A stereo- and regioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the stable ninhydrin-derived azomethine ylide to cyclopropenes. Trapping of unstable cyclopropene dipolarophiles.

A stereo- and regioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the stable ninhydrin-derived azomethine ylide [2-(3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrolium-1-yl)-1-oxo-IH-inden-3-olate, DHPO] to differently substituted cyclopropenes has been established. As a result, an efficient synthetic protocol was developed for the preparation of biologically relevant spiro-[cyclopropa[a]pyrrolizine-2,2'-indene] derivatives. DHPO has proved to be an effective trap for such highly reactive and unstable substrates as parent cyclopropene, 1-methylcyclopropene, 1-phenylcyclopropene, and 1-halo-2-phenylcyclopropenes. It has also been found that 3-nitro-1,2-diphenylcyclopropene undergoes a nucleophilic substitution reaction in alcohols and thiols to afford 3-alkoxy- and 3-arylthio-substituted 1,2-diphenylcyclopropenes, which can be captured as corresponding 1,3-dipolar cycloadducts in the presence of DHPO. These new approaches provide a straightforward strategy for the synthesis of functionally substituted cyclopropa[a]pyrrolizine derivatives. The factors governing regio- and stereoselectivity have been revealed by means of quantum mechanical calculations (M11 density functional theory), including previously unreported N-ylide-H-cyclopropene second-orbital interactions. The outcome of this work contributes to the study of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, as well as enriches chemistry of cyclopropenes and methods for the construction of polycyclic compounds with cyclopropane fragments.