Organocatalysed asymmetric Mannich reactions

The asymmetric Mannich reaction ranks among the most potent enantioselective and diastereoselective C-C-bond forming reactions. In recent years, organocatalysed versions of asymmetric Mannich processes have been increasingly reported and used in a rapidly growing number of applications. This tutorial review provides an overview of the recent history of the asymmetric organocatalysed Mannich reaction, including scope and limitations, and application of different catalyst systems.     

Explanation of the unusual temperature dependence of the atmospherically important OH + H(2)S --> H(2)O + HS reaction and prediction of the rate constant at combustion temperatures

Rate constants for the OH + H2S --> H2O + HS reaction, which is important for both atmospheric chemistry and combustion, are calculated by direct dynamics with the M06-2X density functional using the MG3S basis set. Energetics are compared to high-level MCG3/3//MC-QCISD/3 wave function theory and to results obtained by other density functionals. We employ canonical variational transition-state theory with multidimensional tunneling contributions and scaled generalized normal-mode frequencies evaluated in redundant curvilinear coordinates with anharmonicity included in the torsion. The transition state has a quantum mechanically distinguishable, nonsuperimposable mirror image that corresponds to a separate classical reaction path; the effect of the multiple paths is examined through use of a symmetry number and by torsional methods. Calculations with the reference-potential Pitzer-Gwinn treatment of the torsional mode agree with experiment, within experimental scatter, and predict a striking temperature dependence of the activation energy, increasing from -0.1 kcal/mol at 200 K to 0.2, 1.0, 3.4, and 9.8 kcal/mol at 300, 500, 1000, and 2400 K. The unusual temperature dependence arises from a dynamical bottleneck at an energy below reactants, following an addition complex on the reaction path with a classical binding energy of 4.4 kcal/mol. As a way to check the mechanism, kinetic isotope effects of the OH + D2S and OD + D2S reactions have been predicted.     

Ab initio study on the kinetics of hydrogen abstraction for the H+alkene-->H2+alkenyl reaction class

Kinetics of the hydrogen abstraction reaction class of the H+alkene has been studied using the reaction class transition state theory (RC-TST) combined with the linear energy relationship (LER) and the barrier height grouping (BHG) approach. The rate constants for the reference reaction, H+C2H4, were obtained by the canonical variational transition state theory (CVT) with the small curvature tunneling (SCT) correction in the temperature range of 300-3000 K. Combined with these data, both the RC-TST/LER, where only reaction energy is needed, and RC-TST/BHG, where no other information is needed, are found to be promising methods for predicting rate constants for a large number of reactions in this reaction class. Our analysis indicates that less than 50% systematic errors on the average exist in the predicted rate constants using the RC-TST/LER or RC-TST/BHG method while in comparison to explicit rate calculations the differences are less than 100% or a factor of 2 on the average.     

Trost氮杂半冠醚手性配体在不对称催化反应中的应用

双功能手性金属络合物催化的不对称反应是目前有机化学研究的热点之一。本文综述了氮杂半冠醚手性配体与金属有机试剂络合的双金属催化剂,在催化不对称aldol反应、不对称Henry反应、不对称Michael反应、不对称Mannich反应、不对称Friedel-Crafts烷基化反应、不对称炔基化反应、不对称硅氰化反应、共聚反应、去对称化反应以及不对称Nozaki-Hiyama烯丙基化反应体系中的应用进展,重点介绍了不同催化体系对催化剂和反应底物之间立体效应和电子效应的影响,总结了控制反应立体选择性的规律以及有关催化反应的机理。     

Mechanism and Kinetics of the Reaction of Nitrosamines with OH Radical: A Theoretical Study

The reaction of nitrosodimethylamine, nitrosoazetidine, nitrosopyrrolidine, and nitrosopiperidine with the hydroxyl radical has been studied using electronic structure calculations in gas and aqueous phases. The rate constant was calculated using variational transition state theory. The reactions are initiated by H‐atom abstraction from the αC─H group of nitrosamines and leads to the formation of alkyl radical intermediate. In the subsequent reactions, the initially formed alkyl radical intermediate reacts with O₂ forming a peroxy radical. The reaction of peroxy radical with other atmospheric oxidants, such as HO₂ and NO radicals, is studied. The structures of the reactive species were optimized by using the density functional theory methods, such as M06‐2X, MPW1K, and BHandHLYP, and hybrid methods G3B3. The single‐point energy calculations were also performed at CCSD(T)/6‐311+G(d,p)// M062X/6‐311+G(d,p) level. The calculated thermodynamical parameters show that the reactions corresponding to the formation of intermediates and products are highly exothermic. We have calculated the rate constant for the initial H‐atom abstraction and subsequent favorable secondary reactions using canonical variational transition state theory over the temperature range of 150–400 K. The calculated rate constant for initial H‐atom abstraction reaction is ∼3 × 10⁻¹² cm³ molecule⁻¹ s⁻¹ and is in agreement with the previous experimental results. The calculated thermochemical data and rate constants show that the reaction profile and kinetics of the reactions are less dependent on the number of methyl groups present in the nitrosoamines. Furthermore, it has been found that the atmospheric lifetime of nitrosamines is around 5 days in the normal atmospheric OH concentration.     

