Let’s compare the following two Diels-Alder reactions: The first one is a reaction between a symmetrical diene and a dienophile, and the second one is a reaction of an unsymmetrical diene and a dienophile.   What is interesting here … Read more
When a cyclic diene is used in the Diels-Alder reaction, a bridged bicyclic compound is formed: This looks ordinary until we draw the product from a side view, which reveals some nice structures and interesting features of the … Read more
In this post, we will discuss how to predict the product of Diels–Alder reactions. The key idea is that you are forming two new σ bonds between the diene and the dienophile in a single step, so you need to … Read more
In this post, we will discuss the reactivity and specifics of the diene and the dienophile in the Diels-Alder reaction. First, a reminder that the Diels-Alder reaction is a type of pericyclic reaction between a conjugated diene (two double bonds) … Read more
