Nucleophilic Ring Opening of Cyclopropane Hemimalonates Using Internal Bronsted Acid Activation

The reaction of cyclopropanes, geminally disubstituted with one carboalkoxy and one carbohydroxy group, undergoes ring-opening reactions with indole nucleophiles under catalyst-free, hyperbaric (13 kbar) conditions. An internal hydrogen bond is postulated as the mode of activation obviating the need for the Lewis acid catalyst normally used for such donor-acceptor cyclopropane chemistry. These conditions avoid decarboxylation and yield useful adducts with the carboxylic acid group Intact for further elaboration.