Computational study of the ion-molecule reactions involving fluxional cations: CH4+ + H2--> CH5+ + H and isotope effect

Potential energy surfaces for the reactions of CH4+ with H2, HD, and D2 have been calculated using high-level ab initio methods, including coupled cluster theory, complete active space self-consistent field, and multireference configuration interaction. The energies are extrapolated to the complete basis set limit using the basis sets aug-cc-pVXZ (X = D, T, Q, 5, 6). The CH4+ + H2 reaction produces CH5+ and H exclusively. Three types of reaction mechanisms have been found, namely, complex-forming abstraction, scrambling, and S(N)2 displacement. The abstraction occurs via a very minor barrier and it is dominant. The other two mechanisms are negligible because of the significant barriers involved. Quantum phase space theory and variational transition state theory are used to calculate the rate coefficients as a function of temperatures in the range of 5-1000 K. The theoretical rate coefficients are compared with the available experimental data and the discrepancy is discussed. The significance of isotope effect, tunneling effect, and nuclear spin effect is investigated. The title reaction is predicted to be slightly exothermic with DeltaHr = -12.7 +/- 5.2 kJ/mol at 0 K.     

State-to-state reaction dynamics: a selective review

A selective review of state-to-state reaction dynamics experiments is presented. The review focuses on three classes of reactions that exemplify the rich history and illustrate the current state of the art in such work. These three reactions are (1) the hydrogen exchange reaction, H+H2-->H2+H and its isotopomers; (2) the H+RH-->H2+R reactions, where RH is an alkane, beginning with H+CH4-->H2+CH3 and extending to much larger alkanes; and (3) the Cl+RH-->HCl+R reactions, principally Cl+CH4-->HCl+CH3. We describe the experiments, discuss their results, present comparisons with theory, and introduce heuristic models.     

Development of Sulfonic-Acid-Functionalized Mesoporous Materials: Synthesis and Catalytic Applications

Sulfonic acid based mesostructures (SAMs) have been developed in recent years and have important catalytic applications. The primary applications of these materials are in various organic synthesis reactions, such as multicomponent reactions, carbon–carbon bond couplings, protection reactions, and Fries and Beckman rearrangements. This review aims to provide an overview of the recent developments in the field of SAMs with a particular emphasis on the reaction scope and advantages of heterogeneous solid acid catalysts.     

Theoretical studies on the reactivity of molybdenum enzymes

In recent years, advances in theoretical methods and computational capabilities have made it possible to investigate reaction mechanisms in enzymes. Density functional theory (DFT) is commonly used to study reactions in model systems, while combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) approaches allow the treatment of the complete solvated enzyme and thus provide insight into the mechanistic influence of the protein environment. This review starts with a brief overview over the available DFT and QM/MM methodology and then summarizes recent theoretical studies on biocatalysis by molybdenum-containing enzymes. It focuses on the reactions in members of the dimethylsulfoxide reductase, sulfite oxidase, and xanthine oxidase families, with special emphasis on the QM/MM studies of the latter. It concludes with a brief survey of theoretical work on some other molybdenum- and tungsten-containing enzymes.     

Rate Coefficients of Roaming Reaction H+MgH Using Ring Polymer Molecular Dynamics

The ring-polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) was used to calculate the thermal rate coefficients of the multi-channel roaming reaction H+MgH→Mg+H₂. Two reaction channels, tight and roaming, are explicitly considered. This is a pioneering attempt of exerting RPMD method to multi-channel reactions. With the help of a newly developed optimization-interpolation protocol for preparing the initial structures and adaptive protocol for choosing the force constants, we have successfully obtained the thermal rate coefficients. The results are consistent with those from other theoretical methods, such as variational transition state theory and quantum dynamics. Especially, RPMD results exhibit negative temperature dependence, which is similar to the results from variational transition state theory but different from the ones from ground state quantum dynamics calculations.     

