The reactions of imidazol-2-ylidenes with the hydrogen atom: a theoretical study and experimental confirmation with muonium

The possible radicals resulting from hydrogen atom addition to the imidazole rings of 1,3-bis(isopropyl)-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene (1) and 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene (2) have been studied by means of density functional calculations (B3LYP). The calculations included solvent effects estimated via the polarized continuum model (PCM) and an empirical treatment of vibrational averaging of hyperfine constants. Addition of a hydrogen (or muonium) atom to the carbeneic carbon of 1,3-bis(isopropyl)-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene was found to give a radical 60.46 kJ mol(-)(1) more stable than the radical resulting from addition to the double bond. Estimation of the activation barriers for reaction at the two sites shows that addition at the carbeneic carbon is favored. The site of addition was confirmed experimentally using muonium (Mu), which can be considered a light isotope of hydrogen. Muon spin rotation and muon level-crossing spectroscopy were used to determine muon, (13)C, and (14)N hyperfine coupling constants (hfc's) for the radical products of addition to the two carbenes. Good agreement between the experimental and calculated hfc's confirms that Mu (and hence H) adds exclusively to the carbeneic carbon. The radicals that are produced have nonplanar radical centers with most of the unpaired electron spin density localized on the alpha-carbon.     

From a localized H3O radical to a delocalized H3O+···e- solvent-separated pair by sequential hydration

The impact of microhydration on the electronic structure and reactivity of the H(3)O moiety is investigated by ab initio calculations. In the gas phase, H(3)O is a radical with spin density localized on its hydrogen end, which is only kinetically stable and readily decomposes into a water molecule and a hydrogen atom. When solvated by a single water molecule, H(3)O preserves to a large extent its radical character, however, two water molecules are already capable to shift most of the spin density to the solvent. With three solvating water molecules this shift is practically completed and the system is best described as a solvent-separated pair of a hydronium cation and a hydrated electron. The electronic structure of this system and its proton transfer reactivity leading to formation of a hydrogen atom already resemble those of a proton-electron pair in bulk water.     

Intramolecular hydrogen bond and hyperfine splitting at the hydroxyl group

The ESR spectra of 1, 2-, 1, 4-, 1, 5-, and 1, 8-dihydroxyanthrasemiquinone were measured. A hyperfine splitting at the protons of the hydroxy groups participating in the formation of stable intramolecular hydrogen bonds with the carbonyl oxygen atoms is observed for all radicals. The spin density was calculated by the MO LCAO method in the Hückel approximation, taking into consideration the configurational interaction according to McLachlan. Two models were used: the Pullman two-center models, one with and one without consideration of hydrogen bonds. The existence of the splittings indicates the participation of H-bonds in the transfer of the conjugation. A transfer of the spin density to the proton of the H-bond takes place principally from a proton-acceptor atom. It has been shown that the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds has a significant effect on the distribution of the spin density in the radical. Reasons are given for the advantage of the qualitative usefulness of the Pullman model in the calculation of H-bonds.     

Theoretical calculations on the cycloreversion of oxetane radical cations

The molecular mechanism for the cycloreversion of oxetane radical cations has been studied at the UB3LYP/6-31G* level. Calculations support that the cycloreversion takes place via a concerted but asynchronous process, where C-C bond breaking at the transition state is more advanced than O-C breaking. This allows a favorable rearrangement of the spin electron density from the oxetane radical cation (with the spin density located mainly on the oxygen atom) to the alkene radical cation which is one of the final products. Inclusion of solvent effects does not modify the gas-phase results.     

Noninnocence of the ligand atoms in iron‐porphine: Chemical consequences of the delocalized electron spin

It is well recognized that the electronic spin density in transition metal complexes in high‐spin states, tends to delocalize from the metal ion itself to the donor atoms of the ligand. In square planar iron‐porphine [PFe]⁺ the delocalization occurs even further and spin corresponding to roughly one electron is delocalized over a large part of the ligand. In this article, density functional theory is applied to explore the chemical consequences of the delocalized spin in four‐coordinate iron‐porphine. It is shown that the porphine ligand has a moderate affinity for radicals, and that covalent bonds can form through spin‐pairing of the unpaired delocalized electron on the porphine ligand and the unpaired electron of another radical species. The hydrogen atom is used as a probe to evaluate the radical affinity of the different nitrogen and carbon atoms that constitute the porphine ligand. It is computationally predicted that the porphine ligand of four‐coordinate iron‐porphine is kinetically capable of activating weak C? H bonds of, for example, unsaturated organic compounds. Hydrogen atom transfer becomes spontaneous via subsequent homo‐coupling of the organic radical created. Whether or not the radical affinity of the porphine ligand has any mechanistic implications for heme‐containing enzymes is left as an open question.     

