Diels Alder Reaction Essay

One of the most used methods for the formation of six-membered rings is using the reactions of 1,3-diene with an alkene. The Diels-Alder reaction is a unique reaction in organic chemistry because it is a cycloaddition reaction. The Diels-Alder reactions are also known as 1,4 addition reactions due to the formation of new carbon-carbon σ bonds and π bonds. Electron-withdrawing groups like cyano (C≡N) and carbonyl (C=O) to increase the reaction rates and reaction yields (1). Often times there are no side reactions that occur during the Diels-Alder reactions. Mechanism reacting 1,3-butadiene with ethane:

Reactions are classified as monomolecular, bimolecular or even trimolecular based on the number of molecules that are joined together. The monomolecular mechanism is a

1,3-butadiene is formed from 3-sulfolene by thermal decomposition. It is important to work with very concentrated solutions of two different reagents because they help create the bonds in the six-membered ring. The reagent that was taken in excess was xylene. Xylene, a non-polar solvent, can be used for this reaction because it will not react with the solvents. Xylene should be dried because it will be removed from the product. A drying tube with calcium chloride was used for the reaction during the set up because it will remove and catch specific compounds leaving the reaction or being produced from the reaction. The purification method is by using adding petroleum ether to produce crystals and then vacuum filtration to remove the crystals from the solution. The melting point for 4-cyclohexene-cis-1,2-dicarboxylic anhydride as a pure compound is measured at approximately 97-103ºC. The measured melting point from the experiment is approximately 70-80ºC. The difference between the melting point temperatures can have been caused by excess xylene or water in the