Acceleration of the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of vinylsulfonic es
ters and amides bearing acyclic and carbocyclic 1,3-diene moieties by appli
cation of high pressure leads to excellent yields of sultones and sultams,
respectively, at ambient temperature. The influence of pressure on the ster
eoselectivity of these processes has been investigated. (C) 2000 Elsevier S
cience Ltd. All rights reserved.