Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Diels-Alder Reactions: Reactivity Trends across the Periodic Table

The catalytic effect of various weakly interacting Lewis acids (LAs) across the periodic table, based on hydrogen (Group 1), pnictogen (Group 15), chalcogen (Group 16), and halogen (Group 17) bonds, on the Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction between 1,3-butadiene and methyl acrylate was studied quantum chemically by using relativistic density functional theory. Weakly interacting LAs accelerate the Diels-Alder reaction by lowering the reaction barrier up to 3 kcal mol⁻¹ compared to the uncatalyzed reaction. The reaction barriers systematically increase from halogen<hydrogen<chalcogen<pnictogen-bonded LAs, i. e., the latter have the least catalytic effect. Our detailed activation strain and Kohn-Sham molecular orbital analyses reveal that these LAs lower the Diels-Alder reaction barrier by increasing the asynchronicity of the reaction to relieve the otherwise destabilizing Pauli repulsion between the closed-shell filled π-orbitals of diene and dienophile. Notably, the reactivity can be further enhanced on going from a Period 3 to a Period 5 LA, as these species amplify the asynchronicity of the Diels-Alder reaction due to a stronger binding to the dienophile. These findings again demonstrate the generality of the Pauli repulsion-lowering catalysis concept.     

Origin of the stereo- and regioselectivities in the Diels-Alder reactions of azaphospholes: a DFT investigation

Computations of the Diels-Alder (DA) reactions of azaphosphole representative namely, thiazolo[3,2-d][1,4,2]diazaphosphole with 1,3-butadiene and isoprene at the density functional theory level reveal concerted mechanisms via asynchronous transition states. The activation energies (B3LYP/6-311++G**// B3LYP/6-311G**), 16-19 kcal mol⁻¹, are much smaller than the value (32.57 kcal mol⁻¹) calculated for the DA reaction of the non-phosphorus analogue, imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole with 1,3-butadiene. An electron-withdrawing group at the 3-position of the dienophile enhances both stereo- and regioselectivities, which agree nicely with the experimental values. Inclusion of solvent effect (PCM model) reveals that the stereo- and regioselectivities are not affected appreciably. The relative stabilities of the transition structures corresponding to the endo/exo stereoisomers and meta (P/Me, 1:3)/para (P/Me, 1:4) regioisomers have been rationalized on the basis of the secondary molecular orbital interactions.     

A DFT study of the polar Diels-Alder reaction between 4-aza-6-nitrobenzofuroxan and cyclopentadiene

The polar Diels-Alder reaction between 4-aza-6-nitrobenzofuroxan (ANBF) and cyclopentadiene has been studied using DFT procedures at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. Only one highly asynchronous transition state structure associated to the formation of the [4+2] adduct 13 is found. A further [3,3] sigmatropic shift on the [4+2] cycloadduct 13 allows its conversion into the thermodynamically more stable [2+4] cycloadduct 14. The analysis of the global and local electrophilicities of the reagents correctly explain the behaviour of ANBF as a strong electrophile in polar cycloadditions.     

Diastereo- and regioselective Diels-Alder reactions of 2-phosphaindolizines

1,3-Bis(alkoxycarbonyl)-2-phosphaindolizines undergo Diels-Alder reactions at the CP- functionality with 2,3-dimethylbutadiene and with isoprene in the presence of sulfur with complete diastereoselectivity. The reaction with isoprene occurs with 100% regioselectivity as well. 3-Ethoxycarbonyl-1-methyl-2-phosphaindolizine, however, fails to undergo Diels-Alder reaction under these conditions. Difference in the dienophilic reactivities of mono- and bis(alkoxycarbonyl) substituted 2-phosphaindolizines and the observed regioselectivity in the Diels-Alder reaction has been rationalized on the basis of DFT calculations. The relative stabilities of the transition structures have been explained on the basis of the NBO analysis.     

DFT calculations induced a regiochemical outcome revision of the Diels-Alder reaction between levoglucosenone and isoprene

An appealing inversion in the regiochemical outcome of Diels-Alder reactions between levoglucosenone (1) and its α-bromo derivative (5) with isoprene (2) was studied computationally. Based on different DFT calculations we concluded that both reactions should display the same regioselectivity. This result was further validated experimentally.     

A theoretical study of the mechanism and stereoselectivity of the Diels-Alder cycloaddition between difluoro-2-methylencyclopropane and furan

A theoretical study of the molecular mechanism and stereoselectivity of the Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction between difluoro-2-methylencyclopropane and furan has been carried out at the B3LYP/6-31G+^∗∗ level of theory. The calculation of activation and reaction energies indicates that the 3-endo cycloadduct is favored both kinetically and thermodynamically, which is in agreement with the experimental data. Analysis of the bond order and charge transfer in the transition states shows that this reaction takes place via a synchronous-concerted mechanism.     