Multicoordinate driven method for approximating enzymatic reaction paths: automatic definition of the reaction coordinate using a subset of chemical coordinates

We present a generalization of the reaction coordinate driven method to find reaction paths and transition states for complicated chemical processes, especially enzymatic reactions. The method is based on the definition of a subset of chemical coordinates; it is simple, robust, and suitable to calculate one or more alternative pathways, intermediate minima, and transition-state geometries. Though the results are approximate and the computational cost is relatively high, the method works for large systems, where others often fail. It also works when a certain reaction path competes with others having a lower energy barrier. Accordingly, the procedure is appropriate to test hypothetical reaction mechanisms for complicated systems and provides good initial guesses for more accurate methods. We present tests on a number of simple reactions and on several complicated chemical transformations and compare the results with those obtained by other methods. Calculation of the reaction path for the enzymatic hydrolysis of the substrate by dUTPase for an active-site model with 85 atoms, including several loosely bound water molecules, indicates that the method is feasible for the study of enzyme mechanisms.     

H2O(HOD) + Cl→HCl(DCl) + OH(OD)反应动态学的理论研究

用从头算方法, 获得了H2O + Cl→HCl + OH(R1), HOD +Cl→DCl + OH(R2), HOD + Cl→HCl + OD(R3)反应的内禀反应坐标(IRC)。根据传统过渡态、变分过渡态理论及相应的隧道效应校正, 计算了反应的速率常数。对已有实验速率常数值的R1反应, 我们计算的结果和实验一致。根据Truhlar的振动选态公式, 分别讨论了激发HOD中OH, OD振动模式对反应速率的影响,得到激发HOD中的OH振动模式将有利于产物OD + HCl生成, 和实验的结论相一致。     

Reaction rates for O + HD → OH + D and O + HD → OD + H

We have calculated reaction rates for the reactions O + HD → OH + D and O + DH → OD + H using improved canonical variational transition state theory and least-action ground-state transmission coefficients with an ab initio potential energy surface. The kinetic isotope effects are in good agreement with experiment. The optimized tunneling paths and properties of the variational transition states and the rate enhancement for vibrationally excited reactants are also presented and compared with those for the isotopically unsubstituted reaction O + H₂ → OH + H. The thermal reactions at low and room temperature are predicted to occur by tunneling at extended configurations, i.e., to initiate early on the reaction path and to avoid the saddle point regions. Tunneling also dominates the low and room temperature reactions for excited vibrational states, but in these cases the results are not as sensitive to the nature of the tunneling path. Overbarrier mechanisms dominate for both thermal and excited-vibrational state reactions for T > 600 K. For the excited-state reaction (with initial vibrational quantum number n > 0) a transition state switch occurs for T > 1000 K for the O + HD(n = 1) → OD + H case and for T > 1500 K for the O + DH(n = 1) → OD + H reaction, and this may be a general phenomenon for excited-state reactions at higher temperature. In the present case the switch occurs from an early variational transition state where the vibrationally adiabatic approximation is expected to be valid to a tighter variational transition state where nonadiabatic effects are probably important and should be included.     

A product branching ratio controlled by vibrational adiabaticity and variational effects: kinetics of the H + trans-N2H2 reactions

The abstraction and addition reactions of H with trans-N(2)H(2) are studied by high-level ab initio methods and density functional theory. Rate constants were calculated for these two reactions by multistructural variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling and including torsional anharmonicity by the multistructural torsion method. Rate constants of the abstraction reaction show large variational effects, that is, the variational transition state yields a smaller rate constant than the conventional transition state; this results from the fact that the variational transition state has a higher zero-point vibrational energy than the conventional transition state. The addition reaction has a classical barrier height that is about 1 kcal∕mol lower than that of the abstraction reaction, but the addition rates are lower than the abstraction rates due to vibrational adiabaticity. The calculated branching ratio of abstraction to addition is 3.5 at 200 K and decreases to 1.2 at 1000 K and 1.06 at 1500 K.     

