Unusual Weiss–Cook condensation of dimethyl 2,3-dioxobutanedioate and dimethyl 3-oxoglutarate

Abstract

The Weiss–Cook condensation of dimethyl 2,3-dioxobutanedioate with two equivalents of dimethyl 3-oxoglutarate in aqueous bicarbonate produces an "abnormal" product, pentamethyl cis-3-(carbomethoxymethyl)-3,7-dihydroxy-2-oxabicyclo-[3.3.0]oct-7-ene-1,4,5,6,8-pentacarboxylate 7, whose structure has been determined by X-ray crystallography. Rrapcho decarbomethoxylation (sodium chloride, aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide, 140 °C) of this compound produces dimethyl cis-3,7-dioxobi-cyclo[3.3.0]octane-1,5-dicarboxylate 4 in quantitative yield. These results suggest that compound 7 may be the product of a kinetically controlled reaction pathway involving 4-hydroxypent-2-en-1-one intermediate 5. Heating of 7 in dimethyl sulfoxide may have promoted thermodynamic equilibration to a Weiss–Cook product, which then decarbomethoxylated to produce 4.