Acid-catalyzed nucleophilic aromatic substitution: experimental and theoretical exploration of a multistep mechanism

The mechanism for the acid-mediated substitution of a phenolic hydroxyl group with a sulfur nucleophile has been investigated by a combination of experimental and theoretical methods. We conclude that the mechanism is distinctively different in nonpolar solvents (i.e., toluene) compared with polar solvents. The cationic mechanism, proposed for the reaction in polar solvents, is not feasible and the reaction instead proceeds through a multistep mechanism in which the acid (pTsOH) mediates the proton shuffling. From DFT calculations, we found a rate-determining transition state with protonation of the hydroxyl group to generate free water and a tight ion pair between a cationic protonated naphthalene species and a tosylate anion. Kinetic experiments support this mechanism and show that, at moderate concentrations, the reaction is first order with respect to 2-naphthol, n-propanethiol, and p-toluenesulfonic acid (pTsOH). Experimentally determined activation parameters are similar to the calculated values (Delta H exp not equal =105+/-9, Delta H calcd not equal =118 kJ mol(-1); Delta G exp not equal =112+/-18, Delta G calcd not equal =142 kJ mol(-1)).     

An Experimentally Established Key Intermediate in Benzene Nitration with Mixed Acid

Experimental evidence is reported for the first intermediate in the classic S_EAr reaction of benzene nitration with mixed acid. The UV/Vis spectroscopic investigation of the reaction showed an intense absorption at 320 nm (appearing as a band shoulder) arising from a reaction intermediate. Our theoretical modeling shows that the interaction between the two principal reactants with solvent (H₂SO₄) molecules significantly affects the structure of the initial complex. In this complex, a larger distance between the aromatic ring and nitronium ion precludes the possibility for electronic charge transfer from the benzene π‐system to the electrophile. The computational modeling of the potential energy surface reveals that the reaction favors a stepwise mechanism with intermediate formation of π‐ and σ‐ (arenium ion) complexes.     

On a possible growth mechanism for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon di-cations: C(7)H(6)(2+) + C(2)H(2)

The mechanism of the bond-forming reaction between C(7)H(6) (2+) and C(2)H(2) to yield C(9) entities has been investigated by density functional theory calculations with close comparison with experimental data. It is shown that the reaction produces the C(9)H(6) (2+) and C(9)H(7) (2+) di-cations with geometries most probably derived from the indene skeleton. In comparison, the formation of linear structures of di-cations is much more energy-demanding and therefore appears improbable.     

Evidences for the key role of hydrogen bonds in nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions

The effect of hydrogen bonds on the fate of nucleophilic aromatic substitutions (S(N)Ar) has been studied in silico using a density functional theory approach in the condensed phase. The importance of these hydrogen bonds can explain the "built-in solvation" model of Bunnett concerning intermolecular processes between halogenonitrobenzenes and amines. It is also demonstrated that it can explain experimental results for a multicomponent reaction (the Ugi-Smiles coupling), involving an intramolecular S(N)Ar (the Smiles rearrangement) as the key step of the process. Modeling reveals that when an intramolecular hydrogen bond is present, it lowers the activation barrier of this step and enables the multicomponent reaction to proceed.     

Silyldefluorination of Fluoroarenes by Concerted Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution

The reaction of readily generated silyl lithium reagents with various aryl fluorides to provide the corresponding aryl silanes is reported. DFT calculations reveal that the nucleophilic aromatic substitution of the fluoride anion by the silyl lithium reagent proceeds through concerted ipso substitution. In contrast to the classical nucleophilic aromatic substitution, this concerted ionic silyldefluorination also occurs on more electron‐rich aryl fluorides.     

Nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions of 1,2-dihydro-1,2-azaborine

Could go either way: The addition of nucleophiles to the parent 1,2-dihydro-1,2-azaborine and subsequent quenching with an electrophile generates novel substituted 1,2-azaborine derivatives. Mechanistic studies are consistent with two distinct nucleophilic aromatic substitution pathways depending on the nature of the nucleophile.     

Palladium-catalyzed electrophilic allylation reactions via bis(allyl)palladium complexes and related intermediates

The synthetic scope of the allyl-palladium chemistry can be extended to involve electrophilic reagents. The greatest challenge in these reactions is the catalytic generation of an allyl-palladium intermediate incorporating a nucleophilic allyl moiety. A vast majority of the published reactions that involve palladium-catalyzed allylation of electrophiles proceed via bis(allyl)palladium intermediates. The eta(1)-moiety of the bis(allyl)palladium intermediates reacts with electrophiles, including aldehydes, imines, or Michael acceptors. Recently, catalytic electrophilic allylations via mono-allylpalladium complexes were also presented by employment of so-called "pincer complex" catalysts.     

