Stereoelectronic effects on the retro-Diels-Alder fragmentation of ionized bicyclo[4.3.0]nona-3,7-dienes

The electron impact and collision-induced dissociation mass spectra of cis- and trans-annulated bicyclo[4.3.0]nona-3,7-dienes differ in their relative abundances of [C₅H₆]⁺˙ fragments formed by the retro-Diels-Alder decomposition. The formation of [C₅H₆]⁺˙ is not preceded by hydrogen migration in the short-lived and long-lived molecular ions. The appearance energy of [C₅H₆]⁺˙ from both annulation isomers is identical within experimental error: AE_cis([C₅H₆]⁺˙)=10.56±0.10 eV and AE_trans([C₅H₆]⁺˙)=10.54±0.15 eV. The barrier to the retro-Diels-Alder fragmentation lies 68–76 kJ mol^?1 above the thermo-chemical threshold corresponding to [C₅H₆]⁺˙ + C₄H₆. Investigation of the two-dimensional reaction coordinate by the Topological Molecular Orbital treatment shows that the lowest energy path for the retro-Diels-Alder reaction involves a two-step dissociation of the C(5)? C(6) and C(1)? C(2) bonds in the molecular ion, the latter step overcoming a barrier, calculated as 80 kJ mol^?1 above the thermochemical threshold. The stereochemical difference between the geometric isomers is due to stereoelectronic assistance of the π orbitals of the cis-annulated isomer in the cleavage of the C(5)? C(6) bond. Other mechanisms of the retro-Diels–Alder reaction are discussed.     

A photoionization study of [C4H7]+ ions in the gas phase

The ionization and [C₄H₇]⁺ appearance energies for a series of C₄H₇CI and C₄H₇Br isomers have been measured by dissociative photoionization mass spectrometry. Cationic heats of formation, based on the stationary electron convention, are derived. No threshold ion is observed with a heat of formation corresponding to the trans-1-methylallyl cation, although there is evidence for formation of the less stable cis isomer. A 298 K heat of formation of 871 kJ mol^?1 is obtained for the cyclopropylcarbinyl cation, with the cyclobutyl cation having a higher value of 886 kJ mol^?1. At the HF/6-31G^** level, ab initio molecular orbital calculations show the 2-butenyl, isobutenyl and homoallyl cations to be stable forms of [C₄H₇]⁺, being less stable than the trans-1-methylallyl cation by 101 kJ mol^?1, 159 kJ mol^?1 and 164 kJ mol^?1, respectively. However, threshold formation is not observed for any of these ions, the fragmentation of appropriate precursor molecules producing [C₄H₇]⁺ ions with lower energy structures.     

Stereoelectronic control of the retro diels–alder reaction in 8-(N-pyrrolidyl)bicyclo[4.3.0]nona-3,7-diene isomers

The cis- and trans-annulated isomers of 8-(N-pyrrolidyl)bicyclo[4.3.0]nona-3,7-diene show different propensities for the retro Diels–Alder fragmentation following electron impact ionization. Molecular ions of the cis-annulated isomer decompose predominantly via the retro Diels–Alder reaction to give [C₉H₁₃N] ⁺· fragments of the appearance energy (AE)=8.45±0.05eV and critical energy E_c=133±8kJ mol^?1. The trans-annulated isomer gives abundant [M–H]⁺ (AE=9.34±0.08eV) and [M–C₆H₆]⁺· fragments, in addition to [C₉H₁₃N]⁺· ions of AE=8.98±0.05eV and E_c=181±8kJ mol^?1. The ionization energies (IE) were determined as IE_cis=7.07±0.05 eV and IE_trans=7.10±0.06eV. The stereochemical information is much less pronounced in unimolecular decompositions of long-lived (metastable) molecular ions which show very similar fragmentation patterns for both geometrical isomers. Nevertheless, the isomers exhibit different kinetic energy release values in the retro Diels–Alder fragmentation; T_0.5=3.8±0.3 and 4.8±0.2 kJ mol^?1 for the cis and trans isomer respectively. Topological molecular orbital calculations indicate that the retro Diels–Alder reaction prefers a two-step path, with a subsequent cleavage of the C(5)? C(6) and C(1)? C(2) bonds. The open-ring distonic intermediate represents the absolute minimum on the reaction energy hypersurface. The cleavage of the C(1)? C(2) bond is the rate-determining step in the decomposition of the cis isomer, with the critical energy calculated as 137 kJ mol^?1. The cleavage of the C(5)? C(6) bond becomes the rate-determining step in the trans-annulated isomer because of stereoelectronic control. The difference in the energy barriers to this cleavage in the isomers (ΔE=95k Jmol^?1) provides a quantitative estimate of the magnitude of the stereoelectronic effect in cation radicals.     

