A Hetero Diels–Alder Approach to the Synthesis of Chromans (3,4-Dihydrobenzopyrans) Using Oxonium Ion Chemistry: The Oxa-Povarov Reaction

An oxa analogue of the well-known Povarov reaction has been developed for the synthesis of 3,4-dihydrobenzopyrans (chromans). The reaction involves the formal inverse electron demand [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of in situ-generated cationic aryl 2-oxadiene oxocarbenium ions with alkenes. The oxonium ion intermediates are generated through Lewis acid (SnCl₄)-promoted reactions of phenol-derived Rychnovsky-type mixed acetals. The yield and diastereoselectivity of the chroman products are found to depend upon the substitution pattern of the precursor alkene (i.e., monosubstituted, trans- or cis-disubstituted and cyclic alkenes). Generally, the reactions afford the endo-diastereomers as the major products, except for the reactions of <i>trans</i>-β-methylstyrene, which afford <i>exo</i>-chromans. A comparison of the product distributions from the reactions of <i>trans</i>- and <i>cis</i>-β-methylstyrene reveal that the reaction proceeds, at least in part, by a nonconcerted ionic pathway. Just as for the aza-Povarov reaction, there are two potential mechanisms for the reaction. The first mechanism involves a direct asynchronous [4 + 2] cycloaddition pathway, while the second occurs through the stepwise Prins addition of the alkene to the aryl 2-oxadiene oxonium ion, followed by an intramolecular aromatic substitution reaction of the resultant cation (i.e., a domino Prins/intramolecular Friedel–Crafts reaction)