From dipivaloylketene to tetraoxaadamantanes

• Gert Kollenz and
• Curt Wentrup

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1–10, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.1

• hydrolysis of the bisdioxines proceeds through the addition of water to a C=C double bond and results in a second transannular oxa-Michael-type reaction and generation of tetraoxaadamantanes 5. This reaction is decarboxylative when free carboxylic acid functions are present in the bisdioxines, thus forming

• 21 and 22, but carboxylic acid derivatives are preserved to yield compounds 20, 23, 25, 28, and 29. A hydrogenolysis of the dibenzyl ester 23 yields the free dicarboxylic acid 24. The tetraoxaadamantanes are formed in high yields (65–95%) in most cases, but the addition of water to the concave inside

• of the bisdioxines becomes severely hindered in cyclic derivatives, so that the 38-membered ring compound 32 requires microwave heating at 170 °C to form tetraoxaadamantane 33, and the catenated compound 36 and calix[6]arene derivative 37 did not form tetraoxaadamantanes. The reaction mechanisms of

Synthesis of functionalized macrocyclic derivatives of trioxabicyclo[3.3.0]nonadiene

• Sabine Leber,
• Gert Kollenz and
• Curt Wentrup

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 738–743, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.83

• reduced nitro derivative 12 as an impurity (Scheme 3). A remarkable reaction is the ready conversion of macrocyclic as well as open-chain bisdioxine derivatives to 2,4,6,8-tetraoxaadamantanes on acid hydrolysis [4][7][15]. This transformation was also achieved with the dinitro compound 8, which yielded