Iridium‐Catalyzed,Silyl‐Directed,peri‐Borylation of C−H Bonds in Fused Polycyclic Arenes and Heteroarenes

peri‐Disubstituted naphthalenes exhibit interesting physical properties and unique chemical reactivity, due to the parallel arrangement of the bonds to the two peri‐disposed substituents. Regioselective installation of a functional group at the position peri to 1‐substituted naphthalenes is challenging due to the steric interaction between the existing substituent and the position at which the second one would be installed. We report an iridium‐catalyzed borylation of the C−H bond peri to a silyl group in naphthalenes and analogous polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The reaction occurs under mild conditions with wide functional group tolerance. The silyl group and the boryl group in the resulting products are precursors to a range of functional groups bound to the naphthalene ring through C−C, C−O, C−N, C−Br and C−Cl bonds.     

Iridium‐Catalyzed,Silyl‐Directed,peri‐Borylation of C−H Bonds in Fused Polycyclic Arenes and Heteroarenes

peri‐Disubstituted naphthalenes exhibit interesting physical properties and unique chemical reactivity, due to the parallel arrangement of the bonds to the two peri‐disposed substituents. Regioselective installation of a functional group at the position peri to 1‐substituted naphthalenes is challenging due to the steric interaction between the existing substituent and the position at which the second one would be installed. We report an iridium‐catalyzed borylation of the C?H bond peri to a silyl group in naphthalenes and analogous polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The reaction occurs under mild conditions with wide functional group tolerance. The silyl group and the boryl group in the resulting products are precursors to a range of functional groups bound to the naphthalene ring through C?C, C?O, C?N, C?Br and C?Cl bonds.     

The Electronic States of the Pentatetraene Radical Cation

HeIα excited photoelectron spectra of pentatetraene and the inferred ionization energies are reported. The first band has a characteristic Franck-Condon envelope similar to the first photoelectron bands of allene and butatriene. The four bands found below 16 eV ionization energy have been assigned to the X?²E, òE, B?²E and C?²B₂ states of the radical cation of pentatetraene by comparison with STO-3G and SPINDO calculations on the cumulene series. The correlation scheme includes the 2s shell ionization energies of ethylene, allene and butatriene. The π-orbital ionization trends of the cumulenes are discussed in the framework of localized orbitals calculated with the STO-3G basis set.     

An ab initio CI study of the ground and excited states of p-quinodimethane

Configuration interaction (CI) studies of the ground, electronically excited singlet and triplet states and of the ionized states (cations) are reported for p- quinodimethane (p-xylylene). The calculated ionization potentials are compared with the experimental photoelectron spectrum for the low-energy ionization region. The two high-energy low-intensity flanks of the second and third band observed in the photoelectron spectrum are assigned to be due to the two non-Koopmans' cation states, ascribing to shake-up ionizations.The calculated singlet-singlet and singlet-triplet excitation energies are compared with previous semiempirical MO results and experimental data.     

Vacuum ultraviolet photoionization and photoelectron studies in the new millennium: recent developments and applications