Phase-transfer catalysis in reactions of electrophilic aromatic substitution

Electrophilic substitution in aromatic compounds under conditions of phase-transfer catalysis is considered. Catalysts of phase transfer of electrophilic reagents are used; their efficiency and the mechanism of their action in organic solvent-water systems are discussed.This review is based on materials of the report delivered at the Conference Phase-Transfer Catalysis. New Ideas and Methods (March 1994).Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 1895–1900, October, 1995.     

Reaction of a terminal phosphinidene complex with azulenes: eta1-complexes, C--H bond insertions, and 1,4-adducts

Reaction of an in situ generated phosphinidene complex [PhPW(CO)(5)] with the aromatic azulene and guaiazulene leads to unexpected 1,4-adducts of the seven-membered ring and to C--H bond insertion of the five-membered ring. A DFT analysis suggests that the reaction is initiated by formation of a eta(1)-complex between the phosphinidene and the five-membered ring of the aromatic substrate. Four conformations of this complex were identified. Two convert without barrier to the slightly more stable syn- and anti-1,2-adducts. These undergo pericyclic 1,7-sigmatropic rearrangements with remarkably low barriers to give 1,4-adducts, with an inverted configuration at the phosphorus center. An X-ray crystal structure is presented for one of the 1,4-adducts of guaiazulene. The other two eta(1)-complexes insert with modest barriers into a C--H bond of the five-membered ring.     

Chemo- and periselectivity in the addition of [OsO2(CH2)2] to ethylene: a theoretical study

Quantum chemical calculations by using density functional theory at the B3LYP level have been carried out to elucidate the reaction course for the addition of ethylene to [OsO2(CH2)2] (1). The calculations predict that the kinetically most favorable reaction proceeds with an activation barrier of 8.1 kcal mol(-1) via [3+2] addition across the O=Os=CH2 moiety. This reaction is -42.4 kcal mol(-1) exothermic. Alternatively, the [3+2] addition to the H2C=Os=CH2 fragment of 1 leads to the most stable addition product 4 (-72.7 kcal mol(-1)), yet this process has a higher activation barrier (13.0 kcal mol(-1)). The [3+2] addition to the O=Os=O fragment yielding 2 is kinetically (27.5 kcal mol(-1)) and thermodynamically (-7.0 kcal mol(-1)) the least favorable [3+2] reaction. The formal [2+2] addition to the Os=O and Os=CH2 double bonds proceeds by initial rearrangement of 1 to the metallaoxirane 1 a. The rearrangement 1-->1 a and the following [2+2] additions have significantly higher activation barriers (>30 kcal mol(-1)) than the [3+2] reactions. Another isomer of 1 is the dioxoosmacyclopropane 1 b, which is 56.2 kcal mol(-1) lower in energy than 1. The activation barrier for the 1-->1 b isomerization is 15.7 kcal mol(-1). The calculations predict that there are no energetically favorable addition reactions of ethylene with 1 b. The isomeric form 1 c containing a peroxo group is too high in energy to be relevant for the reaction course. The accuracy of the B3LYP results is corroborated by high level post-HF CCSD(T) calculations for a subset of species.     

MNDO/PM3 study of the mechanism of a model reaction between methane and Br+ cation

The structure of complexes formed in the [CH₄+Br⁺] system was simulated by the MNDO/PM3 method. Along with five local minima, a number of stationary points at which the Hessians have only one negative eigenvalue were found on the potential energy surface of reactions occurring in the [CH₄+Br⁺] system. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 1715–1718, September, 1998.     

Nucleophilic Substitution at Phosphorus Centers (SN2@P)

