Abstract

Quinones and other cyclenones react by 1,4-addition with conjugated dienes. A typical example is the reaction of butadiene with p-benzoquinone yielding the diketohexahydronaphthalene. The direct synthesis of quinones with other cyclenones may be extended to provide a route to the preparation of fused-ring aromatic systems. It is also possible to prepare fused-ring ketones containing angular substituents. Diene syntheses described in this chapter may lead to the synthesis of compounds of steroidal structure. The stereochemical configurations of Diels-Alder addition products have been discussed elsewhere in this series, This problem is exceedingly complex with products described in this chapter and is impossible to predict stereochemical configurations of the adducts with any certainty