Heat of formation for the propanoyl cation by photoionization mass spectrometry

The ionization energies and [C₃H₅O]⁺ appearance energies for a series of oxygenated organic compounds have been measured by dissociative photoionization mass spectrometry. The adiabatic ionization energy for cyclopentanol is observed to be 9.72 eV. A 298 K heat of formation of 591.2±2.3kJ mol^?1, based on the stationary electron convention, is derived for the propanoyl cation in the gas phase. A heat of formation of –86±6 kJ mol^?1 is obtained for methylketene, which leads to an absolute proton affinity of 853±8 kJ mol^?1.     

The structure and dissociation pathways of protonated methanol: An ab initio molecular orbital study

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations with moderately large polarization basis sets and including valence-electron correlation have been used to examine the structure and dissociation mechanisms of protonated methanol [CH₃OH₂]⁺. Stable isomers and transition structures have been characterized using gradient techniques. Protonated methanol is found to be the only stable isomer in the [CH₅O]⁺ potential surface. There is no evidence for a tightly-bound complex, [HOCH₂]⁺…?H₂, analogous to the preferred structure [CH₃]⁺…?H₂ of [CH₅]⁺. Protonated methanol is found to possess a pyramidal arrangement of bonds at the oxygen atom with a barrier to inversion of 8kJ mol^?1. The lowest energy fragmentation pathways are dissociation into methyl cation and water (predicted to require 284 kJ mol^?1 with zero reverse activation energy) and loss of molecular hydrogen (endothermic by 138 kJ mol^?1 but with a reverse activation barrier of 149 kJ mol^?1). The results offer a possible explanation as to why production of [CH₂OH]⁺ from the reaction of methyl cation with water is not observed. Other dissociation processes examined include loss of a hydrogen atom to yield the methylenoxonium radical cation or methanol radical cation (requiring 441 and 490 kJ mol^?1, respectively) and loss of a proton to yield neutral methanol (requiring 784 kJ mol^?1).     

Peptide cation-radicals. A computational study of the competition between peptide N-Calpha bond cleavage and loss of the side chain in the [GlyPhe-NH2 + 2H]+. cation-radical

Cation‐radicals and dications corresponding to hydrogen atom adducts to N‐terminus‐protonated N_α‐glycylphenylalanine amide (Gly‐Phe‐NH₂) are studied by combined density functional theory and Møller‐Plesset perturbational computations (B3‐MP2) as models for electron‐capture dissociation of peptide bonds and elimination of side‐chain groups in gas‐phase peptide ions. Several structures are identified as local energy minima including isomeric aminoketyl cation‐radicals, and hydrogen‐bonded ion‐radicals, and ylid‐cation‐radical complexes. The hydrogen‐bonded complexes are substantially more stable than the classical aminoketyl structures. Dissociations of the peptide N? C_α bonds in aminoketyl cation‐radicals are 18–47 kJ mol^?1 exothermic and require low activation energies to produce ion‐radical complexes as stable intermediates. Loss of the side‐chain benzyl group is calculated to be 44 kJ mol^?1 endothermic and requires 68 kJ mol^?1 activation energy. Rice‐Ramsperger‐Kassel‐Marcus (RRKM) and transition‐state theory (TST) calculations of unimolecular rate constants predict fast preferential N? C_α bond cleavage resulting in isomerization to ion‐molecule complexes, while dissociation of the C_α? CH₂C₆H₅ bond is much slower. Because of the very low activation energies, the peptide bond dissociations are predicted to be fast in peptide cation‐radicals that have thermal (298 K) energies and thus behave ergodically. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theoretical study of the structure and unimolecular decomposition pathways of ethyloxonium, [CH3CH2OH2]+

