New insight on the origin of the unusual acidity of Meldrum's acid from ab initio and combined QM/MM simulation study.

Ab initio molecular orbital and combined QM/MM Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out to investigate the origin of the unusually high acidity of Meldrum's acid. Traditionally, the high acidity of Meldrum's acid relative to that of methyl malonate has been attributed to an additive effect due to the presence of two E esters in the dilactone system. However, the present study reveals that there is significant nonadditive effect that also makes major contributions. This results from preferential stabilization of the enolate anion over that of Meldrum's acid due to anomeric stereoelectronic interactions. To investigate solvent effects on the acidity in aqueous solution, the relative acidities of Z and E conformers of methyl acetate have been determined in combined ab initio QM/MM simulations. There is significant solvent effect on the conformational equilibria for both the neutral ester and its enolate anion in water, leading to stabilization of the E stereoisomer. However, the computed solvent effect of 4.4 kcal/mol in favor of the E isomer of methyl acetate is largely offset by the favorable solvation of 3.4 kcal/mol for the E conformer of the enolate anion. This leads to an enhanced acidity of 3.4 kcal/mol for the (E)-methyl acetate in water over the Z conformer. In Meldrum's acid, it is the preferential stabilization of the enolate anion due to anomeric effects coupled with the intrinsically higher acidity of the E conformation of ester that is responsible for its high acidity.     

Substituent effects on the acidity of weak acids. 2. Calculated gas-phase acidities of substituted benzoic acids

To investigate the origin of substituent effects on the acidity of benzoic acids, the structures of a series of substituted benzoic acids and benzoates have been calculated at the B3LYP/6-311+G* and MP2/6-311+G* theoretical levels. The vibrational frequencies were calculated using B3LYP/6-311+G* and allowed corrections for the change in zero-point energies on ionization, and the change in energy on going from 0 K (corresponding to the calculations) to 298 K. A more satisfactory agreement with the experimental values was obtained by energy calculations at the MP2/ 6-311++G* level using the above structures. The resulting Delta H(acid) values agree very well with the experimental gas-phase acidities. The energies of compounds with pi-electron-accepting or -releasing substituents, rotated to give the transition state geometries, provided rotational barriers that could be compared with those found for the corresponding substituted benzenes. Isodesmic reactions allowed the separate examination of the substituent effects on the energies of the acids and on the anions. Electron-withdrawing groups stabilize the benzoate anions more than they destabilize the benzoic acids. Electron-donating groups stabilize the acids and destabilize the anions by approximately equal amounts. The gas-phase acidities of meta- and para-substituted benzoic acids are linearly related. This is also found for the acidities of substituted phenylacetic acids and benzoic acids. Since direct pi-electron interactions are not possible with the phenylacetic acids, this indicates that the acidities are mainly controlled by a field effect interaction between the charge distribution in the substituted benzene ring and the negative charge of the carboxylate group. The Hammett sigma(M) and sigma(P) values are also linearly related for many small substituents from NO(2) through the halogens and to OH and NH(2). Most of the other substituents fall on a line with a different slope     

Development and use of a stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for Meldrum's acid.

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed that separates Meldrum's acid from its primary decomposition products, malonic acid and acetone. The method uses a reversed-phase column under isocratic conditions, with detection by ultraviolet absorption at 210 nm. Quantitation of the parent molecule and the acid decomposition product was possible over concentration ranges of 0.1-10.0 and 0.1-2.0 mg/ml, respectively. Acetone could be determined only at much higher concentrations. Using the malonic acid concentration as a measure of decomposition, this method was used to determine the hydrolytic stability of Meldrum's acid and its skin penetration properties.     

On the use of spatial symmetry in ab initio calculations. Transformation of the two-electron integrals from atomic orbital to localized molecular orbital basis

Anm ⁵-dependent integral transformation procedure from atomic orbital basis to localized molecular orbitals is described for spatially extended systems with some Abelian symmetry groups. It is shown that exploiting spatial symmetry, the number of non-redundant integrals for normal saturated hydrocarbons can be reduced by a factor of 2.5-3.5, depending on the size of the system and on the basis. Starting from a list of integrals over basis functions in canonical order, the number of multiplications of the four-index transformation is reduced by a factor of 2.8-3.5 as compared to that of Diercksen's algorithm. It is pointed out that even larger reduction can be achieved if negligible integrals over localized molecular orbitals are omitted from the transformation in advance.     