Computational studies of σ-type weak interactions between NCO/NCS radicals and XY(X = H,Cl;Y = F,Cl,and Br)

The triatomic radicals NCO and NCS are of interest in atmospheric chemistry,and both the ends of these radicals can potentially serve as electron donors during the formation of σ-type hydrogen/halogen bonds with electron acceptors XY(X = H,Cl;Y = F,Cl,and Br).The geometries of the weakly bonded systems NCO/NCS···XY were determined at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level of calculation.The results obtained indicate that the geometries in which the hydrogen/halogen atom is bonded at the N atom are more stable than those where it is bonded at the O/S atom,and that it is the molecular electrostatic potential(MEP)-not the electronegativity-that determines the stability of the hydrogen/halogen bond.For the same electron donor(N or O/S) in the triatomic radical and the same X atom in XY,the bond strength decreases in the order Y = F > Cl > Br.In the hydrogen/halogen bond formation process for all of the complexes studied in this work,transfer of spin electron density from the electron donor to the electron acceptor is negligible,but spin density rearranges within the triatomic radicals,being transferred to the terminal atom not interacting with XY.     

A stable dialkylphosphinyl radical

Dialkylphosphinyl radical 1 was synthesized as thermally stable yellow crystals and found to be monomeric both in solution and in the solid state. EPR spectrum showed that the spin density of 1 is mainly localized on the 3p orbital of the dicoordinated phosphorus atom. A distinct absorption band due to the electronic transition from nonbonding electron pair orbital to singly occupied 3p orbital on the phosphorus atom of 1 was observed at 445 nm in solution. Phosphinyl radical 1 underwent facile reaction with carbon tetrachloride, hydrogen abstraction, and a unique reaction with a persistent radical, galvinoxyl, giving a cyclic phosphaalkene and a silylether.     

NCO/NCS自由基与XY（X=H,Cl;Y=F,Cl,Br）间σ-型弱作用的理论研究

NCO和NCS是大气化学中非常引人关注的自由基,它们均有三个原子并且两个端基原子均可作为电子给体形成σ-型氢/卤键.本文在MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ水平上研究了NCO/NCS...XY（X=H,Cl;Y=F,Cl,Br）体系中的弱化学键.计算结果表明,氢/卤原子与N原子相连形成的复合物比与O/S原子相连形成的复合物稳定;氢/卤键的稳定性由分子静电势决定,而非原子电负性;对相同的电子给体B（B=N,O/S）和相同的卤原子来说,化学键的强度按Y=F,Cl,Br的顺序逐渐减弱.在氢/卤键形成过程中,自旋电子密度在电子给体和电子受体间的转移较少,但它在自由基内部发生重排,就本文研究的所有复合物而言,自旋电子密度均转移向XY分子的相反位置.     

An intrinsic radical stability scale from the perspective of bond dissociation enthalpies: a companion to radical electrophilicities

Bond dissociation enthalpies (BDEs) of a large series of molecules of the type A-B, where a series of radicals A ranging from strongly electrophilic to strongly nucleophilic are coupled with a series of 8 radicals (CH2OH, CH3, NF2, H, OCH3, OH, SH, and F) also ranging from electrophilic to nucleophilic, are computed and analyzed using chemical concepts emerging from density functional theory, more specifically the electrophilicities of the individual radical fragments A and B. It is shown that, when introducing the concept of relative radical electrophilicity, an (approximately) intrinsic radical stability scale can be developed, which is in good agreement with previously proposed stability scales. For 47 radicals, the intrinsic stability was estimated from computed BDEs of their combinations with the strongly nucleophilic hydroxymethyl radical, the neutral hydrogen atom, and the strongly electrophilic fluorine atom. Finally, the introduction of an extra term containing enhanced Pauling electronegativities in the model improves the agreement between the computed BDEs and the ones estimated from the model, resulting in a mean absolute deviation of 16.4 kJ mol(-1). This final model was also tested against 82 experimental values. In this case, a mean absolute deviation of 15.3 kJ mol(-1) was found. The obtained sequences for the radical stabilities are rationalized using computed spin densities for the radical systems.     

Mechanism of the hydrogen transfer from the OH group to oxygen-centered radicals: proton-coupled electron-transfer versus radical hydrogen abstraction

High-level ab initio electronic structure calculations have been carried out with respect to the intermolecular hydrogen-transfer reaction HCOOH+.OH-->HCOO.+H(2)O and the intramolecular hydrogen-transfer reaction .OOCH2OH-->HOOCH(2)O.. In both cases we found that the hydrogen atom transfer can take place via two different transition structures. The lowest energy transition structure involves a proton transfer coupled to an electron transfer from the ROH species to the radical, whereas the higher energy transition structure corresponds to the conventional radical hydrogen atom abstraction. An analysis of the atomic spin population, computed within the framework of the topological theory of atoms in molecules, suggests that the triplet repulsion between the unpaired electrons located on the oxygen atoms that undergo hydrogen exchange must be much higher in the transition structure for the radical hydrogen abstraction than that for the proton-coupled electron-transfer mechanism. It is suggested that, in the gas phase, hydrogen atom transfer from the OH group to oxygen-centered radicals occurs by the proton-coupled electron-transfer mechanism when this pathway is accessible.     

