Nitration of Durene and Pentamethylbenzene with Nitronium Salts in Nitromethane and Acetonitrile

Nature and proportions of the products formed in the nitrations mentioned in the title are affected by the process of mixing. Pentamethylnitrobenzene, formed initially in the nitration of pentamethylbenzene, is attacked by a nitronium ion at a position meta to the nitro-group. In the σ-complex formed, loss of a proton from a methyl group leads to production of by-products and release of nitrite ions. The nitrous acid formed is protonated, and water is displaced from the nitrous acidium ion by the anion, PF₆^?, giving the nitrosonium ion which forms a 1:1 symmetric molecular complex with pentamethylbenzene. A similar complex is formed in the reaction between durene and nitronium salts. The results are consistent with the view that no σ-bond is formed between the aromatic compound and the nitrosonium ion.     

甲苯定向硝化的理论研究

运用密度泛函理论(DFT)B3LYP方法，在6-31G~(* *)基组水平上，全优化计算 了硝酰阳离子NO_2~+对苯和从0-，m-,p-位进攻甲苯亲电取代硝化后应，求得4条反 应途径上包括反应物、过渡态和Wheland中间体共(4×3)12个反应驻点σ络合物的 分子几何、电子结构、能量和IR光谱等性质，阐明了反应中无同位素效应的实验事 实，求得各反应途径的活化能排序：p-＞o-＞PhH＞m-和σ络合物(R,TSak或INT)的 相对稳定化能排序：p-ArCH_3-NO_2~+＞o-ArCH_3-NO_2~+＞m-ArCH_3-NO_2~+＞ PhH-NO_2~+，从而阐明了甲基对苯环致活(或致钝)以及增加甲苯硝化络合物稳定性 的双重功能，对甲苯定向硝化的理论预示与实验结果相吻合。     

α-取代甲苯定向硝化的理论研究

运用密度泛函理论(DFT), 研究了吸电子氟基和供电子羟基在取代甲苯的α-H以后, 其邻、间、对各位次进行硝化反应的速控步骤, 在B3LYP/6-311G**水平上, 计算了该速控步骤基元反应各反应驻点(反应物、过渡态和中间体)的优化几何、电子结构和能量性质, 并首次给出了目标硝化反应速控步骤的IR谱学的动态特征及解析, 从微观层面上验证了反应坐标C—N的形成和C—H的断裂是非协同的, 从而无一级动力学同位素效应的实验事实. 通过对目标硝化反应速控步骤的微观动态计算, 验证了氟基对甲基定位的影响. 氟基的电负性大, 吸电子能力强, 取代甲苯的α-H以后对硝酰阳离子的进攻有抑制作用, 活化能较取代前高, 但比较苄基氟各位次硝化活化能的相对大小得知, －CH₂F仍为邻、对位定向基团. 而供电子羟基取代甲苯的α-H以后, 则对硝酰阳离子的进攻有促进作用, 因而各反应驻点络合物的稳定化能较α-H取代前甲苯的有所增大, 且邻、对位硝化的活化能较间位低, 故－CH₂OH为邻、对位定位基. 但对位因硝化活化能低, 反应放热多, 空间位阻小, 为亲电试剂NO₂⁺最有利的进攻位; 而邻位则因羟基取代甲苯α-H后多了一个氧原子, 增大了邻位进攻的空间位阻, 使得其络合物的能量比相应对位的高.     

Highly Regioselective Nitration of Hexamethylbenzene and Its Derivatives to Dinitroprehnitene with Excess Nitronium Tetrafluoroborate

Hexamethylbenzene and its derivatives undergo very clean regioselective dinitration to dinitroprehnitene (1, 2, 3, 4-tetramethyl-5, 6-dinitrobenzene) with excess of nitronium tetrafluoroborate in dry CH²C1² solution. The mechanism of this unexpected new nitration is also discussed.     

Density Functional Theory Study on the Nitration of Halobenzene by Nitronium Ion

The rate determining steps of isomeric ortho, meta and para nitrations of fluorobenzene and chlorobenzene have been theoretically investigated at the B3LYP/6‐311G* level. Stationary points of the step involving reactant, transition state and intermediate complexes were successfully located and characterized without any restriction on the internal coordinates. Their molecular geometries, electronic structures, IR spectra, and the FMO symmetries of two initial aromatic compounds and the NO₂⁺ suggest that the halogens are ortho‐para directive, and also activating substituents in the gas phase. The blue shift of the C‐N stretching vibration and the red shift of the tetrahedral C‐H stretching vibration from transition state to Wheland intermediate demonstrate that the formation of the C‐N and the cleavage of the C‐H are not concerted but stepwise at the rate determining step. This provides theoretical evidence for the experimental fact of the absence of primary kinetic isotopic effect in most aromatic nitration reactions. The fully optimized geometries of nitro‐chlorobenzene complexes show that the C‐Cl bond in nitro‐chlorobenzene complexes become much shorter than in chlorobenzene molecules and appears as a double bond. On the contrary, the C‐F bond in nitro‐fluorobenzene complexes is still a single bond, and even lengthens slightly as the NO₂⁺ moves toward the fluorobenzene. This reveals that there is a special interaction, namely inductomeric effect, between the chlorine and nitro group in nitro‐chlorobenzene complexes. The inductomeric effect may cause a marked increase in the percentage of ortho product for the nitration of chlorobenzene.     