Measurement of the thermodynamic properties for the reactive system ethylene glycol–acetic acid

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibria for eight binary systems of the reactive system ethylene glycol–acetic acid have been measured using a static VLE-equipment. Furthermore, excess enthalpies were determined with the help of an isothermal flow-calorimeter. Additionally, vapor pressure and density measurements of the monoacetylated ethylene glycol were carried out.     

Procedure for the parallel preparation of 3-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl-propionic acid derivatives involving Meldrum's acid

We describe here an efficient and versatile method for the preparation of 3-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl-propionic acids involving, as a key step, a three-component Michael-type reaction. The extended and validated procedure allowed us to prepare various acids with three diversity points. The method was easily adaptable for parallel synthesis and an approximately 2000-membered 3-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl-propionic acid amide library was prepared in a semiautomated manner.     

Mechanistic evidence for an alpha-oxoketene pathway in the formation of beta-ketoamides/esters via Meldrum's acid adducts

A practical, one-pot process for the preparation of beta-keto amides via a three-component reaction, including Meldrum's acid, an amine, and a carboxylic acid, has been developed. Key to development of an efficient, high-yielding process was an in-depth understanding of the mechanism of the multistep process. Kinetic studies were carried out via online IR monitoring and subsequent principal component analysis which provided a means of profiling the concentration of both the anionic and free acid forms of the Meldrum's adduct 6 in real time. These studies, both in the presence and absence of nucleophiles, strongly suggest that formation of beta-keto amides from acyl Meldrum's acids occurs via alpha-oxoketene species 2 and rule out other possible reaction pathways proposed in the literature, such as via protonated alpha-oxoketene intermediates 3 or nucleophilic addition-elimination pathways.     

Ab initio molecular orbital study on the pairing and stacking interactions between nucleic acid bases in relation to the biological activities

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations were performed on the pairing and stacking interaction energies between bases in nucleic acids. Using these values we could explain the biologically important phenomena well. Thus the fact that O⁶-methylguanine (which is formed in small amounts) is more promutagenic than N₇-methylguanine (which is formed in larger amounts) could be explained by the difference in pairing interaction energies for these alkylguanines. To clarify the detailed mechanism of mutation induced by a base analogue (2-aminopurine) the interaction energy for the 2-aminopurine-cytosine pair was calculated by taking into account the tautomeric conversion of base and the base analogue. It was concluded that the base pair formed as an intermediate between the normal form of 2-aminopurine and the imino tautomer of cytosine has an important role in inducing the mutation by 2-aminopurine. The stacking interaction energy was found to be a principal factor in determining the conformation of nucleic acids, and it predicted the preference for the A-form or B-form of the deoxyoligonucleotides well. The stacking interaction energy was resolved into its components, and it was shown that electrostatic energy was base sequence-dependent, whereas the overall stability of the stacked polymers was largely dependent on the dispersion energy.     

A transition metal free expedient approach for the CC bond cleavage of arylidene Meldrum's acid and malononitrile derivatives

A transition metal free expedient approach for the CC bond cleavage of electron deficient alkenes such as arylidene Meldrum's acid and malononitrile derivatives are discussed. The CC bond of these compound were cleaved to benzoic acid in good yield at high temperature. Most importantly, with oxone in CH₃CN/H₂O at 45 °C or m-CPBA in DCM or NaClO₂ in THF/H₂O or PIDA in THF at room temperature furnished benzaldehyde derivatives selectively in excellent yields.     

Application of the hammett-taft principle to ascertain the relation between the acidity and the electronegativity of a metal

Conclusions The extent to which the induction effect affects the complexing of metals with carbonyl compounds is linearly dependent on the electronegativity of the metal.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 2070–2072, September, 1971.     

Reevaluation of orbital interactions in substituted radicals. Transfer of radical properties to the substituent atom

Theoretical calculations have shown that a nonbonded pair orbital on an atom attached to a radical center can be higher in energy than the SOMO of the unsubstituted radical. The mixing of the orbitals produces a SOMO which contains the major contribution from the nonbonded pair orbital, thus transferring radical character to the substituent atom.     

