Shock tube pyrolysis of 1,2,4,5-hexatetraene

1,2,4,5-Hexatetraene (1245HT) is, according to theory, a key intermediate to benzene from propargyl radicals in a variety of flames; however, it has only been experimentally observed once in previous studies of the C3H3 + C3H3 reaction. To determine if it is indeed an intermediate to benzene formation, 1245HT was synthesized, via a Grignard reaction, and pyrolysized in a single-pulse shock tube at two nominal pressures of 22 and 40 bar over a temperature range from 540 to 1180 K. At temperatures T < 700 K, 1245HT converts efficiently to 3,4-dimethylenecyclobutene (34DMCB) with a rate constant of k = 10(10.16) x exp(-23.4 kcal/RT), which is in good agreement with the one calculated by Miller and Klippenstein. At higher temperatures, various C6H6 isomers were generated, which is consistent with theory and earlier experimental studies. Thus, the current work strongly supports the theory that 1245HT plays a bridging role in forming benzene from propargyl radicals. RRKM modeling of the current data set has also been carried out with the Miller-Klippenstein potential. It was found that the theory gives reasonably good predictions of the experimental observations of 1245HT, 1,5-hexadiyne (15HD), and 34DMCB in the current study and in our earlier studies of 15HD pyrolysis and propargyl recombination; however, there is considerable discrepancy between experiment and theory for the isomerization route of 1,2-hexadien-5-yne (12HD5Y) --> 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene (2E13BD) --> fulvene.     

Reactions of C2H with 1- and 2-butynes: an ab initio/RRKM study of the reaction mechanism and product branching ratios

Ab initio CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ(CBS)//B3LYP/6-311G** calculations of the C(6)H(7) potential energy surface are combined with RRKM calculations of reaction rate constants and product branching ratios to investigate the mechanism and product distribution in the C(2)H + 1-butyne/2-butyne reactions. 2-Ethynyl-1,3-butadiene (C(6)H(6)) + H and ethynylallene (C(5)H(4)) + CH(3) are predicted to be the major products of the C(2)H + 1-butyne reaction. The reaction is initiated by barrierless ethynyl additions to the acetylenic C atoms in 1-butyne and the product branching ratios depend on collision energy and the direction of the initial C(2)H attack. The 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene + H products are favored by the central C(2)H addition to 1-butyne, whereas ethynylallene + CH(3) are preferred for the terminal C(2)H addition. A relatively minor product favored at higher collision energies is diacetylene + C(2)H(5). Three other acyclic C(6)H(6) isomers, including 1,3-hexadiene-5-yne, 3,4-hexadiene-1-yne, and 1,3-hexadiyne, can be formed as less important products, but the production of the cyclic C(6)H(6) species, fulvene, and dimethylenecyclobut-1-ene (DMCB), is predicted to be negligible. The qualitative disagreement with the recently measured experimental product distribution of C(6)H(6) isomers is attributed to a possible role of the secondary 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene + H reaction, which may generate fulvene as a significant product. Also, the photoionization energy curve assigned to DMCB in experiment may originate from vibrationally excited 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene molecules. For the C(2)H + 2-butyne reaction, the calculations predict the C(5)H(4) isomer methyldiacetylene + CH(3) to be the dominant product, whereas very minor products include the C(6)H(6) isomers 1,1-ethynylmethylallene and 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene.     

The conformation and vibrational spectra of 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene (3-methylene-4-pentene-yne)

A sample of 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene was synthesized by a thermal rearrangement of 1,2-hexadiene-5-yne at ca. 770 K. Infrared spectra were recorded of the vapour, the liquid and of the amorphous and crystalline solids at 90 K in the region 4000-50 cm⁻¹. Raman spectra were obtained of the cooled liquid, including semiquantitative polarization measurements, and of the crystalline solid at 90 K. The spectral data indicate that 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene exists as the s-trans conformer in the various states of aggregation but the possibility of small amounts of a second conformer cannot be excluded.     