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization mass spectrometry and photoelectron spectroscopy have played a central role in providing energetic and spectroscopic information for neutrals and cations. The most important data obtainable in a VUV photoionization and photoelectron experiment are ionization energies and 0 K ion dissociation thresholds or appearance energy (AE), from which 0 K bond dissociation energies for neutrals and cations can be deduced. The recent developments in VUV lasers and third-generation synchrotron sources, together with the introduction of the pulsed-field ionization (PFI), photoelectron (PFI-PE), and PFI-photoion (PFI-PI) methods, have revolutionized the field of photoelectron and ion spectroscopy by significantly improving the energy resolution to the range of 0.025–1.0 meV (full width at half maximum, FWHM). These resolutions, which make possible the measurement of photoelectron spectra for many simple molecules at the rotational-resolved level, are ≈100-fold better than those observed in traditional photoelectron studies, making the PFI-PE technique a true spectroscopic method. The recent introduction of the synchrotron-based PFI-PEPICO scheme has shown that AE values for a range of molecules can be determined with an unprecedented precision limited only by the PFI-PE measurement. The synchrotron-based PFI-PEPICO and PFI-PI schemes show great promises for future studies of state- or energy-selected ion-dissociation dynamics and energy-selected ion-molecule reaction dynamics. Further improvement in energy resolution for PFI-PE and PFI-PI measurements has been demonstrated using the two-color photo-induced Rydberg ionization (PIRI) spectroscopic scheme, which involves the photo-induced ionization of intermediate long-lived high-n ( n≥100) Rydberg states. The incorporation of this method by VUV photoexcitation to prepare intermediate high-n ( n≥100) Rydberg states is also expected to greatly increase the energy range of PFI studies. The availability of this array of laser- and synchrotron-based PFI methods, including PFI-PE, PFI-PEPICO, PFI-PI, PFI-ion-pair, and PIRI schemes, ensures an exciting and bright future for VUV photoionization and photoelectron studies in the new millennium.     

An analytical approach for computing Franck‐Condon integrals of harmonic oscillators with arbitrary dimensions

We have developed an analytical approach for computing Franck‐Condon integrals (FCIs) of harmonic oscillators (HOs) with arbitrary dimensions in which the mode‐mixing Duschinsky effect is taken into account. A general formula of FCIs of HOs was obtained and was applied to study the photoelectron spectroscopy of vinyl alcohol and ovalene (C₃₂H₁₄). The equilibrium geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies and normal modes of vinyl alcohol, ovalene, and their cations were computed at the B3LYP/aug‐cc‐pVTZ or the B3LYP/6‐31G(d) level, from which Franck‐Condon factors were calculated and photoelectron spectra were simulated. The adiabatic ionization energies of vinyl alcohol were also computed by extrapolating the CCSD(T) energies to the complete basis set limit with aug‐cc‐pVXZ (X = D, T, Q, 5). The simulated photoelectron spectra of both vinyl alcohol and ovalene are in agreement with the experiments. The computed adiabatic ionization energies of syn‐ and anti‐vinyl alcohol are in consistent with the experiment within 0.008 eV and 0.014 eV, respectively. We show, for the first time, that the analytical approach of computing FCIs is also efficient and promising for the studies of vibronic spectra of macrosystems. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A theoretical study of the photoelectron spectra of dichloroketene with accurate computation of ionization energies via complete basis set limit extrapolation

We calculated the equilibrium geometries and harmonic vibrational frequencies of the ground state and five cationic states of dichloroketene using (TD-)B3LYP, PBE0, and M06/M06-2X approaches. The photoelectron spectra of dichloroketene were simulated by computing Franck-Condon factors. The ionization energies were computed using the CCSD(T) approach with extrapolation to the complete basis set (CBS) limit. We propose two new CBS energy formulas (E = E_CBS + Aexp(-x) + B/(x−1) ⁿ, n = 2 or 3) and compare the performance of different CBS approaches. A new ionic state of dichloroketene belonging to the C_s point group is reported. This state is identified as the first excited state of Cl₂CCO⁺ having a double-well potential-energy curve along the CCO bending mode with a barrier height of 1.335 eV. The simulated photoelectron spectra are in agreement with the experiment. The vertical ionization energies calculated via spectral simulation are more accurate compared with those obtained at the ground-state structure. Among the CBS formulas used, the proposed ansatz with n = 2 performs best, with a mean absolute error of 0.021 and 0.012 eV for the adiabatic and vertical ionization energies, respectively.     

