DFT studies on the mechanism of Pd(II)‐catalyzed intermolecular 1,2‐diamination of conjugated dienes

The reaction mechanism of the palladium(II)‐catalyzed addition of urea to dienes to form 1,2‐diamine was studied using the B3LYP density functional theory (DFT) method. The results indicate that the first C? N σ‐bond formation is the rate‐determining step, and that the covalent bonds are formed favorably by the terminal carbon atoms of dienes and nitrogen atom. The Pd(NCMe)‐catalyst may significantly lower the energy barrier of the rate‐determining step from the nonligand Pd(II)‐catalyst counterpart. The results are in strong support of a recent experiment. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ammonolysis of morpholine‐2,5‐diones: participation of the primary amide group. Part 2

The ammonolysis of three morpholine‐2,5‐dione derivatives was investigated and the mechanism ascertained by kinetic studies and theoretical calculations. The kinetics, followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis, evidenced the presence of two intermediates, which were isolated and characterized. The ammonolysis occurs with a complex mechanism involving two consecutive reactions followed by two parallel ones. The second step of the whole reaction involves an anchimeric assistance of the primary amide group. The pseudo‐first‐order rate constants were calculated by appropriate equations, which describe the single steps of the process. Computational density functional theory investigations of vicinal primary amide group participation were performed using a model compound, and the transition states were generated. The theoretical calculations evidenced the essential role exerted by ammonia, which acts as a proton transfer. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rate constant measurements for initial addition reactions of radicals at the propagation step of photo‐polymerization as studied by pulsed EPR spectroscopy

Pulsed EPR spectroscopy was employed to determine reaction rate constants at an early stage of addition reactions in radical polymerizations triggered by four initiator radicals, which were generated by photodissociation of four parent molecules. Two monomers (tert‐butylacrylate and tert‐butylmethacrylate) were examined as reactant. Stern–Volmer analysis on the measured decay time of electron spin echo intensity of reacting radicals provides rate constants for addition reactions. We focused on rate constants for the second step reaction between monomer and adduct radical that is produced by the first step addition reaction between initiator radical and monomer. The rate constant measured by pulsed EPR was evaluated by theoretical calculations in the light of (1) enthalpy difference between product radical and reactants and (2) charge transfer interaction between reacting radical and monomer. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Kinetic study of electrochemically induced Michael reactions of o‐benzoquinones with 2‐acetylcyclohexanone and 2‐acetylcyclopentanone

The reaction of electrochemically generated o‐benzoquinones ( 2a‐f ) as Michael acceptors with 2‐acetylcyclohexanone (ACH) and 2‐acetylcyclopentanone (ACP), as nucleophiles has been studied in various pHs using cyclic voltammetry. The results indicate that the participation of o‐benzoquinones ( 2a‐f ) in the Michael reaction with acetylcyclohexanone (ACH) to form the corresponding catechol derivatives ( 4a‐f ). Based on an EC mechanism, the homogeneous rate constants were estimated by comparing the experimental cyclic voltammetric responses with the digital simulated results. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

2-硝基苯胺合成苯并氧化呋咱反应的密度泛函研究

用密度泛函理论在B3LYP/6-31G(d,p)计算水平下研究了次氯酸钠氧化邻硝基苯胺生成苯并氧化呋咱的环氧化反应．考虑溶剂化效应对反应的影响,使用极化连续反应场模型进行几何优化．计算了该反应的两种可能反应通道,它们都是分步反应,反应通道A经历氧化、移氢、脱水和环化四步反应,在反应通道B中,氢氧化钠的OH^-首先进攻邻硝基苯胺的胺基H原子,生成邻硝基苯亚胺负离子．计算结果表明,在反应通道A是可行的反应通道,1个水分子辅助进行分子内脱水反应是速控步骤．     

Reactions of Wheland complexes: base catalysis in re‐aromatization reaction of σ complexes obtained from 1,3,5‐tris(N,N‐dialkylamino)benzene and arenediazonium salts

