Highly diastereoselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of chiral non-racemic nitrones to 1,2-diaza-1,3-dienes: an experimental and computational investigation.

Asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions between 1,2-diaza-1,3-dienes and chiral non-racemic nitrones to give 3-substituted-5-diazenyl isoxazolidines were studied both experimentally and theoretically. Whereas cyclic nitrones provide complete selectivity for the cycloaddition reaction (only one isomer is obtained), acyclic nitrones derived from D-glyceraldehyde and D-galactose lead to 1 : 1 mixtures of two isomers. A DFT analysis based on reactivity indices correctly predicts the regiochemistry of the reaction in agreement with the high electron-withdrawing character of the diazenyl group. The same theoretical studies considering solvent effects (PCM model) based on transition state theory are in qualitative agreement with the observed experimental results.