Thermal rearrangement of alkoxycyclobutanes
Abstract
The geometrical isomerization of cis-1,2-di-methoxycyclobutane (1) to the trans-isomer (2) and the rearrangement of 1-alkoxy-3-methylenecyclobutanes (4) and (8) to (6) and (10), respectively, are modestly accelerated by the presence of alkoxy groups compared to those of the related hydrocarbons; the effect of the alkoxy group in these reactions is, however, much smaller than that in the analogous cyclopropane rearrangements.