Thermal [3,3]-rearrangement of 1,1-disubstituted allyl carboxylates: lone pair participation and the geminal bond participation

The diastereoselectivity of the [3,3]-rearrangement of 1,1-disubsstituted allyl carboxylates was studied. In this heteroatom-containing system, the transition state has a boat-like transition structure (TS) because of the participation of the lone pairs and the secondary orbital interaction. Although the TS for the [1,3]-rearrangement has a far higher barrier, it does not proceed in the usual antarafacial manner due to the cyclic orbital interaction among two lone pairs of the carboxylate and the allylic lumo. In conjunction with the geminal bond participation, delocalization to the σ-bond at the Z-position shows a bonding character in the transition state of the [3,3]-rearrangement. Therefore, we predicted that a more electron-withdrawing σ-bond prefers the Z-position in the product. We designed the 1,1-disubstituted substrates with trimethylsilyl and pentyl groups, and found that the trimethylsilyl group prefers the Z-position despite its steric bulkiness. We confirmed our prediction by experimentation. This Z-selectivity was improved when a trimethylgermyl group was used.