Photophysical Properties of Benzoylgermane and para‐Substituted Derivatives: Substituent Effects on Electronic Transitions

In the present study, a selection of basic substitution patterns on benzoyl(trimethyl)germane was investigated using time‐dependent density‐functional theory (TDDFT) to explore the influence on the stability and on the relative order of the lowest excited electronic states. The theoretical results are in agreement with absorption and fluorescence measurements. We show that electron‐withdrawing groups decrease the energetic level of the lowest singlet and triplet state relative to the electron‐pushing systems resulting in red‐shifted radiative transitions (fluorescence). In the first triplet state electron‐withdrawing groups lead to an increased dissociation barrier and a close approach with the singlet ground state before the transition state in the triplet state is reached, favoring radiationless ground‐state recovery. The results are also in good agreement with empirical concepts of organic chemistry, therefore providing simple rules for synthetic strategies towards tuning the excited‐state properties of benzoylgermanes.     

A density functional theory study on the electrocyclization of 1,2,4,6-heptatetraene analogues: converting a pericyclic to a pseudopericyclic reaction

A comprehensive B3LYP/6-31+G* study on the electrocyclization of 1,2,4,6-heptatetraene analogues was conducted. Starting from the cyclization of (2Z)-2,4,5-hexatrienal, a pericyclic disrotatory process favored by the assistance of a electron lone pair, we incorporated small modifications in its molecular structure to obtain a truly pseudopericyclic process. To this purpose electronegative atoms (fluorine and nitrogen) were added to give a more electrophilic character on the carbon atom which is attacked by the electron lone pair of the oxygen atom. The complete pathway for each reaction was determined, and changes in magnetic properties were monitored with a view to estimating the aromatization associated with each process. This information, together with the energetic and structural results, allowed us to classify the reactions as pseudopericyclic or pericyclic. Among all studied reactions only one was a truly pseudopericyclic process and another was a borderline case. The features of this unequivocally pseudopericyclic case were analyzed in depth.     

A quantum chemical study of racemization pathways in substituted chrysene derivatives

The potential-energy surfaces of 5,11-disubstituted 6,12-dimethoxychrysene and chrysene-6,12-dione derivatives were investigated by means of density functional calculations. We report relative energies of all conformers and an identification of the racemisation pathways of the chiral equilibrium structures. By analysis of homodesmotic reactions we were able to obtain an estimate for the strain energy of the substituted compounds. This strain energy can be used as a means of measuring the steric effects exerted by the substituents.     

Theoretical Investigation of the OH.‐Initiated Oxidation of Benzaldehyde in the Troposphere

A mechanistic and kinetic study of the OH^.‐initiated oxidation of benzaldehyde is carried out using quantum chemical methods and classical transition state theory. We calculate the rate constant for this reaction within the temperature range of 200–350 K at atmospheric pressure. All possible hydrogen abstraction and OH^. addition channels are considered and branching ratios are obtained. Tunneling corrections are taken into account for abstraction channels, assuming unsymmetrical Eckart barriers. The aldehydic abstraction is by far the most important reaction channel within the entire range of temperatures studied, especially at room temperature and lower—the temperatures relevant to atmospheric chemistry. The relative importance of all the other possible channels increases slightly with temperature. Branching ratios show that addition at the ring and abstraction of an ortho hydrogen contribute about 1 % each at about 300 K, while the branching ratio for the main reaction decreases from 99 % at 200 K to 93 % at 350 K. The results are compared with available experimental measurements.     

Ab initio static and molecular dynamics study of 4-styrylpyridine.

We report an in‐depth theoretical study of 4‐styrylpyridine in its singlet S₀ ground state. The geometries and the relative stabilities of the trans and cis isomers were investigated within density functional theory (DFT) as well as within Hartree–Fock (HF), second‐order Møller–Plesset (MP2), and coupled cluster (CC) theories. The DFT calculations were performed using the B3LYP and PBE functionals, with basis sets of different qualities, and gave results that are very consistent with each other. The molecular structure is thus predicted to be planar at the energy minimum, which is associated with the trans conformation, and to become markedly twisted at the minimum of higher energy, which is associated with the cis conformation. The results of the calculations performed with the post‐HF methods approach those obtained with the DFT methods, provided that the level of treatment of the electronic correlation is high enough and that sufficiently flexible basis sets are used. Calculations carried out within DFT also allowed the determination of the geometry and the energy of the molecule at the biradicaloid transition state associated with the thermal cis?trans isomerization and at the transition states associated with the enantiomerization of the cis isomer and with the rotations of the pyridinyl and phenyl groups in the trans and cis isomers. Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations were also performed at 50, 150, and 300 K using the PBE functional. The studies allowed us to evidence the highly flexible nature of the molecule in both conformations. In particular, the trans isomer was found to exist mainly in a nonplanar form at finite temperatures, while the rotation of the pyridinyl ring in the cis isomer was incidentally observed to take place within ≈1 ps during the simulation carried out at 150 K on this isomer.     

Selective Aromatic Hydroxylation with Dioxygen and Simple Copper Imine Complexes

The formation of a bis(μ‐oxido)dicopper complex with the ligand 2‐(diethylaminoethyl)‐6‐phenylpyridine (PPN) and its subsequent hydroxylation of the pendant phenyl group (studied earlier by Holland et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.­ 1999 , 38, 1139–1142) has been reinvestigated to gain a better understanding of such systems in view of the development of new synthetic applications. To this end, we prepared a simple copper imine complex system that also affords selective o‐hydroxylation of aromatic aldehydes by using dioxygen as the oxidant: Applying the ligand N′‐benzylidene‐N,N‐diethylethylenediamine (BDED), salicylaldehyde was prepared in good yields and we show that this reaction also occurs through an intermediate bis‐μ‐oxido copper complex. The underlying reaction mechanism for the PPN‐supported complex was studied at the BLYP‐D/TZVP level of density functional theory and the results for representative stationary points along reaction paths of the BDED‐supported complex reveal a closely related mechanistic scenario. The results demonstrate a new facile synthetic way to introduce OH groups into aromatic aldehydes.     