We have studied the characteristics of archetypal model systems for bimolecular nucleophilic substitution at phosphorus (S_N2@P) and, for comparison, at carbon (S_N2@C) and silicon (S_N2@Si) centers. In our studies, we applied the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) of density functional theory (DFT) at the OLYP/TZ2P level. Our model systems cover nucleophilic substitution at carbon in X^?+CH₃Y (S_N2@C), at silicon in X^?+SiH₃Y (S_N2@Si), at tricoordinate phosphorus in X^?+PH₂Y (S_N2@P3), and at tetracoordinate phosphorus in X^?+POH₂Y (S_N2@P4). The main feature of going from S_N2@C to S_N2@P is the loss of the characteristic double‐well potential energy surface (PES) involving a transition state [X? CH₃? Y]^? and the occurrence of a single‐well PES with a stable transition complex, namely, [X? PH₂? Y]^? or [X? POH₂? Y]^?. The differences between S_N2@P3 and S_N2@P4 are relatively small. We explored both the symmetric and asymmetric (i.e. X, Y=Cl, OH) S_N2 reactions in our model systems, the competition between backside and frontside pathways, and the dependence of the reactions on the conformation of the reactants. Furthermore, we studied the effect, on the symmetric and asymmetric S_N2@P3 and S_N2@P4 reactions, of replacing hydrogen substituents at the phosphorus centers by chlorine and fluorine in the model systems X^?+PR₂Y and X^?+POR₂Y, with R=Cl, F. An interesting phenomenon is the occurrence of a triple‐well PES not only in the symmetric, but also in the asymmetric S_N2@P4 reactions of X^?+POCl₂? Y.     

Intramolecular [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions of yne-ene-yne and yne-yne-ene enediynes catalysed by Rh(I): experimental and theoretical mechanistic studies

N-tosyl-linked open-chain yne-ene-yne enediynes 1 and 2 and yne-yne-ene enediynes 3 and 4 have been satisfactorily synthesised. The [2+2+2] cycloaddition process catalysed by the Wilkinson catalyst [RhCl(PPh(3))(3)] was tested with the above-mentioned substrates resulting in the production of high yields of the cycloadducts. Enediynes 1 and 2 gave standard [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions whereas enediynes 3 and 4 suffered β-hydride elimination followed by reductive elimination of the Wilkinson catalyst to give cycloadducts, which are isomers of those that would be obtained by standard [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions. The different reactivities of these two types of enediyne have been rationalised by density functional theory calculations.     

Selectivity in the addition reactions of organometallic reagents to aziridine-2-carboxaldehydes: the effects of protecting groups and substitution patterns

Good to excellent stereoselectivity has been found in the addition reactions of Grignard and organozinc reagents to N-protected aziridine-2-carboxaldehydes. Specifically, high syn selectivity was obtained with benzyl-protected cis, tert-butyloxycarbonyl-protected trans, and tosyl-protected 2,3-disubstituted aziridine-2-carboxaldehydes. Furthermore, rate and selectivity effects of ring substituents, temperature, solvent, and Lewis acid and base modifiers were studied. The diastereomeric preference of addition is dominated by the substrate aziridines' substitution pattern and especially the electronic character and conformational preferences of the nitrogen protecting groups. To help rationalize the observed stereochemical outcomes, conformational and electronic structural analyses of a series of model systems representing the various substitution patterns have been explored by density functional calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory with the SM8 solvation model to account for solvent effects.     

Elemental F2 with Transannular Dienes: Regioselectivities and Mechanisms

Three reaction paths, namely, molecule‐induced homolytic, free radical, and electrophilic, were modeled computationally at the MP2 level of ab initio theory and studied experimentally for the reaction of F₂ with the terminal dienes of bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane series. The addition of fluorine is accompanied by transannular cyclization to the adamantane derivatives in which strong evidence for the electrophilic mechanism both in nucleophilic (acetonitrile) and non‐nucleophilic (CFCl₃, CHCl₃) solvents were found. The presence of KF in CFCl₃ and CHCl₃ facilitates the addition and substantially reduces the formation of tar products.     

Reaction pathways involved in the mechanism of AlIII chelation with caffeic acid: catechol and carboxylic functions competition.

Density functional theory calculations on the AlIII-caffeic acid system are carried out to investigate the fixing mechanism of this metal ion to the two competing complexing sites in the ligand. This theoretical study was performed to explain the complex formation of 1:1 stoichiometry observed in aqueous medium at low pH values. Both complexation with the catechol and carboxylic functions are envisaged. The reaction pathways for the formation of these two chelates are calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G** level of theory. The complexation on the more acidic group is relatively straightforward and shows the intermediate formation of a monodentate complex followed by a chelation process. The complexation reaction pathway with the catechol function is more sophisticated, and several pathways are explored. Once more, the formation of a monodentate complex is achieved and the most favorable pathway for chelation involves the successive steps: 1) coordination of AlIII on the oxygen atom of a hydroxyl group, 2) deprotonation of this hydroxyl group, 3) ring closure with the other oxygen atom, and 4) deprotonation of the second hydroxyl. From an energetic point of view, this second pathway is more favorable. Notably the energy barrier necessary to form the chelate is lower for the catechol function than that calculated for the carboxylic group. The results of this purely theoretical study are in complete agreement with spectroscopic investigations performed on this system.