Multicomponent Diene-Transmissive Diels-Alder Sequences Featuring Aminodendralenes

1-Aminodecalins were prepared from acyclic precursors by combining the powerful twofold diene-transmissive Diels-Alder chemistry of [3]dendralenes with the simplicity of enamine formation. On mixing at ambient temperature, a simple dienal condenses with a primary or secondary amine to generate the enamine, a 1-amino-[3]dendralene insitu, and this participates as a double diene in a sequence of two Diels-Alder events with separate dienophiles. Overall, four C-C bonds and one C-N bond are formed. Mechanistic insights into these reactions are provided by means of density functional theory calculations.