Abstract
Recently, some of us reviewed the synthes is and chemical reactions of conjugated azoalkenes.1 Emphasis was placed on the fact that these derivatives represent at the same time interesting products and useful intermediates in organic chemistry. In fact, conjugated azoolefins undergo a wide range of 1,4-additions, (3+2)- and (4+2)-cycloadditions allowing various functionalizations of the carbon atom adjacent to the carbonyl group, and the construction of many types of interesting five - and six-membered heterocycles, such as widely substituted pyrrole and pyridazine rings. These relevant synthetic objectives appear not to be smoothly obtained by other procedures. In addition, many of the compounds produced from conjugated azoalkenes can profitably be employed in the preparation of natural, pharmaceutical, and phytopharmaceutical products.1