The usual idea on the two‐steps mechanism of aromatic electrophilic substitution reactions is that the first step (the attack of the electrophilic reagent on the activated substrate) is rate limiting, while the driving force of the reaction is the fast proton departure to recover the resonance energy of the aromatic substrate. The now examined systems allow the formation of stable σ cationic complexes (Wheland intermediates) which may be investigated by simple procedures. Data here reported represent a clear and simple instance of a measurement of the rate of the proton abstraction from a Wheland intermediate and they indicate that this proton abstraction occurs by base catalysis in a rate determining step. Probably, this feature is more frequent than that usually conceived in the mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions, because these reactions are often carried out in reaction mixtures containing large amounts of proton acceptor species which might mask the possible base catalysis. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The mechanism of the reaction between an aziridine and carbon dioxide with no added catalyst

The mechanism of the reaction at room temperature between an unactivated 2‐alkyl aziridine and carbon dioxide to generate the corresponding oxazolidinone in glass has been studied. Theoretical calculations suggest that this reaction should not proceed at room temperature in the absence of a catalyst. In cases where a reaction was observed, kinetic studies show that the reaction displays a zero‐order dependence with respect to aziridine, indicating that free aziridine is not involved in the rate‐determining step. An ammonium salt generated in situ acts as a catalyst. The amount of this catalyst is diminutive, which prevented spectroscopic identification, and it is not readily removed from the starting material using chromatography.     

Mechanistic insights into N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐catalyzed N‐acylation of N‐sulfonylcarboxamides with aldehydes

In the current work, density functional theory calculations were performed to elucidate the detailed reaction mechanism for N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐catalyzed oxidative N‐acylation reaction of amides with aldehydes affording imide products. According to the calculated results, the reaction is initiated by the nucleophilic attack of NHC to aldehydes forming zwitterionic intermediate, which can then form Breslow intermediate via proton transfer. The Breslow intermediate can then be oxidized affording the oxidative intermediate, which can then go through 1,2‐addition with the deprotonated N‐sulfonylcarboxamides. Subsequently, elimination of NHC catalyst produces the final imide product. Our results reveal that the proton in N‐sulfonylcarboxamides is probably abstracted by base t‐BuOK or DPQH, and the deprotonation process is barrier‐less. Moreover, for the second step, ie, the formation of Breslow intermediate, direct proton transfer is impossible to occur. On the contrary, the results reveal that t‐BuOH can mediate the proton transfer in this step and significantly lower the energy barrier to 24.1 kcal/mol, which is also the highest energy barrier for the whole reaction. The work provides not only valuable clues for elucidating the detailed reaction mechanism for the invaluable NHC‐catalyzed oxidative reactions but also mechanistic insights for the rational design of novel NHC‐catalyzed oxidative reactions in the future.     

金(I)催化丙二烯基化合物构建螺环[4,5]癸烷骨架的计算研究

采用B3LYP-D3(BJ)计算方法研究了金催化丙二烯基化合物合成螺环[4,5]癸烷骨架的反应机理。通过SMD模型在实验对应的CH3CN溶剂体系中进行单点能量计算得出更准确的能量。计算研究表明,该反应包括三个主要的步骤：烯丙基和乙烯基端基碳原子的分子内环加成、四元环重构为五元环的半频哪醇重排过程、消除反应释放催化剂并得到产物。结果显示第一步是反应的决速步骤,其活化自由能相对较低为70.18 kJ/mol,表明金催化的合成反应在室温条件下能够发生。     

CuCl催化苯腙和丙炔酸甲酯Michael加成反应的机理研究

本文采用密度泛函理论(DFT)中的M05方法针对性的研究了以CuCl为催化剂催化苯腙和丙炔酸甲酯发生Michael加成的微观反应机理.采用Gaussian09程序,使用6-31+G*(Cu采用赝势基组LanL2DZ)对化学反应过程中的反应物、中间体、过渡态分子的几何构型进行了优化,同时进行了频率计算,所有过渡态都有唯一虚频,中间体和过渡态分子结构的合理性得到了确认.通过自然键轨道(NBO)理论分析了分子轨道间的相互作用.通过理论计算发现CuCl催化苯腙和丙炔酸甲酯发生Michael加成反应的位点在苯腙的N原子上,反应的速控步骤活化能为34.86 kcal/mol,相关的理论研究结果与实验反应现象相吻合.     