Mechanistic studies of the pyrolysis of 1,3-butadiene, 1,3-butadiene-1,1,4,4-d4, 1,2-butadiene, and 2-butyne by supersonic jet/photoionization mass spectrometry

The thermal decomposition of 1,3-butadiene, 1,3-butadiene-1,1,4,4-d(4), 1,2-butadiene, and 2-butyne at temperatures up to 1520 K was carried out by flash pyrolysis on a approximately 20 mus time scale. The reaction products were isolated by supersonic expansion and detected by single-photon (lambda = 118 nm) vacuum-ultraviolet time-of-flight mass spectrometry (VUV-TOFMS). Direct detection of CH(3) and C(3)H(3), as well as C(3)H(4), C(4)H(4), and C(4)H(5) products, provides insight into the initial steps involved in the complex pyrolysis of these C(4)H(6) species below T = 1500 K. The similar pyrolysis product distributions for the C(4)H(6) isomers on such a short time scale support the previously proposed mechanism of facile isomerization of these species. Isomerization of 1,3-butadiene to 1,2-butadiene and subsequent C-C bond fission of 1,2-butadiene to produce CH(3) and C(3)H(3) (propargyl) are most likely the primary initial radical production channel in the 1,3-butadiene pyrolysis.     

An ab initio/RRKM study of product branching ratios in the photodissociation of buta-1,2- and -1,3-dienes and but-2-yne at 193 nm

Ab initio G2M(MP2)//B3LYP/6-311G** calculations have been performed to investigate the reaction mechanism of photodissociation of buta-1,2- and -1,3-dienes and but-2-yne after their internal conversion into the vibrationally hot ground electronic state. The detailed study of the potential-energy surface was followed by microcanonical RRKM calculations of energy-dependent rate constants for individual reaction steps (at 193 nm photoexcitation and under collision-free conditions) and by solution of kinetic equations aimed at predicting the product branching ratios. For buta-1,2-diene, the major dissociation channels are found to be the single Cbond;C bond cleavage to form the methyl and propargyl radicals and loss of hydrogen atoms from various positions to produce the but-2-yn-1-yl (p1), buta-1,2-dien-4-yl (p2), and but-1-yn-3-yl (p3) isomers of C(4)H(5). The calculated branching ratio of the CH(3) + C(3)H(3)/C(4)H(5) + H products, 87.9:5.9, is in a good agreement with the recent experimental value of 96:4 (ref. 21) taking into account that a significant amount of the C(4)H(5) product undergoes secondary dissociation to C(4)H(4) + H. The isomerization of buta-1,2-diene to buta-1,3-diene or but-2-yne appears to be slower than its one-step decomposition and plays only a minor role. On the other hand, the buta-1,3-diene-->buta-1,2-diene, buta-1,3-diene-->but-2-yne, and buta-1,3-diene-->cyclobutene rearrangements are significant in the dissociation of buta-1,3-diene, which is shown to be a more complex process. The major reaction products are still CH(3) + C(3)H(3), formed after the isomerization of buta-1,3-diene to buta-1,2-diene, but the contribution of the other radical channels, C(4)H(5) + H and C(2)H(3) + C(2)H(3), as well as two molecular channels, C(2)H(2) + C(2)H(4) and C(4)H(4) + H(2), significantly increases. The overall calculated C(4)H(5) + H/CH(3) + C(3)H(3)/C(2)H(3) + C(2)H(3)/C(4)H(4) + H(2)/C(2)H(2) + C(2)H(4) branching ratio is 24.0:49.6:4.6:6.1:15.2, which agrees with the experimental value of 20:50:8:2:2022 within 5 % margins. For but-2-yne, the one-step decomposition pathways, which include mostly H atom loss to produce p1 and, to a minor extent, molecular hydrogen elimination to yield methylethynylcarbene, play an approximately even role with that of the channels that involve the isomerization of but-2-yne to buta-1,2- or -1,3-dienes. p1 + H are the most important reaction products, with a branching ratio of 56.6 %, followed by CH(3) + C(3)H(3) (23.8 %). The overall C(4)H(5) + H/CH(3) + C(3)H(3)/C(2)H(3) + C(2)H(3)/C(4)H(4) + H(2)/C(2)H(2) + C(2)H(4) branching ratio is predicted as 62.0:23.8:2.5:5.7:5.6. Contrary to buta-1,2- and -1,3-dienes, photodissociation of but-2-yne is expected to produce more hydrogen atoms than methyl radicals. The isomerization mechanisms between various isomers of the C(4)H(6) molecule including buta-1,2- and -1,3-dienes, but-2-yne, 1-methylcyclopropene, dimethylvinylidene, and cyclobutene have been also characterized in detail.     