Arylation with Unsymmetrical Diaryliodonium Salts: A Chemoselectivity Study

Phenols, anilines, and malonates have been arylated under metal‐free conditions with twelve aryl(phenyl)iodonium salts in a systematic chemoselectivity study. A new “anti‐ortho effect” has been identified in the arylation of malonates. Several “dummy groups” have been found that give complete chemoselectivity in the transfer of the phenyl moiety, irrespective of the nucleophile. An aryl exchange in the diaryliodonium salts has been observed under certain arylation conditions. DFT calculations have been performed to investigate the reaction mechanism and to elucidate the origins of the observed selectivities. These results are expected to facilitate the design of chiral diaryliodonium salts and the development of catalytic arylation reactions that are based on these sustainable and metal‐free reagents.     

A DFT study of the Diels-Alder reaction between methyl acrolein derivatives and cyclopentadiene. Understanding the effects of Lewis acids catalysts based on sulfur containing boron heterocycles

The effects of Lewis acid catalysts based on sulfur containing boron heterocycles on the Diels-Alder reactions of two methyl acroleins with cyclopentadiene have been studied using DFT methods. These reactions take place along highly asynchronous concerted processes. While the reaction with crotonaldehyde leads to the expected endo adduct, the reaction with methacrolein leads to exo one in agreement with the experiments. The catalytic effect can be explained through the analysis of the electrophilicity index (ω) of the reagents, and the molecular structure of the corresponding transition structures.     

Enantioselectivity in Ruthenium-Catalyzed Propargylic Substitution Reactions of Propargylic Alcohols with Acetone: A DFT Study

The enantioselectivity in the propargylic substitution reactions of propargylic alcohols with acetone catalyzed by optically active thiolate-bridged diruthenium complexes was examined via ωB97X-D level DFT calculations. Some structures with intramolecular dispersion interactions between ligands were found for the ruthenium-allenylidene complex, which is the key intermediate in the catalytic reaction, and it was determined that the structure corresponding to the X-ray crystal structure, which had provided the transition state model for the enantioselectivity in previous studies, was not the most stable among the obtained structures. Then, a variety of transition-state structures for the nucleophilic attack of prop-1-ene-2-ol, which is the enol isomer of acetone, on the γ-carbon of the ruthenium-allenylidene complex were explored. Among the transition-state structures with lower energies, the number of structures leading to the major (R) product was found to be larger than that of structures leading to the minor (S) product, providing enantioselectivity in terms of probability distributions. The introduction of a phenyl group in the thiolate ligand was suggested to increase the selectivity. Thus, we propose the novel transition state model for the asymmetric catalytic reaction system.     

Rational Tuning of the Reactivity of Three-Membered Heterocycle Ring Openings via SN2 Reactions

The development of small-molecule covalent inhibitors and probes continuously pushes the rapidly evolving field of chemical biology forward. A key element in these molecular tool compounds is the “electrophilic trap” that allows a covalent linkage with the target enzyme. The reactivity of this entity needs to be well balanced to effectively trap the desired enzyme, while not being attacked by off-target nucleophiles. Here we investigate the intrinsic reactivity of substrates containing a class of widely used electrophilic traps, the three-membered heterocycles with a nitrogen (aziridine), phosphorus (phosphirane), oxygen (epoxide) or sulfur atom (thiirane) as heteroatom. Using quantum chemical approaches, we studied the conformational flexibility and nucleophilic ring opening of a series of model substrates, in which these electrophilic traps are mounted on a cyclohexene scaffold (C₆H₁₀Y with Y=NH, PH, O, S). It was revealed that the activation energy of the ring opening does not necessarily follow the trend that is expected from C−Y leaving-group bond strength, but steeply decreases from Y=NH, to PH, to O, to S. We illustrate that the HOMO_Nu–LUMO_Substrate interaction is an all-important factor for the observed reactivity. In addition, we show that the activation energy of aziridines and phosphiranes can be tuned far below that of the corresponding epoxides and thiiranes by the addition of proper electron-withdrawing ring substituents. Our results provide mechanistic insights to rationally tune the reactivity of this class of popular electrophilic traps and can guide the experimental design of covalent inhibitors and probes for enzymatic activity.     