Three-component synthesis of functionalized 5-oxo-4,5-dihydroindeno[1,2-b]pyrans

Summary Protonation of the reactive intermediates produced in the reaction between alkyl(aryl) isocyanides and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates by indan-1,3-dione leads to vinylnitrilium cations, which undergo carbon centered Michael type addition with the conjugate base of the CH-acid to produce functionalized 5-oxo-4,5-dihydroindeno[1,2-b]pyrans.     

铑(III)催化2-乙烯基苯酚衍生物与乙炔或一氧化碳的环加成反应机理研究

本文采用密度泛函理论M06-2X方法计算了铑催化直接合成苯并氧杂环庚三烯和香豆素衍生物的环加成反应. 通过对乙炔或一氧化碳的碳原子从六元环反应物的两个不同方向攻击和插入的两种竞争机制进行了计算研究,以阐明这种转变的主要特征. 计算结果表明：(i)炔烃或一氧化碳的插入过程是反应的关键步骤;(ii)对于乙炔的(5+2)环加成反应,需要更高的能量来破坏反应物的Rh$-$O 键,反应倾向于从Rh$-$C键一侧完成插入;(iii)对于一氧化碳的(5+1)环加成反应,两条反应路径的活化自由能都较低,两个通道会产生竞争机制.     

Effect of ozone addition and ozonolysis reaction on the detonation properties of C2H4/O2/Ar mixtures

Ozone is one of the strongest oxidizers and can be used to enhance detonation. Detonation enhancement by ozone addition is usually attributed to the ozone decomposition reaction which produces reactive atomic oxygen and thereby accelerates the chain branching reaction. Recently, ozonolysis reaction has been found to be another mechanism to enhance combustion for unsaturated hydrocarbons at low temperatures. In this study, the effects of ozone addition and ozonolysis reaction on steady detonation structure and transient detonation initiation and propagation processes in C₂H₄/O₂/O₃/Ar mixtures are examined through simulations considering detailed chemistry. Specifically, the homogeneous ignition process, the ZND detonation structure, the transient direct detonation initiation, and pulsating instability of one-dimensional detonation propagation are investigated. It is found that the homogenous ignition process consists of two stages and the first stage is caused by ozonolysis reactions which consume O₃ and produces CH₂O as well as H and OH radicals. The ozonolysis reaction and ozone decomposition reaction can both reduce the induction length though they have little influence on the Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) detonation speed. The supercritical, critical and subcritical regimes for direct detonation initiation are identified by continuously decreasing the initiation energy or changing the amount of ozone addition. It is found that direct detonation initiation becomes easier at larger amount of ozone addition and/or larger reaction progress variable. This is interpreted based on the change of the induction length of the ZND detonation structure. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the ozonolysis reaction can reduce pulsating instability and make the one-dimensional detonation propagation more stable. This is mainly due to the reduction in activation energy caused by ozone addition and/or ozonolysis reaction. This work shows that both ozone decomposition reaction and ozonolysis reaction can enhance detonation for unsaturated hydrocarbon fuels.     

铱催化叠氮化物和亚酰胺环加成反应的密度泛函研究

用密度泛函理论（DFT）B3LYP方法对铱催化的环加成合成5-氨基1,2,3-三唑化合物机理进行了计算研究. 计算结果表明：（1）通过叠氮化合物的端基氮分别进攻不同炔烃碳原子形成两种竞争机制;（2）释放催化剂得到目标产物的还原消除过程是反应的关键步骤;（3）对于进攻苯基一侧炔烃碳原子的反应通道,具有相对较低的活化自由能;（4）两个竞争通道存在一定的能量差,表明反应具有较好的选择性,计算研究对实验报道进行了很好的补充和解释.     

