Inverse electron-demand Diels–Alder reaction
The inverse electron demand Diels–Alder reaction, or DAINV or IEDDA is an organic chemical reaction, in which two new chemical bonds and a six-membered ring are formed. It is related to the Diels–Alder reaction, but unlike the Diels–Alder (or DA) reaction, the DAINV is a cycloaddition between an electron-rich dienophile and an electron-poor diene. During a DAINV reaction, three pi-bonds are broken, and two sigma bonds and one new pi-bond are formed. A prototypical DAINV reaction is shown on the right.
DAINV reactions often involve heteroatoms, and can be used to form heterocyclic compounds. This makes the DAINV reaction particularly useful in natural product syntheses, where the target compounds often contain heterocycles. Recently, the DAINV reaction has been used to synthesize a drug transport system which targets prostate cancer.