title: Divergent reactivity of homologue ortho-allenylbenzaldehydes controlled by the tether length: chromone versus chromene formation.
abstract: The divergent behavior of two homologue allenals, namely, 2-(buta-2,3-dienyloxy)- and 2-(propa-1,2-dienyloxy)benzaldehydes, as cyclization substrates is described. 2-(Buta-2,3-dienyloxy)benzaldehydes suffers a formal allenic carbocyclization reaction to afford chromenes, whereas 2-(propa-1,2-dienyloxy)benzaldehydes react to yield chromones. The formation of chromenes is strictly a formal hydroarylation process divided into two parts, namely, allenic Claisen-type rearrangement and oxycyclization. An unknown N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed allenic hydroacylation reaction must be invoked to account for the preparation of chromones. ortho-Allenylbenzaldehydes bearing either electron-donating substituents or electron-withdrawing substituents worked well to afford both the hydroarylation and hydroacylation products. This unexpected difference in reactivity can be rationalized by means of density functional theory calculations.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Lactamas y Heterociclos Bioactivos, Departamento de Química Orgánica I, Unidad Asociada al CSIC, Facultad de Química, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain). alcaideb@quim.ucm.es.
authors.forename: Benito
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alcaide
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Almendros
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Martínez del Campo
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Naranjo
keywords: allenes; carbenes; cyclization; density functional calculations; heterocycles