The role of the halogen bond in iodothyronine deiodinase: Dependence on chalcogen substitution in naphthyl-based mimetics

The effects on the activity of thyroxine (T4) due to the chalcogen replacement in a series of peri-substituted naphthalenes mimicking the catalytic function of deiodinase enzymes are computationally examined using density functional theory. In particular, T4 inner-ring deiodination pathways assisted by naphthyl-based models bearing two tellurols and a tellurol-thiol pair in peri-position are explored and compared with the analogous energy profiles for the naphthalene mimic having two selenols. The presence of a halogen bond (XB) in the intermediate formed in the first step and involved in the rate-determining step of the reaction is assumed to facilitate the process increasing the rate of the reaction. The rate-determining step calculated energy barrier heights allow rationalizing the experimentally observed superior catalytic activity of tellurium containing mimics. Charge displacement analysis is used to ascertain the presence and the role of the electron density charge transfer occurring in the rate-determining step of the reaction, suggesting the incipient formation or presence of a XB interaction. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Ionization Energies of Di-n-Alkyl Diacetylenes

The He(Iα) photoelectron spectra and the ionization energies of symmetrically substituted di-n-alkyl-diacetylenes R-(C?C)₂-R (with R ? CH₃, C₂H₅, n-C₃H₇, n-C₄H₉) are presented. The effect of the alkyl substitutents is that the two acetylenic ionization energies, I_v,1 and I_v,2, shift by the same amount, i.e. their difference I_v,2 – I_v,1 remains constant (2.45 ± 0.05 eV). Between 12.5 eV and 17 eV the band system in the photoelectron spectrum of R-(C?C)₂-R is superimposable with that in the spectrum of the corresponding alkane, RH, with the exception of a uniformly small shift of all the bands to higher ionization energy.     

Lutidyl Radical Photoelectron Spectra Reveal Additive Substituent Effects on Benzyl Derivatives’ Ionization Energy

Understanding how isomerism influences photoelectron spectra helps in the assignment and analysis of reactive mixtures, especially for heterocycles with numerous isomers. Threshold photoelectron spectra of lutidyl radical isomers, i. e., benzyl derivatives with a nitrogen heteroatom and a methyl substituent, are recorded using vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation. The radicals are produced by flash pyrolysis from aminomethyl methylpyridine precursors. Experimental ionization energies are determined to be 7.54, 7.50, and 7.45 eV for 2,4-, 2,6- and 3,5-lutidyl, respectively, in excellent agreement with composite method calculations. Franck–Condon simulations aid the TPES assignment but are also shown to exhibit artifacts if large-amplitude motions, notably the methyl internal rotation are assumed to be active in the double harmonic approximation. Based on calculated adiabatic ionization energies (AIE) of benzyl, picolyl, and xylyl radicals, the N and CH₃ substituent effects are found to be additive, position-dependent and decrease in the para>ortho≳meta order in magnitude with the nitrogen heteroatom increasing and the methyl substituent decreasing the AIE. These effects are discussed in light of the charge distribution upon ionization. The additivity of the substituent effects also helps predict the influence of substituents on the binding energy of the unpaired electron in analogous radicals.     

Synthetic and Structural Studies of 1,8‐Chalcogen Naphthalene Derivatives

Four novel 1,8‐disubstituted naphthalene derivatives 4 – 7 that contain chalcogen atoms occupying the peri positions have been prepared and fully characterised by using X‐ray crystallography, multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy and MS. Molecular distortion due to noncovalent substituent interactions was studied as a function of the bulk of the interacting chalcogen atoms and the size and nature of the alkyl group attached to them. X‐ray data for 4 – 7 was compared to the series of known 1,8‐bis(phenylchalcogeno)naphthalenes 1 – 3 , which were themselves prepared from novel synthetic routes. A general increase in the E???E′ distance was observed for molecules containing bulkier atoms at the peri positions. The decreased S???S distance from phenyl‐ 1 and ethyl‐ 4 analogues is ascribed to a weaker chalcogen lone pair–lone pair repulsion acting in the ethyl analogue due to the presence of two equatorial S(naphthyl) ring conformations. Two novel peri‐substituted naphthalene sulfoxides of 1 , Nap(O?SPh)(SPh) 8 and Nap(O?SPh)₂ 9 , which contain different valence states of sulfur, were prepared and fully characterised by using X‐ray crystallography and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy and MS. Molecular structures were analysed by using naphthalene ring torsions, peri‐atom displacement, splay angle magnitude, S???S interactions, aromatic ring orientations and quasi‐linear O?S???S arrangements. The axial S(naphthyl) rings in 8 and 9 are unfavourable for S???S contacts due to stronger chalcogen lone pair–lone pair repulsion. Although quasi‐linear O?S???S alignments suggest attractive interaction is conceivable, analysis of the B3LYP wavefunctions affords no evidence for direct bonding interactions between the S atoms.     

