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Addition reactions involve two reactants forming a single product without any byproducts. They are made possible by the presence of double or triple bonds in one of the reactants. The Diels-Alder reaction is an important addition reaction that creates carbon rings in molecules. It was discovered by Kurt Alder and Otto Diels and earned them a Nobel Prize. Different variations of the reaction can create rings with other atoms, such as nitrogen or oxygen. The reaction is useful for creating natural substances in the lab and is used to produce stable resins and oils.
In an addition reaction, two substances called reactants react with each other to form a product. Addition reactions are distinguished from other types of reactions by their lack of byproduct; the major product is the only substance produced by the reaction. These reactions are used to create compounds that could not be created any other way.
An addition reaction is made possible by the presence of double or triple bonds in one of the molecules of the reactant. By decreasing the bond strength to a single or double bond, the reaction makes room in the molecular structure for one more bond. Therefore, the two molecules combine into one forming a new bond at this position.
An important addition reaction is the Diels-Alder reaction, which is also called diene synthesis. Two chemistry professors, Kurt Alder and Otto Diels, developed this synthesis in 1928. The discovery of this process earned the two scientists a joint award of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The discovery of the original Diels-Alder reaction was followed by the expansion of diene synthesis research, leading to the development of many different reactions in the same class. All diene synthesis reactions form molecules with carbon rings in their structures, but some of the reactions that fall into this class, called hetero Diels-Alder reactions, substitute other atoms in the ring. In Aza Diels-Alder reactions, for example, the addition reaction forms a molecule containing a ring composed of five carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom. Oxo Diels-Alder reactions create carbon rings that contain one oxygen atom.
The original Diels-Alder addition reaction combines a molecule with four carbon atoms with another molecule with two carbon atoms. The four carbon molecule is called a diene and the other molecule is called a dienophile due to its propensity to react with dienes. Each of the carbon atoms in the dienophile bonds with one of the terminal carbon atoms in the diene chain. This forms the six-carbon ring.
These reactions are important because they allow scientists to create natural substances in the laboratory that could not previously be recreated. Camphor, for example, is produced synthetically using a Diels-Alder reaction. The process is also used to produce resins and oils that mimic products made by animals and plants in the natural world. Generally the synthesized substances are quite stable.
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