Hydrogen-atom abstraction from the adenine-uracil base pair

The hydrogen-abstracted radicals from the adenine-uracil (AU) base pair have been studied at the B3LYP/DZP++ level of theory. The A(N9)-U and A-U(N1) radicals, which correspond to hydrogen-atom abstraction at the adenine N9 and uracil N1 atoms, respectively, were predicted to be the two lowest-lying among the nine (AU-H) radicals studied in this study. The removal of the amino hydrogen of the adenine moiety that forms a hydrogen bond with the uracil O4 atom in the AU pair resulted in radical A(N6a)-U, which has the smallest base-pair dissociation energy, 5.9 kcal mol(-1). This radical is more likely to dissociate into the two isolated bases than to recover the hydrogen bond with the O4 atom through N6-H bond rotation along the C6-N6 bond. In general, the radicals generated by C-H bond breaking were higher in energy than those arising from N-H bond cleavage, because the unpaired electrons in the carbon-centered radicals were mainly localized on the carbon atom from which the hydrogen atom was removed. However, the highest-lying radical was found to arise from removal of the N3 hydrogen of uracil. The most remarkable structural feature of this radical is a very short C-H...O distance of 2.094 A, consistent with a substantial hydrogen bond. Although this radical lost the N1...H-N3 hydrogen bond between the two bases, its dissociation energy was predicted to be 12.9 kcal mol(-1), similar to that of the intact AU base pair. This is due to the transfer of electron density from the adenine N1 atom to the uracil N3 atom.     

Autoxidation of hydrazones. Some new insights

Autoxidation of hydrazones is a generally occurring reaction, leading mostly to the formation of alpha-azohydroperoxides. All structural kinds of hydrazones, having at least one hydrogen atom on nitrogen, are prone to autoxidation; however, there are marked differences in the rate of the reaction. Hydrazones of aliphatic ketones are 1-2 orders of magnitude more reactive than analogous derivatives of aromatic ketones. Even less reactive are the hydrazones of chalcones, which function also as efficient inhibitors of autoxidation of other hydrazones. These differences can be attributed to the reduction of the rate of the addition of oxygen to a hydrazonyl radical, which is a reversible reaction. In the case of conjugated ketones, it becomes endothermic, making this elementary step slow down and the chain termination reactions become important. Substituents influence the stability of hydrazonyl radicals and, consequently, the bond dissociation energies of the N-H bonds. In acetophenone phenylhydrazones, the substituents placed on the ring of hydrazine moiety exhibit a higher effect (Hammett rho = -2.8) than those on the ketone moiety (rho = -0.82), which denotes higher importance of the structure with spin density concentrated on nitrogen in delocalized hydrazonyl radical. Electronic effects of the substituents also affect the transition state for the abstraction of hydrogen atom by electrophilic peroxy radicals; NBO analysis display a negative charge transfer of about 0.4 eu from hydrazone to a peroxy radical in the transition state.     

Rapid Dihydrogen Cleavage by Persistent Nitroxide Radicals under Frustrated Lewis Pair Conditions

Persistent radicals undergo hydrogen atom abstraction reactions with a great variety of substrates, but not with dihydrogen. It has now been found that the TEMPO radical splits dihydrogen under mild conditions in the presence of the strong bulky B(C₆F₅)₃ boron Lewis acid. The reaction is thought to proceed by a typical frustrated Lewis pair mechanism with the TEMPO radical acting as the active Lewis base. The reaction was analyzed by DFT, which indicates that no significant spin density on the hydrogen atoms is accumulated along the H₂ splitting reaction path.     

An ONIOM study of the QA site semiquinone in the Rhodobacter sphaeroides photosynthetic reaction centre

ONIOM (QM/MM) calculations are performed to investigate the spin density distribution for the ubisemiquinone anion radical in the Q_A binding site of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The calculated spin density in the Q_A site model suggests that differential hydrogen bonding strength to the O1 and O4 oxygen atoms of the radical results in an asymmetric spin density distribution in the semiquinone anion free radical form. The origin of the spin density asymmetry is attributed to the presence of the divalent iron or zinc ion situated between the Q_A and Q_B sites.     

