Factors Controlling the Reactivity and Selectivity of the Diels-Alder Reactions Involving 1,2-Azaborines.

The factors controlling the reactivity and endo/exo selectivity of the Diels-Alder reactions involving 1,2-azaborines have been computationally explored within the density functional theory framework. It is found that the AlCl3-catalyzed [4 + 2]-cycloaddition reaction between these dienes and N-methylmaleimide proceeds concertedly and leads almost exclusively to the corresponding endo cycloadduct, which is in good agreement with previous experimental observations. In addition, the effect of the substituent directly attached to the boron atom of the 1,2-azaborine on the process is also analyzed in detail. To this end, the combination of the activation strain model of reactivity and the energy decomposition analysis methods has been applied to gain a quantitative understanding into the origins of the endo selectivity of the process as well as the influence of the boron and nitrogen substituent on the barrier heights of the transformations.