Conformational Restriction of Histamine with a Rigid Bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane Scaffold Provided Selective H3 Receptor Ligands

Cobalt-Catalyzed Divergent Cycloadditions of Alkynes with Conjugated Dienes Yielding 3-Vinylcyclobutenes, Bicyclo[3.1.0]hexenes, and Cyclohexa-1,4-dienes

A traditional cobalt catalyst system still contains undiscovered reactivity. Depending on the tertiary phosphines and substrates used, the catalytic system using CoBr₂/tertiary phosphine/Zn/ZnI₂ catalyzes divergent cycloadditions of internal alkynes with conjugated dienes, yielding 3-alkenylcyclobut-1-enes, bicyclo[3.1.0]hexenes, and cyclohexa-1,4-dienes. A [CoBr₂(PPh₃)₂]/Zn/ZnI₂-catalyzed reaction of 3-hexyne (1a) with 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)butadiene (2a) at room temperature in CH₂Cl₂ exclusively produces a [2 + 2] cycloaddition product (E)-2-(2,3-diethylcyclobut-2-ene-1-yl)vinyl-4-methoxybenzene (3aa). When [CoBr₂(dppp)]/Zn/ZnI₂ is used as a catalyst, a bicyclic compound 6-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2,3-diethylbicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene (4aa) is dominantly formed in a 77% yield. The CoBr₂/dppe/Zn/ZnI₂ system can undergo a [2 + 4] cycloaddition to yield 3-(4-anisyl)-1,2-diethylcyclohexa-1,4-diene (5aa) as the dominant product in 38% yield. The bite angles of the ligands used contribute significantly to this catalytic diversity.

A Double Deprotonation Strategy for Cascade Annulations of Palladium-Trimethylenemethanes and Morita-Baylis-Hillman Carbonates to Construct Bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane Frameworks

Here we report that the chemoselective activation of Tsuji's 2-(cyanomethyl)allyl carbonates to generate the palladium-trimethylenemethane 1,3-dipoles via a deprotonation strategy can be realized in the presence of Morita-Baylis-Hillman carbonates from substantial activated ketones. The following S_N 2'-addition enables the formation of new 1,3-dipole species having an activated alkene moiety through a second deprotonation process, which then undergo cascade [1+2]/[3+2] annulations to furnish complex bicyclic [3.1.0]hexane frameworks having three contiguous quaternary stereogenic centers with good to excellent enantioselectivity. Moreover, by using benzoyl aldehyde-derived substrates, a [1+4]/[3+2] annulation sequence is similarly developed to produce fused cyclopenta[b]furan architectures.