Axel Mayer

BENZOTHIETES—VERSATILE SYNTHONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF HETEROCYCLES

Abstract Thermal or photochemical ring opening transforms benzo[b]thiete to o-thiobenzoquinonemethide, a highly reactive 8π electron system. Cycloaddition reactions or linear additions with subsequent cyclizations lead to larger heterocyclic rings. A variety of compounds containing sulfur and possibly further heteroatoms like nitrogen, oxygen or phosphorus in normal, medium and large ring systems can be synthesized on this route.

1H-naphtho[2,1-b]thiete and 2H-naphtho[2,3-b]thiete- synthesis and reactivity

Abstract The title compounds 4 and 8 are obtained by flash vacuum pyrolysis of the corresponding hydroxymethylthionaphthols 3 and 7. Whereas 4 shows a smooth ring opening on heating, 8 is thermally stable but reacts photochemically. The different behavior is explained on the basis of an MNDO calculation. The valence isomers 4′ and 8′ represent thioquinonemethides, which are highly reactive components in [12π + 2π]cycloaddition processes (4 → 9, 10, 11; 8 → 12).