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations with split-valence plus polarization basis sets and incorporating valence-electron correlation have been performed to determine the equilibrium structure of ethyloxonium ([CH₃CH₂OH₂]⁺) and examine its modes of unimolecular dissociation. An asymmetric structure (1) is predicted to be the most stable form of ethyloxonium, but a second conformational isomer of C_s symmetry lies only 1.4 kJ mol^?1 higher in energy than 1. Four unimolecular decomposition pathways for 1 have been examined involving loss of H₂, CH₄, H₂O or C₂H₄. The most stable fragmentation products, lying 65 kJ mol^?1 above 1, are associated with the H₂ elimination reaction. However, large barriers of 257 and 223 kJ mol^?1 have to be surmounted for H₂ and CH₄ loss, respectively. On the other hand, elimination of either C₂H₄ or H₂O from ethyloxonium can proceed without a barrier to the reverse associations and, with total endothermicities of 130 and 160 kJ mol^?1, respectively, these reactions are expected to dominate at lower energies. A second important equilibrium structure on the surface is a hydrogen-bridged complex, lying 53 kJ mol^?1 above 1. This complex is involved in the C₂H₄ elimination reaction, acts as an intermediate in the proton-transfer reaction connecting [C₂H₅]⁺ +H₂O and C₂H₄ + [H₃O]⁺ and plays an important role in the isotopic scrambling that has been observed experimentally in the elimination of either H₂O or C₂H₄ from ethyloxonium. The proton affinity of ethanol was calculated as 799 kJ mol^?1, in close agreement with the experimental value of 794 kJ mol^?1.     

An ab initio study of the structure and torsional modes of the H2SO4 molecule

Ab initio calculations at the STO—3G and 4—31G levels have been carried out for the H₂SO₄ molecule as a function of the pair of twist angles of the HO bonds about the respective OS bonds. Values for the remaining bond angles and lengths were taken from the recent microwave structural determination by Kuczkowski et al. The results indicate a minimum energy for a structure with a (sc, sc) conformation and C₂ symmetry, where sc denotes synclinal, or gauche. This structure corresponds to that observed. At a higher energy of 11.5 kJ mol^?1 (4—31G) there is a structure with a (+sc, ?sc) conformation and C_s symmetry. The torsional modes corresponding to the a and b irreducible representations of the C₂ point group are estimated to have frequencies of 280 and 265 cm^?1, respectively.     

The platinumcarbon bond strength in Pt(PPh3)2(CH3)I

The enthalpies of reaction 1–3 have been determined

as ΔH(1) = ?176.6 ± 5.4, ΔH(2) = ?107.8 ± 6.0, and ΔH(3) = ?78.9 ± 2.0 kJ mol^?1. The bond dissociation energy difference D₁(PtCH₃) ? D₁(PtI) = +6 ± 5 kJ mol^?1 is calculated, which indicates that the two bonds have very similar strengths.     

On the heat of formation of [C6H4]+˙

The appearance energy of the [C₆H₄]^+˙ ion from benzonitrile has been measured, using an electron monochromator. The value observed at onset, 12.54±0.03 eV, leads to a heat of formation of 1304±3 kJ mol^?1. Possible reasons for widely divergent values reported previously are proposed.     

