The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of nitrile oxides to norbornenes substituted with an acrylate-derived moiety was examined. Only adducts to norbornene system were formed with a good exo selectivity and complete site-selectivity. Structures of the products were elucidated by an extensive application of electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and 2D ¹H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
1,3-dipolar cycloaddition; norbornenes; nitrile oxides; 2D NMR