Mechanistic Insight into Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Cycloaddition of Bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes with Ketene: Bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes Serving as an Electrophile

Lewis acid-catalyzed cycloaddition between bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes (BCBs) and unsaturated substrates has recently been demonstrated to be a powerful strategy for synthesizing bicyclo[2.1.1]hexanes. However, their reaction mechanisms remain elusive. This computational work explored the recently developed TMSOTf-catalyzed cycloaddition of BCB ketone to ketene and determined the rate-determining step as the activation of BCB ketone. Contrary to the previous proposal of BCB enolate as the active species, this work instead identified the catalytically active species to be a partially Lewis acid-activated BCB cation, which shows a greater electrophilicity and larger orbital interactions with ketene compared to those of the pristine BCB. The most favorable reaction pathway uniquely utilizes this activated BCB species as an electrophile to react with ketene as a nucleophile, while the previously proposed enolate is relatively inactive. Moreover, the in situ-generated TfO anion is revealed to be non-innocent, and its coordination mode and orientation could affect the reaction kinetics.