Isomeric ion-neutral complexes generated from ionized 2-Methylpropanol and n-Butanol: the effect of the polarity of the neutral partner on complex-mediated reactions

Photoionization was used to characterize the energy dependence of C₃H ₇ ⁺ , C₃H ₆ ⁺ , CH₃OH ₂ ⁺ and CH₂=OH⁺ formation from (CH₃)₂)CHCH₂OH^+? (1) and CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂OH^+? (2). Decomposition patterns of labeled ions demonstrate that close to threshold these products are primarily formed through [CH ₃ ⁺ CHCH₃ ^?CH₂OH] (bd3) from 1 and through [CH₃CH₂CH₂ ^?CH₂=OH⁺] (9) from 2. The onset energies for forming the above products from 1 are spread over 85 kJ mol^?1, and are all near thermochemical threshold. The corresponding onsets from 2 are in a 19 kJ mol^?1 range, and all except that of CH₂=OH⁺ are well above their thermochemical thresholds. Each decomposition of 3 occurs over a broad energy range (> 214 kJ mol^?1), This demonstrates that ion-permanent dipole complexes can be significant intermediates over a much wider energy range than ion-induced dipole complexes can be. H-exchange between partners in the complexes appears to be much faster than exchange by conventional interconversions of the alcohol molecular ions with their distonic isomers. The onsets for water elimination from 1 and 2 are below the onsets for the complex-mediated processes, demonstrating that the latter are not necessarily the lowest energy decompositions of a given ion when the neutral partner in the complex is polar.     

Proton affinities by reactant ion monitoring: Triphenyl group Va compounds

Proton affinities of a series of triphenyl Group Va compounds have been determined by bracketing using reactant ion monitoring: (C₆H₅)₃N = 904 ± 8 kJ mol^?1, (C₆H₅)₃P = 968 ± 5 kJ mol^?1, (C₆H₅)₃As = 904 ± 8 kJ mol^?1 and (C₆H₅)₃Sb = 846 ± 8 kJ mol^?1. The large difference in substituent effect of phenyl for hydrogen between As or P and N may result from overlap of the 2p orbitals of N with the sp² orbitals on the ring carbons and lack of overlap for P or As. Proton affinities of phenylalkylphosphine oxides are essentially the same, 904 ± 8 kJ mol^?1, independent of alkyl group.     

Kinetische untersuchung der reversiblen dimerisierung von o-phenylendioxidimethylsilan

The reversible dimerisation of o-phenylenedioxydimethylsilane (2,2-dimethyl-1,3,2-benzodioxasilole) has been studied by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The kinetics of this reaction can be described quantitatively by a bimolecular 10-ring formulation reaction and a monomolecular backreaction. The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters are: ΔH⁰ = ?43 kJ mol^?1; ΔS⁰ = ?112 J mol^?1 K^?1; ΔG⁰₂₉₈ = ?9.6 kJ mol^?1; ΔH³₂₉₈ = 57 kJ mol^?1; ΔS³₂₉₈ = ?129 J mol^?1 K^?1; ΔG³₂₉₈ = 96 kJ mol^?1; E_a = 60 kJ mol^?1; A = 3.17 × 10⁶ l mol^?1 s^?1. Remarkable is the low activation energy of formation of the ten-membered ring, considering that two SiO bonds have to be cleaved during the reaction. Transition states and possible structures of the ten-membered heterocycle are discussed.     

Appearance energies and the kinetic shift. Loss of HCN from the benzonitrile molecular ion

Measurement of the appearance energy of the [C₆H₄]⁺? ion from benzonitrile molecular ions fragmenting in the second field free region of a reverse geometry double focusing mass spectrometer, gives a value free of any significant kinetic shift. The heat of formation of the [C₆H₄]⁺? ion calculated using this appearance energy is 1348 kJ mol^?1, which is consistent with the ion having the benzyne structure.     

[3]Ferrocenophane bridge reversal barriers : I. Sulphur,selenium and tellurium bridging atoms

Dynamic NMR studies have yielded accurate energy data for the bridge reversal fluxion of [3]ferrocenophanes with Group VI bridging atoms. This process, whilst appearing very analogous to the chair-to-chair reversal of corresponding 6-membered heterocyclic rings, appears to be a much higher energy process, its associated ΔG^≠ values being in the range 59 to 81 kJ mol^?1 depending on the types of Group VI bridging atoms. These data allow estimates to be made for the first time of the relative magnitudes of torsional barriers about single bonds involving like and unlike Group VI atoms. For example, the SS torsion is shown to be 3.9 kJ mol^?1 higher in energy than the SSe torsion and 5.8 kJ mol^?1 higher than the SeSe torsion. The probable mechanism of the bridge reversal process is discussed.     

