Question

What is the synthetic importance of the Diels-Alder reaction?

Answer 1

Well, in the simplest reaction you are making `2xxC-C` bonds..........

Explanation:

`"Diene + olefin "rarr" 6-membered ring"`

And as you know, the number of `C-C` bond formation reactions is small indeed. And thus Diels Alder reactions are VERY BIG DEALS. Modern variants of the Diels-Alder reaction have introduced stereocontrol into the reaction, and have also allowed the introduction of heteroatoms.