均相化学反应体系的Monte-Carlo计算机模拟

根据反应速率的碰撞理论及反应独立共存原理,对包括振荡反应在内的均相化学反应的计算机模拟进行了探讨,在系统讨论有关Moote-Carlo模拟问题中,着重论述了模拟中分支反应与有效碰撞数的关系及计算机时间与实际反应时间的换算问题。提出了通用于各种均相化学反应的模拟算法,并成功地用于化学振荡反应机理的探讨。     

On the use of optimal internal vibrational coordinates for symmetrical bent triatomic molecules

The use of generalized internal coordinates for the variational calculation of excited vibrational states of symmetrical bent triatomic molecules is considered with applications to the SO2, O3, NO2, and H2O molecules. These coordinates depend on two external parameters which can be properly optimized. We propose a simple analytical method to determine the optimal internal coordinates for this kind of molecules based on the minimization with respect to the external parameters of the zero-point energy, assuming only quadratic terms in the Hamiltonian and no quadratic coupling between the optimal coordinates. The optimal values of the parameters thus obtained are shown to agree quite well with those that minimize the sum of a number of unconverged energies of the lowest vibrational states, computed variationally using a small basis function set. The unconverged variational calculation uses a basis set consisting of the eigenfunctions of the uncoupled anharmonic internal coordinate Hamiltonian. Variational calculations of the excited vibrational states for the four molecules considered carried out with an increasing number of basis functions, also evidence the excellent convergence properties of the optimal internal coordinates versus those provided by other normal and local coordinate systems.     

Radiochemical determination of nuclear data for theory and applications

A vast knowledge of nuclear data is available and is grouped under three headings, namely, nuclear structure, nuclear decay and nuclear reaction data. Still newer aspects are under continuous investigation. Data measurements are done using a large number of techniques, including the radiochemical method, which has been extensively worked out at Jülich. This method entails preparation of high-quality sample for irradiation, isolation of the desired radioactive product from the strong matrix activity, and preparation of thin source suitable for accurate measurement of the radioactivity. It is especially useful for fundamental studies on light complex particle emission reactions and formation of low-lying isomeric states, both of which are rather difficult to describe by nuclear model calculations. The neutron induced reaction cross section data are of practical application in fusion reactor technology, particularly for calculations on tritium breeding, gas production in structural materials and activation of reactor components. The charged particle induced reaction cross section data, on the other hand, are of significance in medicine, especially for developing new production routes of novel positron emitters and therapeutic radionuclides at a cyclotron. Both neutron and charged particle data also find application in radiation therapy. A brief overview of advances made in all those areas is given, with major emphasis on nuclear reaction cross section data.     

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.     

Higher-order split operator schemes for solving the Schrödinger equation in the time-dependent wave packet method: applications to triatomic reactive scattering calculations

The efficiency of the numerical propagators for solving the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation in the wave packet approach to reactive scattering is of vital importance. In this Perspective, we first briefly review the propagators used in quantum reactive scattering calculations and their applications to triatomic reactions. Then we present a detailed comparison of about thirty higher-order split operator propagators for solving the Schr?dinger equation with their applications to the wave packet evolution within a one-dimensional Morse potential, and the total reaction probability calculations for the H + HD, H + NH, H + O(2), and F + HD reactions. These four triatomic reactions have quite different dynamic characteristics and thus provide a comprehensive picture of the relative advantages of these higher-order propagation methods for describing reactive scattering dynamics. Our calculations reveal that the most often used second-order split operator method is typically more efficient for a direct reaction, particularly for those involving flat potential energy surfaces. However, the optimal higher-order split operator methods are more suitable for a reaction with resonances and intermediate complexes or a reaction experiencing potential energy surface with fluctuations of considerable amplitude. Three 4th-order and one 6th-order split operator methods, which are most efficient for solving reactive scattering in various conditions among the tested ones, are recommended for general applications. In addition, a brief discussion on the relative performance between the Chebyshev real wave packet method and the split operator method is given. The results in this Perspective are expected to stimulate more applications of (high-order) split operators to the quantum reactive scattering calculation and other related problems.     

Recent advances in crossed-beam studies of bimolecular reactions

A critical overview of the recent progress in crossed-beam reactive scattering is presented. This review is not intended to be an exhaustive nor a comprehensive one, but rather a critical assessment of what we have been learning about bimolecular reaction dynamics using crossed molecular beams since year 2000. Particular emphasis is placed on the information content encoded in the product angular distribution-the trait of a typical molecular beam scattering experiment-and how the information can help in answering fundamental questions about chemical reactivity. We will start with simple reactions by highlighting a few benchmark three-atom reactions, and then move on progressively to the more complex chemical systems and with more sophisticated types of measurements. Understanding what cause the experimental observations is more than computationally simulating the results. The give and take between experiment and theory in unraveling the physical picture of the underlying dynamics is illustrated throughout this review.