The association reaction between C2H and 1-butyne: a computational chemical kinetics study

The potential energy surfaces (PES) for the reaction of the C(2)H radical with 1-butyne (C(4)H(6)) have been studied using the CBS-QB3 method. Density functional B3LYP/cc-pVTZ and M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) calculations have also been performed to analyze the reaction energetics. For detailed theoretical calculation on the total reaction mechanism, the initial association reactions on more and less substituted C atoms of 1-butyne are treated separately followed by a variational transition state theory (VTST) calculation to obtain reaction rates. The successive unimolecular reactions from the association reaction complexes are subjected to Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) calculations for reaction rate constants and product branching ratios. The calculated rate constants in the temperature range 70-295 K for both the association reactions are found to be highly temperature dependent at low temperatures, which is contrary to the experimental findings of temperature independent association rates. We have explained this observation with the help of variational nature of the transition states, and we found a "loose" transition state at low temperatures. The calculated product branching ratios for the unimolecular reactions generally agree with the available experimental data, although some channels show a significant method dependency and therefore the correlation with experiment is lost to some extent. Our detailed reaction energetics calculations confirm that the C(2)H + C(4)H(6) reaction proceeds without an entrance barrier and leads to the important products ethynylallene + CH(3), 1,3-hexadiyne + H, 3,4-hexadiene-1-yne + H, 2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene + H, 3,4-dimethylenecyclobut-1-ene + H and fulvene + H exothermic by 25-75 kcal mol(-1), with strong dependence of the product distribution on the association mode of C(2)H with C(4)H(6), making these reactions fast under low temperature conditions of Titan's atmosphere. Therefore this study can provide a detailed picture of the complex hydrocarbon formation mechanism in the upper atmosphere.     

An optimized semidetailed submechanism of benzene formation from propargyl recombination

The self-reaction of propargyl (C3H3) radicals has been widely suggested as one of the key routes forming benzene in a variety of aliphatic flames. Currently, in the majority of aromatic models, the C3H3 + C3H3 submechanism often contains one or two C6H6 isomers and a few global reaction steps, which do not adequately represent the actual recombination chemistry. Recent experimental and theoretical studies on the direct propargyl recombination and subsequent C6H6 isomerization have provided sufficient information to revisit and revise the C3H3 + C3H3 reaction submechanism. In the present work, a semidetailed kinetic model consisting of seven isomeric C6H6 species and 14 reaction steps was constructed based on the most recent potential energy surface for this system. The trial model was subjected to systemic optimization by use of a recently developed physically bounded Gauss-Newton (PGN) method against detailed species profiles of direct propargyl recombination and 1,5-hexadiyne (15HD) isomerization obtained from experiments at high temperatures in a shock tube and at low temperatures in a flow reactor, which were all measured at very high pressure (shock tube) or atmospheric (flow reactor) conditions. Predictions of the optimized model were in excellent agreement with all experimental measurements. The optimized C3H3 + C3H3 reaction subset was also tested for flame modeling. Two different aromatic chemistry models that incorporate benzene formation from propargyl radicals as a single step reaction were modified to include the complete submechanism for propargyl recombination. The updated models predict significant percentages of three isomeric species [2-ethynyl-1,3-butadiene (2E13BD), fulvene, and benzene] in premixed fuel-rich acetylene and ethylene flames, reflecting the observed flame structures.     

Cyclotrimerization of alkynes catalyzed by the naphthalene ruthenium complex [CpRu(C10H8)]+

The naphthalene ruthenium complex [CpRu(C₁₀H₈)]⁺ (in the presence of Cl^? ions) catalyzes the cyclotrimerization of 2,2-dimethyl-5,5-dipropargyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione with alkynes (acetylene, hex-1-yne, hex-3-yne, oct-1-yne, phenylacetylene, trimetylsilylacetylene, octa-1,7-diyne, pent-1-yn-5-ol, methyl propargyl ether, and propargyl acetate) giving tricyclic aromatic compounds in 55–85% yields.     

Thermische umlagerungen-XV. Die thermische isomerisierung von 1,9-decadien-5-in und 6-hepten-2-in-1-ylacetat

Two novel thermal rearrangements providing 2,3-disubstituted 1,3-butadienes are described: the isomerization of 1,9-decadien-5-yne (3) to 4,5-bismethylene-1,7-octadiene (5) and of 1-acetoxy-6-hepten-2-yne (10) to 2-acetoxy-3-allyl-1,3-butadiene (12).     