Substituent effects in the Baeyer–Villiger reaction of acetophenones: a theoretical study

This paper reports the first complete theoretical study of substituent effects on the mechanism of the Baeyer– Villiger (BV) reaction in non‐polar solvents taking into account the lowest‐energy mechanism that has been proposed for this rearrangement which is non‐ionic and fully concerted. The BV reaction of p‐substituted acetophenones, p‐XC₆H₄COCH₃ (X = NO₂, CN, H, CH₃, OCH₃), with performic (PFA) and trifluoroperacetic (TFPAA) acids, catalyzed by formic (FA) and trifluoroacetic (TFAA) acids, respectively, using the MPWB1K functional and the 6‐311G(d,p) and 6‐311++G(d,p) basis sets, are studied. Solvent effects are taken into account by means of the PCM continuum model using dichloromethane as solvent. Electron‐donating substituents on the aryl group have a relatively small activation effect on the first step, but a pronounced activation effect on the second to the point of being able to change the rate‐determining step (RDS) of the reaction, as observed in the case of p‐methoxyacetophenone with TFPAA acids. After analyzing the changes in Gibbs free energy of activation, geometrical parameters, and charge distributions of the transition states (TSs), explanations are provided for the two distinct effects that substituents on the ketone have on the kinetics of the addition and migration steps of the BV oxidation. The effect of the acid/peracid pair used is also discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cycloaddition of CS2 to N‐benzylaziridine to synthesize N‐benzylthiazolidine‐2‐thione: a novel reaction route proposed by DFT Study

N‐Benzylthiazolidine‐2‐thione is the key intermediate for the synthesis of pharmaceutically important compounds. A novel route for the synthesis of N‐benzylthiazolidine‐2‐thione through cycloaddition of CS₂ with N‐benzylaziridine in the presence of 1,3‐di‐tert‐butylimidazolium‐2‐dithocarboxylate ( catalyst I ) has been proposed by reliable computations performed within the formalism of density functional theory. The mechanism of the proposed reaction is similar to the cycloaddition of tertiary aziridines and carbon dioxide using a recyclable catalyst that is reported to provide access to 3‐substituted 2‐oxazolidones with excellent yield. Because the rate determining step needs to surmount a high energy barrier, the reaction route has been deciphered in high boiling solvent (1, 2‐ethanediol). The highlight of the mechanistic route detailed here is that the proposed pathway is a cyclic process that is exothermic in nature with the regeneration of the catalyst and involves simple reagents. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal reaction characterization of micron-sized aluminum powders in CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The thermal reaction characterization of micron-sized aluminium powder in carbon dioxide were investigated by simultaneous thermal analysis technology (TG/DSC), using a series of heating rates (5, 10, 15, 20°C/min). The results showed that the reaction process of micron-sized aluminium powder in carbon dioxide was divided into three stages: the initial slow oxidation stage, the sharp oxidation stage and the last oxidation stage. The thermal performance was increased with the increase in the heating rates. Evolution of the samples was determined by collecting the products at the initial, sharp, and last oxidation stages of the process. The reaction products morphology was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The corresponding chemical changes were analysed by X-ray diffraction spectrometry (XRD). The effects of heating rate on the thermal reaction characteristics were discussed. A new reaction mechanism of micron-sized Al particle in CO₂ with gradually increased temperature was proposed.     

Polymer-supported and polymeric chiral guanidines: Preparation and application to the asymmetric Michael reaction of iminoacetate with methyl vinyl ketone

Summary Polymer-supported and polymeric chiral guanidines carrying an imidazolidine skeleton are designed as polymer-based base catalysts. Thus, (R)-2-[(S)-1-hydroxymethyl-2-phenylethylimino]-4-phenylimidazolidine was newly prepared from (R)-phenylglycine as the key functional unit of these guanidines. Application of the polymer-based chiral guanidines to the asymmetric Michael reaction of t-butyl diphenyliminoacetate with MVK led to expected asymmetric induction in the Michael adduct with moderate enantioselectivity in the use of the latter polymeric chiral guanidines.     

Synthesis of polyfunctionalized acrylates via one-pot reactions of arylamines, methyl propiolate, aromatic aldehydes, and active methylene compounds

An efficient synthetic method for the densely substituted 3-arylaminoacrylates was successfully developed via the one-pot reaction of arylamines, methyl propiolate, aromatic aldehydes, and active methylene compounds such as pivaloylacetonitrile, 1,3-cyclopentanedione, and 4-hydroxycoumarin. The key step of the reaction was believed to involve the formation of a β-enamino ester and a sequential Michael addition to the in situ formed arylidene dicarbonyl compound.