Albumin-mediated asymmetric nitroaldol reaction of aromatic aldehydes with nitromethane in water

We succeeded in the asymmetric nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of aromatic aldehydes with nitromethane using human serum albumin (HSA) in water at neutral pH. The reaction of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde smoothly proceeded for 24 h at 30 °C to afford the corresponding (R)-2-nitro-1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethanol (27% ee). Lowering the reaction temperature to 0 °C improved the enantioselectivity (53% ee). Although the denatured HSA also catalyzed the coupling reaction, no enantioselectivity was observed. The reaction was also applicable to other substrates bearing various substitutions on the benzene ring, and the ee of (R)-1-(biphenyl-4-yl)-2-nitroethanol was up to 79% ee.     

pi-Allylic C1-substitution in water with nitromethane using amphiphilic resin-supported palladium complexes

Nitromethane was safely applied as a C1 nucleophile for palladium-catalyzed pi-allylic substitution in water with amphiphilic PS-PEG resin-supported phosphine-palladium complexes. Catalytic asymmetric nitromethylation of cycloalkenyl esters was achieved in water as a single reaction medium under heterogeneous conditions using 5 mol % palladium of a PS-PEG resin-supported palladium-imidazoindolephosphine complex to give optically active (cycloalkenyl)nitromethanes with up to 98% ee.     

Orientational processes in the yarns of high-molecular-mass cellulose acetate in vapors of nitromethane and its mixture with water

The phenomenon of spontaneous changes in the linear dimensions (elongation-contraction) is described for commercial and laboratory samples of acetate yarns processed by wet spinning from high- molecular -mass cellulose diacetate in vapors of a mesophas ogenic solvent (which is able to form a lyotropic LC phase with the polymer), nitromethane, and its mixtures with water. The thermodeformational, elastic- plastic, physicomechanical, and surface characteristics of the yarns at different stages of their spontaneous deformation are analyzed. When samples are treated with probe vapors, orientational processes in the polymer matrix are activated, and this observation makes it possible to prepare yarns with improved physicomechanical characteristics and with low linear density. A new phenomenon (to our knowledge) of cyclic three- stage deformation of acetate monofilaments in nitromethane vapors is discovered. This evidence is interpreted from the standpoint of phase (amorphous glassy-liquid crystalline state) and conformational transitions as well as by the mechanism of interaction between polymers and solvent vapors and related development of the LC phase.     

Nitronium Ion Mediated Functionalization of Adamantane and Its Derivatives

Functionalization of adamantane and its derivatives using claycop and nitronium trifluoromethanesulfonate is described.     

An ab initio study of intermolecular interactions of nitromethane dimer and nitromethane trimer

Different geometries of nitromethane dimer and nitromethane trimer have been fully optimized employing the density functional theory B3LYP method and the 6-31++G** basis set. Three-body interaction energy has been obtained with the ab initio supermolecular approach at the levels of MP2/6-31++G**//B3LYP/6-31++G** and MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-31++G**. The internal rotation of methyl group induced by intermolecular interaction has been observed theoretically. For the optimized structures of nitromethane dimer, the strength of C--H...O--N H-bond ranges from -9.0 to -12.4 kJ mol(-1) at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-31++G** level, and the B3LYP method underestimates the interaction strength compared with the MP2 method, while MP2/6-31++G**//B3LYP/6-31++G** calculated DeltaE(C) is within 2.5 kJ mol(-1) of the corresponding value at the MP4(SDTQ)/6-31G**//B3LYP/6-31++G** level. The analytic atom-atom intermolecular potential has been successfully regressed by using the MP2/6-31++G**//B3LYP/6-31++G** calculated interaction energies of nitromethane dimer. For the optimized structures of nitromethane trimer the three-body interaction energies occupy small percentage of corresponding total binding energies, but become important for the compressed nitromethane explosive. In addition, it has been discovered that the three-body interaction energy in the cyclic nitromethane trimer is more and more negative as intermolecular distances decrease from 2.2 to 1.7 A.     

Prenylation of olefins in nitromethane

The prenylation of isopentenyl and 3,3-dimethylallyl derivatives could be achieved effeciently with dimethyl, vinyl carbinol and a variety of acids in nitromethane. Geraniol and isopentenylacetate led to farnesyl derivatives.     

Nitration of alkenylphosphonates with nitrogen tetraoxide

Conclusions A new method was developed for the synthesis of organophosphorus nitro compounds, which consists in the direct nitration of alkenylphosphonates with N₂O₄.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2787–2788, December, 1977.