Bimolecular rate constant and product branching ratio measurements for the reaction of C2H with ethene and propene at 79 K

The reactions of the ethynyl radical (C(2)H) with ethene (C(2)H(4)) and propene (C(3)H(6)) are studied under low temperature conditions (79 K) in a pulsed Laval nozzle apparatus. Ethynyl radicals are formed by 193 nm photolysis of acetylene (C(2)H(2)) and the reactions are studied in nitrogen as a carrier gas. Reaction products are sampled and subsequently photoionized by the tunable vacuum ultraviolet radiation of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The product ions are detected mass selectively and time-resolved by a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Bimolecular rate coefficients are determined under pseudo-first-order conditions, yielding values in good agreement with previous measurements. Photoionization spectra are measured by scanning the ALS photon energy while detecting the ionized reaction products. Analysis of the photoionization spectra yields-for the first time-low temperature isomer resolved product branching ratios. The reaction between C(2)H and ethene is found to proceed by H-loss and yields 100% vinylacetylene. The reaction between C(2)H and propene results in (85 ± 10)% C(4)H(4) (m/z = 52) via CH(3)-loss and (15 ± 10)% C(5)H(6) (m/z = 66) by H-loss. The C(4)H(4) channel is found to consist of 100% vinylacetylene. For the C(5)H(6) channel, analysis of the photoionization spectrum reveals that (62 ± 16)% is in the form of 4-penten-1-yne, (27 ± 8)% is in the form of cis- and trans-3-penten-1-yne and (11 ± 10)% is in the form of 2-methyl-1-buten-3-yne.     

Photochemical and discharge-driven pathways to aromatic products from 1,3-butadiene

A detailed study of the photochemical and discharge-driven pathways taken by gas-phase 1,3-butadiene has been carried out. Photolysis or discharge excitation was initiated inside a short reaction tube attached to the outlet of a pulsed valve. Bath gas temperatures near 100 K were achieved in the reaction tube by the constrained expansion of the gas mixture into the tube, simulating temperatures of relevance in Titan's atmosphere. Photolysis of 1,3-butadiene was initiated at 218 nm with a laser pulse that counter-propagated the reaction tube. Discharge excitation was carried out using discharge electrodes imbedded in the reaction tube walls, enabling the study of the photochemical and discharge products under similar conditions. Products were detected using either single-photon VUV photoionization (118 nm = 10.5 eV) or resonant two-photon ionization (R(2)PI) spectroscopy in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Emphasis was placed on characterization of the aromatic products formed, since these may be of particular relevance to Titan's atmosphere, where benzene has been positively identified and 1,3-butadiene is projected as the principle pathway to its formation. Consistent with previous studies of the photodissociation of 1,3-butadiene, C(3)H(3) + CH(3) is the dominant primary product formed. Under the temperature-pressure conditions present in the reaction tube (T approximately 75-100 K, P = 50 mbar), C(6)H(6) is the dominant secondary photochemical product formed. A 1:1 C(4)H(6):C(4)D(6) mixture was used to prove that the C(6)H(6) product was formed by recombination of two C(3)H(3) radicals; however, a careful search for benzene revealed none, indicating that less than 1% of the C(6)H(6) formed in the reaction tube is benzene. This is consistent with expectations for these temperatures and pressures based on previous modeling of propargyl recombination. Two aromatic products were observed from the photochemistry: ethylbenzene and 3-phenylpropyne. Plausible pathways leading to these products are proposed. In the discharge, C(3)H(3) + CH(3) are also identified as significant primary neutral products and C(6)H(6) as a dominant higher-mass product. In this case, the C(6)H(6) was identified as benzene via its R2PI spectrum, appearing with intensity about 10 times larger than any other aromatic formed in the discharge. R2PI spectra of a total of about 15 aromatic products were recorded from the 1,3-butadiene discharge, among them toluene; styrene; phenylacetylene; o-, m-, and p-xylene; ethylbenzene; indane; indene; beta-methylstyrene; and naphthalene. Previously unidentified spectra in the m/z 142 and 144 mass channels were positively identified as the 1,3- and 1,4-isomers of phenylcyclopentadiene and the analogous 1-phenylcyclopentene.     