Mass spectra of ethenol and its deutero analogues

Ethenol, 1-d-ethenol, O-d-ethenol and Z-2-d-ethenol were prepared by pyrolysis of corresponding 5-norbornenols at 800^°C/2 × 10^?6 Torr. The most important fragments in the electron impact mass spectrum of ethenol are [C₂H₃O]⁺ and CHO⁺ and CH₃˙. The hydrogen atom eliminated from the molecular ion comes mainly from the hydroxyl group (68%) and to a lesser extent from C(1) (25%) and C(2) (7%). The loss of the hydroxyl hydrogen is preceded by rate-determining migration of the hydrogen atom from C(1) onto C(2) to yield CH₃C?OH⁺˙ions that decompose to CH₃CO⁺ and H˙. The loss of deuterium from O-d-ethenol shows a very small primary isotope effect (k_H/k_D=1.07), whereas a significant effect is observed for the loss of hydrogen from 1-d-ethenol (k_H/k_D=1.28). The appearance energy of [C₂H₂DO]⁺ from 1-d-ethenol, AE=11.32 eV, gives a critical energy for the hydrogen loss, E=203 kJ mol^?1, which is 90 kJ mol^?1 above the thermochemical threshold for CH₃CO⁺+H˙. The appearance energy of CDO⁺ from 1-d-ethenol was measured as 12.96±0.07 eV, which sets the barrier to isomerization to CH₃CDO⁺˙ at 1121 kJ mol^?1. The ionization energy of ethenol was found to be 9.22±0.03 eV.     

Steric and electronic contributions to barriers of internal rotation in 1,8-dibenzoylnaphthalenes

Restricted rotation about the naphthalenylcarbonyl bonds in the title compounds resulted in mixtures of cis and trans rotamers, the equilibrium and the rotational barriers depending on the substituents. For 2,7-dimethyl-1,8-di-(p-toluoyl)-naphthalene (1) ΔH° = 3.66 ± 0.14 kJ mol^?1, ΔS° = 1.67 ± 0.63 J mol^?1 K^?1, ΔH^≠_ct = 55.5 ± 1.3 kJ mol^?1, ΔH^≠_ct = 51.9 ± 1.3 kJ mol^?1, ΔS^≠_ct = ?41.3±4.1 J mol^?1 K^?1 and ΔS^≠_ct = ?42.9±4.1 J mol^?1 K^?1. The rotation about the phenylcarbonyl bond requires ΔH^≠ = ?56.9±4.4 kJ mol^?1 and ΔS^≠ = ?20.5±15.3 J mol^?1 K^?1 for the cis rotamer, and ΔH^≠ = 43.5Δ0.4 kJ mol^?1 and ΔS^≠ =± ?22.4Δ1.3 J mol^?1 K^?1 for the trans rotamer. The role of electronic factors is likely to be virtually the same for both these rotamers but steric interaction between the two phenyl rings occurs in the cis rotamer only. Hence, the difference of the activation enthalpies obtained for the cis and trans rotamers, ΔΔH^?1 = 13.4 kJ mol^?1, provides a basis for the estimation of the role of steric factors in this rotation. For the tetracarboxylic acid 2 and its tetramethyl ester 3 the equilibrium is even more shifted towards the trans form because of enhanced steric and electrostatic interactions between the substituents in the cis form. The barriers for the rotation around the phenylcarbonyl bond and the cis-trans isomerization are lowered; an explanation for this result is presented.     

