A green approach for the one-pot four-component sonochemical synthesis of 5-methyl-7-aryl-4,7-dihydrotetrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic esters from the reaction of 2-cyano-guanidine, sodium azide, various aromatic aldehydes and methyl or ethyl acetoacetate in the presence of a catalytic amount of Fe2O3@SiO2-(CH2)3NHC(O)(CH2)2PPh2 as a new hybrid organic-inorganic core-shell nanomagnetic catalyst is described. This is the first design, preparation, characterization and application of the present nanomaterial and also the first ultrasound irradiated synthesis of the biologically and pharmaceutically important heterocyclic compounds in water as a green solvent. This novel sonocatalysis/nanocatalysis protocol offers several advantages such as high yields, short reaction times, environmentally-friendly reaction media, easily isolation of the products, simple preparation, full characterization and recoverability of the nanocatalyst by an external magnet and reusing several times without significant loss of activity.

New discoveries require a fundamental revision of the view on the mechanism of the 32CAreaction (according to the older nomenclature defined as 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions). The view of the one-step, “concerted” mechanism of such processes developed in the 20-century is very popular today, both in academic literature and among organic chemists who do not specialize in such transformations. Meanwhile, more and more reports bring examples of reactions that clearly cannot be treated as processes without intermediates. However, these examples are documented very differently. In addition to comprehensive studies using many complementary research techniques, there are also reports in which the presence of intermediates in the cycloaddition environment is postulated on the basis of very unreliable premises. This review is an attempt at a critical analysis and systematization of data in the presented area.

The mechanistic aspects of the hetero Diels–Alder reactions between strongly electrophilic (E)-2-aryl-1-cyano-1-nitroethenes and ethyl vinyl ether have been analyzed on the basis of kinetic experimental results as well as quantum chemical simulations of reaction paths. These reactions may theoretically proceed via one step or stepwise, zwitterionic mechanism. It was found that the conversion of addends into adducts carried out via polar, but not zwitterionic mechanism. This is confirmed by kinetic substituent and solvent effects. Subsequently, a detailed analysis of internal reaction coordinate trajectories shows that the title reactions should be considered as examples of “two-stage one-step” cycloadditions according to Domingo terminology.

DFT calculations show that – both in a weakly polar and in a strongly polar medium – the [3 + 2]-cycloaddition of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thiocyclobutanone S-methylide with nitroethene takes place according to a polar, two-step mechanism with a zwitterionic intermediate. On the other hand, a similar reaction with less electrophilic t-butyl methacrylate is a single-step process. However, zwitterionic structures with “extended” conformation may be formed in both cases considered here, in a reaction path competitive to cycloaddition.