An investigation of the Lewis acid mediated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between N-benzyl-C-(2-pyridyl)nitrone and allylic alcohol. Direct entry to isoxazolidinyl C-nucleosides.

The cycloaddition reaction of N-benzyl C-(2-pyridyl) nitrone with allylic alcohol has been carried out to obtain the corresponding 2-benzyl-3-(2-pyridyl)-5-hydroxymethylisoxazolidine. The influence of Lewis acids in the reaction has been studied and a complete 3,5-regioselectivity and cis diastereoselectivity was observed when the reaction was carried out with 1.0 equiv of AgOTf, [Ag(OClO3)(PPh2Me)] or Zn(OTf)2. Insight into the mechanism of the reaction has been obtained by isolating and characterizing (X-ray) the intermediate complexes. Also, a model based on both experimental and theoretical results is proposed.