Thermische Umlagerungen von halogensubstituierten Aryl-propargyläthern

7-Chloro-2-chloromethyl-benzofuran (13) and 3, 8-dichloro-2 H-1-benzopyran (12) are the main products from the thermal rearrangement (230–260°) of 2, 6-dichlorophenyl propargyl ether (7) . Compounds 17 , 18 and 19 are also formed, but in much smaller amounts (scheme 2 and table 1). However, in the case of the bromo-compounds 8 and 9 the rearrangement products are the benzofuran derivatives 21 and 22 , containing one bromine atom less per molecule (scheme 4). The corresponding naphthyl propargyl ethers 10 and 11 can be rearranged much more easily (180°) to the halogeno-naphthofurans 24 and 26 respectively. In the case of the bromo-ether 11 , 2-methyl-naphtho[2, 1-b]furan (25) is also formed (scheme 5). If the propargylic hydrogen atoms in 7 and 11 are replaced by deuterium atoms, then after rearrangement the deuterium atoms in the products d- 13 and d- 26 are found in the β-positions to the oxygen atom of the furan ring (schemes 3 and 5). It is suggested that initially a [3s, 3s]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the aryl propargyl ethers to the 6-allenyl-6-halogeno-cyclohexa-2, 4-dien-1-ones (e.g. a ) occurs and that from these the isolated products are formed via radical pathways (scheme 6). Under neutral conditions aryl propargyl ethers containing a free ortho-position give on heating benzopyran derivatives [2]. When this thermal reaction is carried out in sulfolane in the presence of powdered potassium carbonate, 2-methyl-benzofuran derivatives are formed (table 2). This leads to the possibility of preparing, depending on the conditions, either benzopyran or benzofuran derivatives by the Claisen rearrangement of aryl propargyl ethers. The mechanism for the formation of the benzofurans is given in scheme 9.     

Efficient synthesis of enynes by tetraphosphine-palladium-catalysed reaction of vinyl bromides with terminal alkynes

Through the use of [PdCl(C₃H₅)]₂/cis,cis,cis-1,2,3,4-tetrakis(diphenylphosphinomethyl)cyclopentane as catalyst, a range of vinyl bromides undergoes Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction with a variety of alkynes, leading to the corresponding 1,3-enynes in good yields. The reaction tolerates several alkynes such as phenylacetylene, dec-1-yne, 2-methylbut-1-en-3-yne a range of alk-1-ynols, 3,3-diethoxyprop-1-yne and a propargyl amine. Higher reactions rates were observed in the presence of phenylacetylene, dec-1-yne, but-3-yn-1-ol, pent-4-yn-1-ol, 3,3-diethoxyprop-1-yne or 1,1-dipropyl-2-propynylamine than with propargyl alcohol, 3-methoxy-prop-1-yne or 2-methylbut-1-en-3-yne. This catalyst can be used at low loading even for reactions of sterically hindered vinyl bromides such as bromotriphenylethylene or 2-bromo-3-methyl-but-2-ene.     

Sigmatropische Umlagerungen von Aryl-propargyläthern; Synthese von 1, 5-Dimethyl-6-methylen-tricyclo[3, 2, 1, 02,7]-oct-3-en-8-on-Derivaten. Vorläufige Mitteilung

2, 6-Dimethylphenyl propargyl ether ( 10 ) and its derivatives 12–15 rearrange thermally to 1, 5-dimethyl-6-methylene-tricyclo [3.2.1.0^2,7]oct-3-en-8-one ( 9 ) and related compounds 16–19 . The ethers undergo first an aromatic [3, 3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to ortho-allenyldienones 11 , which then undergo ring closure to the tricyclic products by an electrocyclic reaction. Only in the case of the γ-methylpropargyl ether 13 , the ortho-dienone 11 is further rearranged in low yield to the para-butynylphenol 20 , but the tricyclic ketone 17 is again the main product. New data show that the known thermal cyclisation of aryl propargyl ethers to chromenes (e. g. 4 → 8 ) involves a preliminary [3, 3]-sigmatropic rearrangement.     

