Synthesis of Methylene- and Alkylidenecyclopropane Derivatives

Energy associated with highly strained molecules limits their application in synthetically useful strategies, yet, on associating energy with sufficiently stable molecules usable in a laboratory, these very same molecules become important new tools for molecular construction. Over the last decade, the case of methylenecyclopropane derivatives applied to synthetic transformations has brought about mounting interest in the scientific world. The attractive feature of these compounds is their surprising stability, accompanied by a high level of strain, conferring on them an otherwise unattainable chemical reactivity.