Ring-closure reactions through intramolecular substitution of thiophenoxide by oxygen and nitrogen nucleophiles: simple stereospecific synthesis of 4,5-dihydroisoxazoles and 4,5-dihydropyrazoles

A new and simple method for the stereospecific synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted-4,5-dihydro-isoxazoles (chiral isoxazolines) from readily available oximes of chiral Michael adducts of thiophenol to chalcones is reported. An analogous reaction with the N-arylhydrazones of the Michael adduct gave nonracemic 1-(aryl)-3,5-diphenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazoles (chiral pyrazolines), but these products are configurationally unstable. The key step of the synthesis is the ring-closure reaction, which occurs by a stereospecific intramoleculer nucleophilic substitution of thiophenoxide.