Beyond Schmittel and Myers-Saito cyclizations: rearrangements of 4-heteroatom-1,2-hexa-diene-5-ynes

The thermal rearrangements of 4-heteroatom-1,2-hexadiene-5-ynes (2) were studied at the BLYP/6-311+G//BLYP/6-31G level of theory. Cyclization of 2 to heteroatom-containing cyclopentadienyl structures (6) competes with the Claisen-type rearrangement to acyclic, allenic structures. Cyclizations to cyclobutene (4)- and cyclohexadiene (8)-derived heterocycles are not feasible as a result of high reaction barriers and lower-lying alternative pathways. [structure: see text]     

Absolute photoionization cross-section of the propargyl radical

Using synchrotron-generated vacuum-ultraviolet radiation and multiplexed time-resolved photoionization mass spectrometry we have measured the absolute photoionization cross-section for the propargyl (C(3)H(3)) radical, σ(propargyl) (ion)(E), relative to the known absolute cross-section of the methyl (CH(3)) radical. We generated a stoichiometric 1:1 ratio of C(3)H(3):CH(3) from 193 nm photolysis of two different C(4)H(6) isomers (1-butyne and 1,3-butadiene). Photolysis of 1-butyne yielded values of σ(propargyl)(ion)(10.213 eV)=(26.1±4.2) Mb and σ(propargyl)(ion)(10.413 eV)=(23.4±3.2) Mb, whereas photolysis of 1,3-butadiene yielded values of σ(propargyl)(ion)(10.213 eV)=(23.6±3.6) Mb and σ(propargyl)(ion)(10.413 eV)=(25.1±3.5) Mb. These measurements place our relative photoionization cross-section spectrum for propargyl on an absolute scale between 8.6 and 10.5 eV. The cross-section derived from our results is approximately a factor of three larger than previous determinations.     

Temperature- and solvent-dependent binding of dihydrogen in iridium pincer complexes

Mixtures of deuterium labeled complexes (p-XPOCOP)IrH2-xDx (1-6-d0-2) {POCOP = [C6H2-1,3-[OP(tBu)2]2] X = MeO (1), Me (2), H (3), F (4), C6F5 (5), and ArF = 3,5-(CF3)2-C6H3 (6)} have been generated by reaction of (p-XPOCOP)IrH2 complexes with HD gas in benzene followed by removal of the solvent under high vacuum. Spectroscopic analysis employing 1H and 2D NMR reveals significant temperature and solvent dependent isotopic shifts and HD coupling constants. Complexes 1-6-d1 in toluene and pentane between 296 and 213 K exhibit coupling constants JHD of 3.8-9.0 Hz, suggesting the presence of an elongated H2 ligand, which is confirmed by T1(min) measurements of complexes 1, 3, and 6 in toluene-d8. In contrast, complex 6-d1 exhibits JHD = 0 Hz in CH2Cl2 or CDCl2F whereas isotopic shifts up to -4.05 ppm have been observed by lowering the temperature from 233 to 133 K in CDCl2F. The large and temperature-dependent isotope effects are attributed to nonstatistical occupation of two different hydride environments. The experimental observations are interpreted in terms of a two component model involving rapid equilibration of solvated Ir(III) dihydride and Ir(I) dihydrogen structures.     

Highly regio- and chemoselective palladium-catalyzed propargylallylation of activated olefins: a novel route to 1,7-enyne derivatives