Understanding the Reactivity of Supported Late Transition Metals on a Bare Anatase (101) Surface: A Periodic Conceptual DFT Investigation

The rapidly growing interest for new heterogeneous catalytic systems providing high atomic efficiency along with high stability and reactivity triggered an impressive progress in the field of single-atom catalysis. Nevertheless, unravelling the factors governing the interaction strength between the support and the adsorbed metal atoms remains a major challenge. Based on periodic density functional theory (DFT) calculations, this paper provides insight into the adsorption of single late transition metals on a defect-free anatase surface. The obtained adsorption energies fluctuate, with the exception of Pd, between −3.11 and −3.80 eV and are indicative of a strong interaction. Depending on the considered transition metal, we could attribute the strength of this interaction with the support to i) an electron transfer towards anatase (Ru, Rh, Ni), ii) s-d orbital hybridisation effects (Pt), or iii) a synergistic effect between both factors (Fe, Co, Os, Ir). The driving forces behind the adsorption were also found to be strongly related to Klechkowsky's rule for orbital filling. In contrast, the deviating behaviour of Pd is most likely associated with the lower dissociation enthalpy of the Pd−O bond. Additionally, the reactivity of these systems was evaluated using the Fermi weighted density of states approach. The resulting softness values can be clearly related to the electron configuration of the catalytic systems as well as with the net charge on the transition metal. Finally, these indices were used to construct a model that predicts the adsorption strength of CO on these anatase-supported d-metal atoms. The values obtained from this regression model show, within a 95 % probability interval, a correlation of 84 % with the explicitly calculated CO adsorption energies.     

Ambident Nucleophilic Substitution: Understanding Non-HSAB Behavior through Activation Strain and Conceptual DFT Analyses

The ability to understand and predict ambident reactivity is key to the rational design of organic syntheses. An approach to understand trends in ambident reactivity is the hard and soft acids and bases (HSAB) principle. The recent controversy over the general validity of this principle prompted us to investigate the competing gas-phase S_N2 reaction channels of archetypal ambident nucleophiles CN⁻, OCN⁻, and SCN⁻ with CH₃Cl (S_N2@C) and SiH₃Cl (S_N2@Si), using DFT calculations. Our combined analyses highlight the inability of the HSAB principle to correctly predict the reactivity trends of these simple, model reactions. Instead, we have successfully traced reactivity trends to the canonical orbital-interaction mechanism and the resulting nucleophile–substrate interaction energy. The HOMO–LUMO orbital interactions set the trend in both S_N2@C and S_N2@Si reactions. We provide simple rules for predicting the ambident reactivity of nucleophiles based on our Kohn–Sham molecular orbital analysis.     

Double Group Transfer Reactions: Role of Activation Strain and Aromaticity in Reaction Barriers

Double group transfer (DGT) reactions, such as the bimolecular automerization of ethane plus ethene, are known to have high reaction barriers despite the fact that their cyclic transition states have a pronounced in‐plane aromatic character, as indicated by NMR spectroscopic parameters. To arrive at a way of understanding this somewhat paradoxical and incompletely understood phenomenon of high‐energy aromatic transition states, we have explored six archetypal DGT reactions using density functional theory (DFT) at the OLYP/TZ2P level. The main trends in reactivity are rationalized using the activation strain model of chemical reactivity. In this model, the shape of the reaction profile ΔE(ζ) and the height of the overall reaction barrier ΔE^≠=ΔE(ζ=ζ^TS) is interpreted in terms of the strain energy ΔE_strain(ζ) associated with deforming the reactants along the reaction coordinate ζ plus the interaction energy ΔE_int(ζ) between these deformed reactants: ΔE(ζ)=ΔE_strain(ζ)+ΔE_int(ζ). We also use an alternative fragmentation and a valence bond model for analyzing the character of the transition states.     

胺(或氨) - CHCl3系CT复合物密度泛函法研究

报道对氨(NH3母体)、甲胺(CH3NH2)、二甲胺[(CH3)2NH]、三甲胺[(CH3)3N]与三氯甲烷(CHCl3)形成的系列复合物的理论研究结果。把复合物看作一个超分子,在B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)的水平上进行密度泛函法计算,并运用完全均衡校正法进行基组超位误差校正(BSSE)。探讨该系列复合物的电子结构与相关性质,如稳定性、电荷转移及主要几何参数的变化规律等,结果表明,形成复合物的稳定性次序为NH3－CHCl3(Ⅰ)>CH3NH2-CHCl3(Ⅱ)>(CH3)2NH-CHCl3(Ⅲ)>(CH3)3N-CHCl3(Ⅳ)。形成复合物的过程包含着电荷转移。该系列复合物的稳定性与电荷转移量、前线轨道能量差△εL-H及广义H键距离良好的线性关系,与结合点的电荷布居也有密切的关系,复合物的稳定性是分子间共价作用和静电作用两方面因素综合的结果。计算结果能较好地解释有关的实验现象和规律。     

Reactivity of Fluoro‐Substituted Bis(thiocarbonyl) Donors with Diiodine: An XRD,FT–Raman,and DFT Investigation

