ISSN 1017-2548(Print)
ISSN 2234-8530(Online)
Volume 26, Number 1
JKCSEZ 26(1)
February 20, 1982 

In order to predict substituent and Lewis acid effects on the regiospecificity of the Diels-Alder reaction, and to investigate the competition for the complexation of Lewis acid between diene and dienophile, frontier orbital theory has been applied to thermal and catalyzed Diels-Alder reaction by means of CNDO/2 MO method. It has been found that: (1) Lewis acid coordinated preferentially with diene rather than dienophile when carbonyl oxygen of acetoxy substituted diene had larger negative atomic charges than that of dienophile. (2) Most of the reaction were neutral electron demand type, and hence 4-C, 2-C and quantitative secondary orbital interacion methods were generally in good accord with experiments. (3) Sulfur activated the adjacent terminal carbon atom greatly to increase diene LUMO-dienophile HOMO interaction through vacant-d-orbital participation, and played an important role in controlling regioselectivity of neutral electron demand reaction type.