An efficient method for the synthesis of 1,7-enyne derivatives via phosphine-palladium-catalyzed three-component assembling of activated olefins, allylic chlorides, and allenylstannanes is described. Substituted arylethylidene malononitriles 1a-g (RCH=C(CN)(2): R = C(6)H(5) (1a), p-ClC(6)H(4) (1b), p-OMeC(6)H(4) (1c), p-NO(2)C(6)H(4) (1d), 1-naphthyl (1e), 2-furyl (1f), and 2-thienyl (1g)) undergo propargylallylation with allylic chlorides 2a-e (allyl chloride (2a), methallyl chloride (2b), 4-chloropent-2-ene (2c), cinnamyl chloride (2d), and 3-chlorocyclohexene (2e)) and n-tributylallenylstannane (n-Bu(3)SnCH=C=CH(2), 3a) in the presence of Pd(PPh(3))(4) in toluene to afford the corresponding 1,7-enyne derivatives 4a-m in good to excellent yields. The catalytic reaction is highly regioselective, with the propargyl group adding to the carbon where the R group is attached and the allyl group adding to the carbon connected to the CN groups of activated olefins 1a-g. The present catalytic reaction is successfully extended to substituted arylethylidene-1,3-indanediones 5a-j (RCH = (1,3-indanedione): R = C(6)H(5) (5a), p-ClC(6)H(4) (5b), p-BrC(6)H(4) (5c), p-OMeC(6)H(4) (5d), p-NO(2)C(6)H(4) (5e), p-CNC(6)H(4) (5f), p-biphenyl (5g), 1-naphthyl (5h), 2-thienyl (5i), and 2-benzo[b]furane-2-yl (5j)) and substituted 2,2-dimethyl-5-(arylethylidene)-1,3-dioxane-4,6-diones 7a,b (RCH = (1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione): R = p-NO(2)C(6)H(4) (7a), p-OMeC(6)H(4) (7b)). The three-component assembling of these substrates with allylic chlorides (2a,b,d,e) and n-tributylallenylstannane (n-Bu(3)SnCH=C=CH(2), 3a) proceeds smoothly to afford the corresponding 1,7-enyne derivatives 6a-m and 8a-d in good to excellent yields. The catalytic propargylallylation can be further applied to the activated dienes, C(6)H(5)CH=CH=CR(2) (R(2) = (CN)(2) (9a), 1,3-indanedione (9b), 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-4,6-dione (9c)), with allylic chlorides (2a,b,d) and allenylstannane 3a to give regio- and chemoselective 1,2-addition products 10a-h in good to excellent yields. A plausible mechanism based on an eta(1)-allenyl eta(3)-allyl palladium intermediate is proposed to account for the catalytic three-component reaction.     

A theoretical study for the reaction of vinyl cyanide C2H3CN(X1A') with the ground state carbon atom C(3P) in cold molecular clouds

The reaction of the ground state atomic carbon, C(3P), with simple unsaturated nitrile, C2H3CN(X1A' (vinyl cyanide), is investigated theoretically to explore the probable routes for the formation of carbon-nitrogen-bearing species in extraterrestrial environments particularly of ultralow temperature. Five collision complexes without entrance barrier as a result of the carbon atom addition to the pi systems of C2H3CN are characterized. The B3YLP/6-311G(d,p) level of theory is utilized in obtaining the optimized geometries, harmonic frequencies, and energies of the intermediates, transition states, and products along the isomerization and dissociation pathways of each collision complex. Subsequently, with the facilitation of computed RRKM rate constants at collision energy of 0-10 kcal/mol, the most probable paths for each collision complexes are determined, of which the CCSD(T)/6-311G(d,p) energies are calculated. The major products predicted are exclusively due to the hydrogen atom dissociations, while the products of H2, CN, and CH2 decompositions are found negligible. Among many possible H-elimination products, cyano propargyl (p4) and 3-cyano propargyl (p5) are the most probable, in which p5 can be formed via two intermediates, cyano allene (i8) and cyano vinylmethylene (i6), while p4 is yielded from i8. The study suggests this class of reaction is an important route to the synthesis of unsaturated nitriles at the temperature as low as 10 K, and the results are valuable for future chemical models of interstellar clouds.     

Synthesis of a crystalline molecular complex of Y2+, [(18-crown-6)K][(C5H4SiMe3)3Y

The La(2+) complex [K(18-crown-6)(OEt(2))][Cp″(3)La] (1) [Cp″ = C(5)H(3)(SiMe(3))(2)-1,3], can be synthesized under N(2), but in the presence of KC(5)Me(5), 1 reduces N(2) to the (N═N)(2-) product [(C(5)Me(5))(2)(THF)La](2)(μ-η(2):η(2)-N(2)). This suggests a dichotomy in terms of ligands that optimize isolation of reduced dinitrogen complexes versus isolation of divalent complexes of the rare earths. To determine whether the first crystalline molecular Y(2+) complex could be isolated using this logic, Cp'(3)Y (2) (Cp' = C(5)H(4)SiMe(3)) was synthesized from YCl(3) and KCp' and reduced with KC(8) in the presence of 18-crown-6 in Et(2)O at -45 °C under argon. EPR evidence was consistent with Y(2+) and crystallization provided the first structurally characterizable molecular Y(2+) complex, dark-maroon-purple [(18-crown-6)K][Cp'(3)Y] (3).