Modeling a halogen dance reaction mechanism: A density functional theory study

Since the discovery of the halogen dance (HD) reaction more than 60 years ago, numerous insights into the mechanism have been unveiled. To date however, the reaction has not been investigated from a theoretical perspective. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to model the potential energy surface linking the starting reagents to the lithiated products for each step in the mechanism using a thiophene substrate. It was found that the lithium‐halogen exchange mechanism is critical to understand the HD mechanism in detail and yielded the knowledge that S_N2 transition states (TS) are favored over the four‐center type for the lithium‐bromine exchange steps. The overall driving force for the HD is thermodynamics, while the kinetic factors tightly control the reaction path through temperature. The S_N2 lithium‐bromide TS are barrierless, except the second, which is the limiting step. Finally, the model for the HD is discovered to be a pseudo‐clock type, due to a highly favorable bromide catalysis step and the reformation of 2‐bromothiophene. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Criteria for the elucidation of the pseudopericyclic character of the cyclization of (Z)-1,2,4,6-heptatetraene and its heterosubstituted analogues: magnetic properties and natural bond orbital analysis

The electrocyclization of heterosubstituted derivatives of (Z)-1,2,4,6-heptatetraene, (2Z)-2,4,5-hexatrien-1-imine and (2Z)-2,4,5-hexatrienal exhibit some features which suggest a pseudopericyclic mechanism. In order to examine this, a comprehensive study including the determination of magnetic properties to estimate aromaticity and an NBO analysis throughout the reaction path was conducted. The cyclization of 5oxo-2,4-pentadienal, a process of unequivocal pseudopericyclic nature, was studied for comparison. The results suggest that, although the lone electron pair on the heteroatom in the heptatetraene derivatives seemingly plays a crucial role in the reaction mechanism, it does not suffice to deprive the reaction from the essential features of a pericyclic disrotatory electrocyclization.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of Piperidines through the Formation of Chiral Mixed Phosphoric Acid Acetals: Experimental and Theoretical Studies

An enantioselective intramolecular chiral phosphoric acid‐catalyzed cyclization of unsaturated acetals has been utilized for the synthesis of functionalized chiral piperidines. The chiral enol ether products of these cyclizations undergo subsequent in situ enantioenrichment through acetalization of the minor enantiomer. A new computational reaction exploration method was utilized to elucidate the mechanism and stereoselectivity of this transformation. Rather than confirming the originally postulated cyclization proceeding directly through a vinyl oxocarbenium ion, simulations identified an alternative two‐step mechanism involving the formation of a mixed chiral phosphate acetal, which undergoes a concerted, asynchronous S_N2′‐like displacement to yield the product with stereoselectivity in agreement with experimental observations.     

Computational Study of the Mechanism and Selectivity of Palladium‐Catalyzed Propargylic Substitution with Phosphorus Nucleophiles

The mechanism and sources of selectivity in the palladium‐catalyzed propargylic substitution reaction that involves phosphorus nucleophiles, and which yields predominantly allenylphosphonates and related compounds, have been studied computationally by means of density functional theory. Full free‐energy profiles are computed for both H‐phosphonate and H‐phosphonothioate substrates. The calculations show that the special behavior of H‐phosphonates among other heteroatom nucleophiles is indeed reflected in higher energy barriers for the attack on the central carbon atom of the allenyl/propargyl ligand relative to the ligand‐exchange pathway, which leads to the experimentally observed products. It is argued that, to explain the preference of allenyl‐ versus propargyl‐phosphonate/phosphonothioate formation in reactions that involve H‐phosphonates and H‐phosphonothioates, analysis of the complete free‐energy surfaces is necessary, because the product ratio is determined by different transition states in the respective branches of the catalytic cycle. In addition, these transition states change in going from a H‐phosphonate to a H‐phosphonothioate nucleophile.     

Formation of the iron-oxo hydroxylating species in the catalytic cycle of aromatic amino acid hydroxylases

The first part of the catalytic cycle of the pterin‐dependent, dioxygen‐using nonheme‐iron aromatic amino acid hydroxylases, leading to the Fe^IV?O hydroxylating intermediate, has been investigated by means of density functional theory. The starting structure in the present investigation is the water‐free Fe? O₂ complex cluster model that represents the catalytically competent form of the enzymes. A model for this structure was obtained in a previous study of water‐ligand dissociation from the hexacoordinate model complex of the X‐ray crystal structure of the catalytic domain of phenylalanine hydroxylase in complex with the cofactor (6R)‐L ‐erythro‐5,6,7,8‐tetrahydrobiopterin (BH₄) (PAH‐Fe^II‐BH₄). The O? O bond rupture and two‐electron oxidation of the cofactor are found to take place via a Fe‐O‐O‐BH₄ bridge structure that is formed in consecutive radical reactions involving a superoxide ion, O₂^?. The overall effective free‐energy barrier to formation of the Fe^IV?O species is calculated to be 13.9 kcal mol^?1, less than 2 kcal mol^?1 lower than that derived from experiment. The rate‐limiting step is associated with a one‐electron transfer from the cofactor to dioxygen, whereas the spin inversion needed to arrive at the quintet state in which the O? O bond cleavage is finalized, essentially proceeds without activation.