Concerning the reactivity of PTAD with isomeric dienes: the mechanism of the Diels-Alder cycloaddition.

Cyclopropyl substituted dienes are employed as mechanistic probes in the triazolinedione Diels-Alder (DA) reaction. In aprotic and protic solvents, apart from the DA adducts that bear an intact cyclopropyl group, complicated and rearranged products are also obtained. These results provide solid evidence for the involvement of an open intermediate with a lifetime greater than 2 x 10(-12) s.