Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.125, No.17, 5111-5114, 2003
Mechanism of cis-enamide formation from N-(alpha-silyl)allyl amides: Synthetic potential of stepwise dyotropic rearrangements
A novel transformation of silyl amides to N-cis-propenyl amides was recently reported, the reaction of which is a formal 10-electron double sigmatropic, or dyotropic, rearrangement. Density functional calculations (B3LYP/6-311++G(3d,3p)//B3LYP/6-31 G(d)) have been carried out to investigate the mechanism of this reaction. A two-step process involving sequential 1,4-silyl and 1,4-hydrogen shifts is predicted. The 1,3-dipolar azomethine ylide intermediate profits from charge stabilization by allylic resonance and phenyl conjugation. The consecutive thermal migration of two sigma-bonds (stepwise dyotropic rearrangement) is an example of a host of reactions with synthetic potential.