Interaction of zinc oxide clusters with molecules related to the sulfur vulcanization of polyolefins ("rubber")

The vulcanization of rubber by sulfur is a large‐scale industrial process that is only poorly understood, especially the role of zinc oxide, which is added as an activator. We used the highly symmetrical cluster Zn₄O₄ (T_d) as a model species to study the thermodynamics of the initial interaction of various vulcanization‐related molecules with ZnO by DFT methods, mostly at the B3LYP/6‐31+G* level. The interaction energy of Lewis bases with Zn₄O₄ increases in the following order: CO62H₄3H₆2S₂<1,4‐C₅H₈2O2S3N?CH₃COO^?. The corresponding binding energies range from ?57 to ?262 kJ mol^?1. However, Brønsted acids react with the Zn₄O₄ cluster with proton transfer from the ligand molecule to one of the oxygen atoms of Zn₄O₄, and these reactions are all strongly exothermic [binding energies [kJ mol^?1] in parentheses: H₂O (?183), MeOH (?171), H₂S (?245), MeSH (?230), C₃H₆ (?121), and CH₃COOH (?255)]. The important vulcanization accelerator mercaptobenzothiazole (C₇H₅NS₂, MBT) containing several donor sites reacts with the Zn₄O₄ cluster with proton transfer from the NH group to one of the oxygen atoms of ZnO, and in addition the exocyclic thiono sulfur atom and the nitrogen atom coordinate to one and the same zinc atom, resulting in a binding energy of ?247 kJ mol^?1. A second isomer of [(MBT)Zn₄O₄] with a strong O? H???N hydrogen bond rather than a Zn? N bond is only slightly less stable (binding energy ?243 kJ mol^?1). The NH form of free MBT is 36 kJ mol^?1 more stable than the tautomeric SH form, while the sulfurized MBT derivative benzothiazolyl hydrodisulfide C₇H₅NS₃ (BtSSH) is most stable with the connectivity >CSSH.     

AB INITIO MOLECULAR ORBITAL STUDY OF 1,2-DITHIANE AND 1,2,4,5-TETRATHIANE

Ab initio calculations at HF/6-31+G? level of theory for geometry optimization, and MP2/6-31+G?//HF/6-31+G? and B3LYP/6-31+G?//HF/6-31+G? levels for a single-point total energy calculation, are reported for the chair and twist conformations of 1,2-dithiane (1), 3,3,6,6-tetramethyl-1,2-dithiane (2), 1,2,4,5-tetrathiane (3), and 3,3,6,6-tetramethyl-1,2,4,5-tetrathiane (4). The C₂ symmetric chair conformations of 1 and 2 are calculated to be 21.9 and 8.6 kJ mol^?1 more stable than the corresponding twist forms. The calculated energy barriers for chair-to-twist processes in 1 and 2 are 56.3 and 72.8 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The C_2h symmetric chair conformation of 3 is 10.7 kJ mol^?1 more stable than the twist form. Interconversion of these forms takes place via a C₂ symmetric transition state, which is 67.5 kJ mol^?1 less stable than 3-Chair. The D₂ symmetric twist-boat conformation of 4 is calculated to be 4.0 kJ mol^?1 more stable than the C_2h symmetric chair form. The calculated strain energy for twist to chair process is 61.1 kJ mol^?1.     

The platinum—carbon bond strength in Pt(PPh3)2(Cl)(CPhCHPh)

The enthalpies of the reactions 1 and 2 have been determined as ΔH = Pt(PPh₃)₂(CPhCPh)_cryst. + HCl_g → Pt(PPh₃)₂(Cl)(CPhCHPh)_cryst. (1) Pt(PPh₃)₂(CPhCPh)_cryst. + 2HCl_g → cis-Pt(PPh₃)₂Cl_2cryst. + trans-CHPhCHPh_g (2) ?90.2 ± 6 and ΔH = ?139.0 ± 16 kJ mol^?1, respectively; dissociation energies of bonds involving platinum are expressed by the relationship: 41 kJ mol^?1 + D(Pt-tolane) = 2D(PtCPhCHPh) = {D₁(PtCl) + D₂(PtCl)} ?350 kJ mol^?1