What is the synthetic importance of the Diels-Alder reaction?

1 Answer
anor277
Apr 6, 2017

Well, in the simplest reaction you are making 2xxC-C bonds..........

Explanation:

"Diene + olefin "rarr" 6-membered ring"

And as you know, the number of C-C bond formation reactions is small indeed. And thus Diels Alder reactions are VERY BIG DEALS. Modern variants of the Diels-Alder reaction have introduced stereocontrol into the reaction, and have also allowed the introduction of heteroatoms.

Related questions
See all questions in Introduction to Reactions and Mechanisms
Impact of this question
2710 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License