Electronic states of di-t-butylpolyacetylene radical cations

The π-ionization energies of the di-t-butylpolyacetylenes with two, three, four and five conjugated triple bonds have been determined by He (Iα) photoelectron spectroscopy. The assignment of the bands to the Π-states of the corresponding radical cations follows from simple correlations in agreement with previous experience. The influence of the t-butyl groups on the ionization energies is rationalized in terms of traditional, qualitative arguments assuming an inductive and/or hyperconjugative mechanism. However, a more careful analysis shows that the ‘The -higher-the-ionization-energy-the-higher-the-alkyl-induced-shift’ rule is not always true.     

Structural Studies of 1,8-Disubstituted Naphthalenes as Probes for nucleophile-electrophile interactions

Results of crystal structure analyses of seven 1, 8-disubstituted naphthalenes ( 2a , 8-(N,N-dimethylamino)-1-naphthyl methyl ketone; 2b , 8-(N, N-dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-carboxylic acid; 2c , methyl 8-(N, N-dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-carboxylate; 2d , 8-methoxy-1-naphthyl methyl ketone; 2e , 8-methoxynaphthalene-1-carboxylic acid; 2f , N, N-dimethyl-8-methoxynaphthalene 1-carboxamide; 2g , N, N-dimethyl-8-hydroxynaphthalene-1-carboxamide) with a nucleophilic centre (N(CH₃)₂, OCH₃, OH) at one of the peri positions and an electrophilic centre (carbonyl C) at the other are described. All seven molecules show a characteristic distortion pattern: the exocyclic bond to the electrophilic centre is splayed outward, and the one to the nucleophilic centre is splayed inward; the carbonyl C is displaced from the plane of its three bonded atoms towards the nucleophile. This distortion pattern differs from that found in other 1,8-disubstituted naphthalenes and is interpreted as an expression of incipient nucleophilic addition to a carbonyl group. The crystal structure of 2b contains an ordered arrangement of equal numbers of amino acid and zwitterionic molecules.     

On the structure and valence ionization energies of o-benzyne

The valence ionization energies of o-benzyne, computed using a Green function method and by CI calculations at a molecular geometry optimized with the 6-31G^* basis using a two-term GVB wavefunction, suggest an assignment of the photoelectron spectrum of this molecule which differs from that given by a previous MNDO calculation. The first three ionization energies are found to be nearly degenerate.     

Photoionization and Pyrolysis of a 1,4‐Azaborinine: Retro‐Hydroboration in the Cation and Identification of Novel Organoboron Ring Systems

The photoionization and dissociative photoionization of 1,4‐di‐tert‐butyl‐1,4‐azaborinine by means of synchrotron radiation and threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy is reported. The ionization energy of the compound was determined to be 7.89 eV. Several low‐lying electronically excited states in the cation were identified. The various pathways for dissociative photoionization were modeled by statistical theory, and appearance energies AE_0K were obtained. The loss of isobutene in a retro‐hydroboration reaction is the dominant pathway, which proceeds with a reverse barrier. Pyrolysis of the parent compound in a chemical reactor leads to the generation of several yet unobserved boron compounds. The ionization energies of the C₄H₆BN isomers 1,2‐ and 1,4‐dihydro‐1,4‐azaborinine and the C₃H₆BN isomer 1,2‐dihydro‐1,3‐azaborole were determined from threshold photoelectron spectra.     

