2:1 Adducts Arising from Reactions between Benzynes and 1,3,4-Oxadiazoles

Org Lett. 2024 May 10;26(18):3834-3839. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.4c01005. Epub 2024 Apr 30.

Abstract

2:1 adducts arise from the reaction of 2,5-diaryl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles and benzynes generated from the hexadehydro-Diels-Alder (HDDA) reaction. Density functional theory computations support a mechanistic manifold that includes a concerted SNAr process. Additionally, the benzyne trapping reaction of 2,5-dimethyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole affords an unusual acylimine-containing 2:1 adduct, which is the first case in which a dearomatized product has arisen from a HDDA reaction.