Ab initio procedure for aqueous-phase pKa calculation: the acidity of nitrous acid

We present an ab initio procedure for accurately calculating aqueous-phase pKa values and apply it to study the acidity of nitrous acid (HNO2, or HONO). The aqueous-phase pK(a) of nitrous acid was obtained from calculated gas-phase acidities and solvation free energies via a thermodynamic cycle and the solvation model chemistry of Barone et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 1997, 107, 3210). Solvation free energies were calculated at the HF/6-31G(d) level using the dielectric-polarizable continuum and the integral equation formalism-polarizable continuum solvent models (D-PCM and IEF-PCM, respectively), with the D-PCM model yielding the most accurate pKa values. For HF free energies of solvation, significant improvements in accuracy could be made by moving to the larger 6-311++G(3df,3pd) and aug-cc-pVQZ basis sets. Solvation free energies were also calculated using the density functional theory (DFT) methods B3LYP, TPSS, PBE0, B1B95, VSXC, B98 and O3LYP, with the most accurate methods being TPSS and VSXC, which provided average errors of less than 0.11 pKa units. Solvation free energies calculated with the different DFT methods were relatively insensitive to the basis set used. Our theoretical calculations are compared with experimental results obtained using stopped flow spectrophotometry. The pKa of nitrous acid was measured as 3.16 at 25 degrees C, and the enthalpy and entropy of nitrous acid dissociation were calculated from measurements as 6.7 kJ mol(-1) and -38.4 J mol(-1) K(-1), respectively, between 25 and 45 degrees C. The UV/visible absorption spectra of the nitrite ion and nitrous acid were also examined, and molar extinction coefficients were obtained for each.     

An ab initio molecular orbital study on the stacking interaction between nucleic acid bases: Dependence on the sequence and relation to the conformation

The stacking interaction energies between nucleic acid bases in A DNA and B DNA are calculated by means of the ab initio molecular orbital method. The calculated values agree well with the experimental values of stacking enthalpy changes. The stacking interaction energy is shown to be highly sequence dependent, particularly when the sequence includes guanine or cytosine. The possibility is shown that the conformation of a DNA double helix fragment is determined by the constituent stacking interaction. Electrostatic energy is the cause of the sequence dependency of the stacking energy, while charge transfer and dispersion energies contribute to the overall stability.     

Calorimetric study of the ionization process for 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid. Resonance effect. A calorimetric acidity scale for dihydroxy-substituted benzoic derivatives

A calorimetric study of the ionization process of 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, in water—DMSO mixtures, ranging from pure water up to 0.8 mole fraction is presented.This compound shows a very different behaviour with respect to the 2,3-dihydroxy derivative because of the two hydroxyl groups which, in the relative para position, stabilize and delocalize the charge on the anion. For this reason, 2,5-(OH)₂PhCOOH is, with the exception of 2,6-(OH)₂PhCOOH, the strongest acid in an acidity scale of dihydroxy derivatives.     

A sensor for the in situ determination of acidity levels in concentrated sulfuric acid

A potentiometric method at imposed weak current between two paste electrodes, ferrocene and chloranil, permits the in situ determination of sulfuric acid concentrations (0.5–11.0 M). The different factors affecting the potential at imposed current as current intensity, temperature and H⁺ ion concentration are studied. The potentials measured between ferrocene and chloranil electrodes are directly linked to the acid concentration. The acidity R_i(H) function, which represents the determination of the H⁺ activity has been determined and compared to Strehlow R_o(H), Janata H_GF and Hammet H_o functions. R_i(H) is numerically equal to the thermodynamic R_o(H). Received: 19 October 1998 / Revised: 22 March 1999 / Accepted: 23 March 1999     

A sensor for the in situ determination of acidity levels in concentrated sulfuric acid

A potentiometric method at imposed weak current between two paste electrodes, ferrocene and chloranil, permits the in situ determination of sulfuric acid concentrations (0.5–11.0 M). The different factors affecting the potential at imposed current as current intensity, temperature and H⁺ ion concentration are studied. The potentials measured between ferrocene and chloranil electrodes are directly linked to the acid concentration. The acidity R_i(H) function, which represents the determination of the H⁺ activity has been determined and compared to Strehlow R_o(H), Janata H_GF and Hammet H_o functions. R_i(H) is numerically equal to the thermodynamic R_o(H). Received: 19 October 1998 / Revised: 22 March 1999 / Accepted: 23 March 1999