The reactions of 1,3,8,10‐tetrakis(4′‐fluorophenyl)‐4,5,6,7‐tetrathiocino[1,2‐b:3,4‐b′]diimidazolyl‐2,9‐dithione ( 4 ) and molecular diiodine afforded spoke adducts with stoichiometries 4·I2 and 4? 3I₂, isolated in the compound 4? 3I₂ ? xCH₂Cl₂ ? (1?x)I₂ (x=0.70), and characterized by single‐crystal XRD and FT–Raman spectroscopy. The nature of the reaction products was investigated under the prism of theoretical calculations carried out at the DFT level. The structural data, FT–Raman spectroscopy, and quantum mechanical calculations agree in indicating that the introduction of fluorophenyl substituents results in a lowering of the Lewis basicity of this class of bis(thiocarbonyl) donors compared with alkyl‐substituted tetrathiocino donors and fluorine allows for extended interactions that are responsible for solid‐state crystal packing.     

A DFT Study on the Molecular Mechanism of Additions of Electrophilic and Nucleophilic Carbenes to Non-Enolizable Cycloaliphatic Thioketones

The molecular mechanisms of addition of dihalocarbenes and dimethoxycarbene to thioketones derived from 2,2,4,4-tetrmethylcyclobutane-1,3-dione were examined on the basis of the DFT wb97xd/6-311g(d,p)(PCM) calculations. Obtained results demonstrated that the examined processes exhibit polar nature and in the case of electrophilic dichloro-, and dibromocarbenes are initiated by the attack of carbene species onto the sulfur atom of the C=S group. Remarkably, reactions involving more electrophilic carbenes (dichloro-, and dibromocarbene) proceeds via stepwise mechanism involving thiocarbonyl ylide as a transient intermediate. In contrast, analogous reactions with nucleophilic dimethoxycarbene occur via a single step reaction, which can be considered as the [2 + 1] cycloaddition reaction initiated by the attack onto the C=S bond. A computational study showed that difluorocarbene tends to react as a nucleophilic species and resembles rather dimethoxycarbene and not typical dihalocarbene species. Significantly higher reactivity of the thioketone unit in comparison to the ketone group, both present in 3-thioxo-2,2,4,4-tetramthylcyclobutanone molecule, was rationalized in the light of DFT computational study.     

The tautomerization and ring closure in the Claisen rearrangement: A DFT study

Elementary processes of the aromatic Claisen rearrangement were investigated by DFT calculations. First, rearrangements of four substrates Ph—O—CH₂—CHCH₂ [A], Ph—O—CH₂—CHCH(OMe) [B], Ph—O—CH₂—CHCH₂····BF₃ [C], and Ph—O—CH—CHCH(OMe)····BF₃ [D] were examined. In these systems, the tautomerization is initiated by the intermolecular proton transfer involving the transient ion‐pair intermediate. An ignition‐propagation chain‐reaction mechanism in the tautomerization was suggested. For [A], the (ortho‐allyl phenol → α‐methyl‐dihydrobenzofuran (α‐methyl‐cumarane)) process was found to be ready and the product of the Claisen rearrangement seems to be the cumarane rather than the phenol. In [D] (activated both by the terminal methoxy group and by the BF₃ catalyst), not the [3,3]‐sigmatropic shift but the tautomerization is the rate determining step. Second, the parent system, Ph—O—CH₂—CHCH₂, was investigated with (H₂O) _n (n = 2, 4, 6, and 10) systematically. The tautomerization takes place by the proton transfer via the water dimer or trimer. Except n = 2, similar changes of Gibbs free energies were obtained from the ether substrate to the cumarane.     

Understanding the Reactivity of Planar Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Towards the Graphene Limit

The Diels–Alder reactivity of maleic anhydride towards the bay regions of planar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was explored computationally in the DFT framework. The process becomes more and more exothermic and the associated activation barriers become lower and lower when the size of the system increases. This enhanced reactivity follows an exponential behavior that reaches its maximum for systems having 18–20 benzenoid rings in their structures. This peculiar behavior was analyzed in detail by using the activation strain model of reactivity in combination with energy decomposition analysis. The influence of the change in the aromaticity of the polycyclic compound during the process on the respective activation barriers was also studied.     

A general equation correlating intramolecular rates with ‘attack’ parameters: distance and angle

Using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP level with the 6-31G(d,p) basis set, a general equation is derived relating activation energy with the distance between the two reactive centers (r_GM), and the hydrogen-bonding angle (α_GM) in an intramolecular proton transfer process. The strong correlation between the values of r_GM and α_GM with the activation energy, ΔG^‡, which reflects the experimental reaction rate, provides an excellent tool to predict reaction rate based on calculated geometrical parameters for a certain system (ΔH^‡, ΔG^‡ vs r_GM and α_GM). The slope of the equation can be used as an indicator of the mode by which the two reacting centers orchestrate in an intramolecular process.