On the correlation between photoelectron and electronic spectra in trans- azomethane

A possibility of correlating electronic and photoelectron spectra is discussed, using trans-azomethane as an example. The Coulomb and exchange integrals required were obtained by three semi-empirical SCF-methods: MINDO/2, CNDO/2, and a modified CNDO method. The orbital energies were taken as minus the corresponding experimental ionization potentials. The sequence of the transition energies ΔE (n_s → π*) Δ E (n_a → π*) < ΔE (π → π*) is found to be different from the ionization potential sequence IP (n_s) < IP (π) < IP (n_a), in agreement with previous spectroscopic studies; the results support the latest view that the π → π* transition of the azo group occurs at around 12 eV.     

UVPES of some aliphatic azides. Part I

Ab-initio calculations for ethyl azide-CH₃CH₂N₃- and azidoacetone-N₃CH₂COCH₃-were performed with the aim of interpreting their ultraviolet photoelectron spectra. Some preliminary results are presented. The first bands of the photoelectron spectra of the azides under study are intense and sharp indicating ionization from a non-bonding orbital. This is in accordance with the performed calculations, which also predict a non-bonding character to the molecular orbitals corresponding to the first ionization energies. Good agreement was also found when comparing the second ionization energies given by the calculations with the second bands of the photoelectron spectra of the molecules.     

Direct Phenylamination of 6-Aminonaphthacenequinones Promoted by Metal Salts

6-Amino-5,12- and -5,11-naphthacenequinones react with aniline in the presence of cobalt, copper, and manganese salts, resulting in replacement of hydrogen in the peri-position with respect to the carbonyl group by phenylamino group and formation of 11- and 12-phenylamino-6-amino(phenylamino)-5,12- and -5,11-naphthacenequinones.     

Mechanism of Thyroxine Deiodination by Naphthyl‐Based Iodothyronine Deiodinase Mimics and the Halogen Bonding Role: A DFT Investigation

This paper deals with a systematic density functional theory (DFT) study aiming to unravel the mechanism of the thyroxine (T4) conversion into 3,3′,5‐triiodothyronine (rT3) by using different bio‐inspired naphthyl‐based models, which are able to reproduce the catalytic functions of the type‐3 deiodinase ID‐3. Such naphthalenes, having two selenols, two thiols, and a selenol–thiol pair in peri positions, which were previously synthesized and tested in their deiodinase activity, are able to remove iodine selectively from the inner ring of T4 to produce rT3. Calculations were performed including also an imidazole ring that, mimicking the role of the His residue, plays an essential role deprotonating the selenol/thiol moiety. For all the used complexes, the calculated potential energy surfaces show that the reaction proceeds via an intermediate, characterized by the presence of a X?I?C (X=Se, S) halogen bond, whose transformation into a subsequent intermediate in which the C?I bond is definitively cleaved and the incipient X?I bond is formed represents the rate‐determining step of the whole process. The calculated trend in the barrier heights of the corresponding transition states allows us to rationalize the experimentally observed superior deiodinase activity of the naphthyl‐based compound with two selenol groups. The role of the peri interactions between chalcogen atoms appears to be less prominent in determining the deiodination activity.     

Statistical analysis of photoelectron and Auger energy shifts in ionic solutions

A previously devised statistical model for solvation shifts of ionization energies of atomic ions is extended to Auger transition energies. The model expresses the ionization shift, the Auger energy shift and the sum of these shifts in terms of expectation values taken over radial and angular distribution functions for the solvent. Numerical evaluation is performed for some monovalent anions and cations and for Mg²⁺ in aqueous solutions. Results from the model are compared with experimental data for absolute photoelectron and Auger shifts as well as for the individual contribution to salvation energies that can be assessed from a combined use of ESCA data for photoelectron and Auger energy shifts.