Disrotatory Ring-Opening of Furans Gives Stereocontrol

The ring-opening of 2-methylfuran and 2,3-dihydro-5-methylfuran catalyzed by the Lewis acid catalyst tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane in the presence of hydrosilanes was studied using quantum chemical methods. In a previous study, it was suggested that the stereoselective formation of the product is due to a nucleophilic vinylic substitution (SNV) during the reaction. Our calculations show that the pathway involving the SNV reaction is...