reaction provides a rapid entry into a wide range of substituted tetrahydropyridazine derivatives from simple starting materials. A stepwise mechanism involving addition of the 1,3-dipole to a gold-carbenoid intermediate is proposed.

The first investigation into two C[double bond, length as m-dash]O bonds of CO2 reacting in one reaction through dual 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of CO2 with isocyanides and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates has been reported. The reaction proceeded efficiently at 80 °C at a pressure of 1 atm of CO2, affording symmetric 1,6-dioxospiro[4,4]nonane-3,8-diene derivatives in moderate yields.