Nonempirical Study of Structure of Methylnitroxyl Radical in Gas Phase and Solution

Using quantumchemical calculation by nonrestricted Hartree-Fock method in the bases up to 6-311+G^{* *} we established that induced solvent electrostatic field causes flattening of the nitroxyl fragment of MeN(O')H radical, shifts electron density to its oxygen atom and spin density to opposite direction, increases dopole moment, decreases N-O bond length, averages spin population at nitrogen and oxygen atoms.     

Molecular recognition for stable organic radicals--2-(6-uradinyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-1-oxyl

Stable radical 2-(6-uradinyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-1-oxyl shows antiferromagnetic spin pairing with 2J/k= -14 K, attributable to a close contact between unpaired spin density on the imidazole-type nitrogen atoms; hydrogen bonds aid dimer formation, but do not appear to play an eletronic role in the magnetic behaviour.     

On the mechanism of reaction of radicals with tirapazamine

Ketyl radicals produced by photolysis of ketones or di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) in alcohol solvents react rapidly with tirapazamine (TPZ). The acetone ketyl radical (ACOH) reacts with TPZ with an absolute second-order rate constant of (9.7 +/- 0.4) x 108 M-1 s-1. The reaction kinetics can be followed by monitoring the bleaching of TPZ absorption at 475 nm or the formation of a reaction product which absorbs at 320 and 410 nm. The ACOD radical reacts with TPZ in 2-propanol-OD with an absolute rate constant of (6.7 +/- 0.5) x 108 M-1 s-1, corresponding to a kinetic isotope effect (KIE) of 1.4. Deuteration of the radical on carbon (ACOH-d6) retards the reaction of the radical with TPZ even further (absolute rate constant = (4.8 +/- 0.04) x 108 M-1 s-1). This result corresponds to a KIE of 2.0. Radicals derived from dioxane and diisopropyl ether by flash photolysis of DTBP in ethereal solvent react with TPZ more slowly than do ketyl radicals. It is concluded that ketyl radicals react, in part, with TPZ in organic solvents by transfer of a hydrogen atom from the OH and CH3 groups of the ketyl radical to the oxygen atom at the N4 position of TPZ to form acetone or acetone enol and a radical derivative of TPZ (TPZH). The latter species absorbs at 320 and 405 nm, has a lifetime of hundreds of microseconds in alcohol solvents, and decays by disproportionation to form TPZ and a reduced heterocycle. The reduced heterocycle eventually forms a desoxytirapazamine by a polar mechanism. The results are supported by density functional theory calculations. It is proposed that dioxanyl radical will also react, in part, with TPZ by transfer of a hydrogen atom from the carbon adjacent to the radical center to the oxygen atom at the N4 position of TPZ. This produces the enol ether and the previously mentioned TPZH radical. It is further posited that ether radicals react a bit more slowly than ketyl radicals because they lack the second mode of hydrogen transfer (from the OH group) that is present in the ACOH radical. Our data are permissive of the possibility that ether radicals add to TPZ at a rate that is competitive with beta-hydrogen atom transfer.     

The molecular structure of trifluoromethyl manganese pentacarbonyl. A study by gas-phase electron diffraction

The results of an SCF-MO calculation on the CH₂CCH radical are presented: population analysis indices and several one-electron properties are reported and the electronic structure of the radical is discussed. The spin density is almost equally associated with the terminal carbon atoms, and there is a large negative spin density associated with the central carbon atom.     

萘醌类化合物抗肿瘤活性的理论研究

采用量子化学方法对目前发现的39种天然紫草萘醌类化合物的电离能(IP)、电子亲和势(EA)及羟基氢原子解离能(Bond dissociation energy, BDE)进行了理论研究, 并分析了上述物理量与羟基自由基清除活性之间的关系. 同时研究了5, 7及9位C及14, 16位氧的自旋密度及化合物电子亲和势(EA)对其活性的影响. 研究结果表明, 化合物侧链的增长及不饱和键的存在均可导致其BDE和IP值的减小, EA值的减小, 说明苯氧基自由基自旋密度的增大, 有助于其自由基清除活性的增大, 表明其抗肿瘤作用的增强. 而在支链上引入体积较大的官能团以及羟基和乙酰基, 会导致化合物的BDE和IP值的增大.     

Oxygen and hydrogen atom concentration profiles in the premixed propane/oxygen flame

The oxygen and hydrogen free radical (atom) concentration profiles in the premixed propane/oxygen flame at 92.5% oxygen were determined using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy techniques. The ESR instrument was specially modified so that the flame can be probed for determining the oxygen and hydrogen atom population densities during the actual combustion process of propane burning in oxygen. The technique used for propane is similar to that suggested by Fristrom and Westenberg to measure the free radical concentration profiles in CC hydro- carbon/oxygen combustion.