Laser flash photolysis of 2-diazo-1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanedione: An unusual long-lived triplet as a reaction intermediate

Laser flash photolysis of 2-diazo-1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanedione (DBD) is presumed to involve a short-lived carbene, followed by Wolff rearrangement to a long-lived ketene. We have detected ketene ylides following photolysis of DBD in the presence of amines but not with pyridine. The triplet state of DBD lives several microseconds, an unusual observation for a diazo compound; however, the triplet is not a ketene precursor, which must result from excited singlet state fragmentation of DBD.     

Singlet-triplet splittings and barriers to Wolff rearrangement for carbonyl carbenes.

High-level ab initio calculations at the G3(MP2)//B3-LYP level have been used to study carbomethoxychlorocarbene and related halogenocarbenes and carbonyl carbenes. Initial calculations at the more accurate W1' level on the subset CH(2), HCCl, HCF, CCl(2), and CF(2) provide support for the reliability of G3(MP2)//B3-LYP for this type of problem. The W1' calculations also suggest that the experimental S-T splitting is slightly underestimated for HCCl and CF(2) and substantially underestimated for CCl(2), in keeping with other recent high-level studies. Whereas the parent carbonyl carbenes, namely formylcarbene, carbohydroxycarbene, and carbomethoxycarbene, are all predicted to have triplet ground states, their chloro and fluoro derivatives are predicted to have singlet ground states. In particular, carbomethoxychlorocarbene is predicted to have a singlet ground state, with the singlet-triplet splitting estimated as -16.0 kJ mol(-)(1). The barriers to Wolff rearrangement of the singlet carbonyl carbenes generally (but not always) correlate with the exothermicity accompanying the production of ketenes. In the case of the parent carbonyl carbenes, for which the rearrangement reaction is most exothermic, the barriers lie between about 10 and 30 kJ mol(-)(1), whereas for the less exothermic rearrangements of the chloro- and fluoro-substituted carbonyl carbenes, the Wolff rearrangement barriers increase significantly to between 58 and 75 kJ mol(-)(1). The calculated barrier for carbomethoxychlorocarbene is 58.2 kJ mol(-)(1).     

Gating the mechanistic pathway to the elusive 4-membered ring azeteoporphyrin

Photolysis of metalated (Cu and Ni) and free base 2-diazo-3-oxochlorins within a frozen matrix (λ = 457.9 nm, toluene, 80 K) generates a single photointermediate with a hypsochromically shifted electronic absorption spectrum relative to the starting diazochlorins. The appearance of ketene (~2131 cm(-1)) and azete (~1670 cm(-1)) vibrations in infrared absorption and Raman spectra, respectively, identifies this intermediate as resulting from the Wolff rearrangement of the diazochlorins upon N(2) loss. Computational modeling of the vibrational spectra and TDDFT simulation of the electronic transitions of potential photointermediates corroborate this assignment. Isolation and analysis of photoproducts of these diazochlorins formed within n-butanol-doped frozen toluene matrices indicate near exclusive formation of azeteoporphyrins. In sharp contrast, room temperature laser photolysis of these materials yields a mixture of photoproducts deriving from the presence of both carbene and ketene intermediates. Computational modeling of the intramolecular reactivity of the proposed sp(2) carbene intermediate shows exclusive bond insertion to the adjacent phenyl group, and no evidence of Wolff rearrangement. Computational reaction profile analyses reveal that the barrierless Wolff rearrangement proceeds via an out-of-plane carbene electronic configuration that is generated directly during the loss of N(2). The formation of out-of-plane carbene, resulting in the exclusive formation of the observed ketene photointermediate at low temperatures, is consistent with orbital symmetry considerations and by the geometric constraints imposed by the frozen matrix. Combined, this leads to a model showing that azeteoporphyrin formation via the Wolff rearrangement is dependent upon the structural disposition of the adjacent framework, and the specific reaction intermediate formed is very sensitive to this feature.     

Insertion of molecular oxygen into a palladium-hydride bond: computational evidence for two nearly isoenergetic pathways

The reaction of a palladiumII-hydride species with molecular oxygen to form palladiumII-hydroperoxide has been proposed as a key step in Pd-catalyzed aerobic oxidation reactions. We recently reported one of the first experimental precedents for such a step (Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 2904-2907). DFT calculations have been used to probe the mechanism for this reaction, which consists of formal insertion of O2 into the palladium-hydride bond of trans-(NHC)2Pd(H)OAc (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene). Four different pathways were considered: (1) hydrogen atom abstraction (HAA) of the Pd-H bond by molecular oxygen, (2) reductive elimination of HX followed by oxygenation of Pd0 and protonolysis of the (eta2-peroxo)-PdII species, (3) oxygenation of palladiumII-hydride with subsequent reductive elimination of the O-H bond from an eta2-peroxo-PdIV center, and (4) formation of a cis-superoxide adduct of the palladium-hydride species followed by O-H bond formation via hydrogen atom migration. The calculations reveal that pathways 1 and 2 are preferred energetically, and both pathways exhibit very similar kinetic barriers. This result suggests that more than one pathway is possible for catalyst reoxidation in Pd-catalyzed aerobic oxidation reactions.     

Ion chemistry of α-diazoketones. 1. A collissional activation study of 1-diazo-3-phenoxypropan-2-one upon elecgtron impact

The gaseous ionic products of 1-diazo-3-phenoxypropan-2-one upon electron impact show that cyclization reactions, which have counterparts in condensed-phase chemistry, occur in competition with a mass spectral Wolff type rearrangement.     

1-甲基-2-苯基吲哚的琥红敏化单重态氧反应

1-甲基-2-苯基吲哚(1)在甲醇中的琥红(RB)敏化单重态氧反应生成1-甲基-2-甲基氧-2-苯基-1, 2-二氢-3H-吲哚-3-酮(4)和1-甲基-2-羟基-2-苯基-1, 2-二氢-3H-吲哚-3-酮(6), 后者在强碱性介质下发生苯乙醇酸型重排生成1-甲基-3-羟基-3-苯基氧化吲哚(14)。研究了6的溶剂分解反应以及外加碱对光氧化反应的影响。探讨了光氧化产物的形成途径。结果表明: 4系两性离子中间体2的溶剂捕获、脱水产物, 而6则系二氧杂环丁烷中间体7的裂解、抽氢产物。     

Synthesis of 4H‐1,3‐oxathiin‐4‐ones by reaction of α‐diazo‐β‐diketone with thiones

A series of 2,2‐disubstituted 5,6‐diphenyl‐4H‐1,3‐oxathiin‐4‐ones was synthesized by cycloaddition of thiones with benzoylphenylketene, which was generated by the thermal Wolff rearrangement of 2‐diazo‐1,3‐diphenyl‐1,3‐propanedione. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 12:630–632, 2001     

Wolff Rearrangement of 2-diazo-1(2H)-naphthalenone induced by nonresonant two-photon absorption of NIR radiation

The irradiation of 2-diazo-1(2H)-naphthalenone (1), the common component of positive photoresists, with 800 nm pulses of ultrafast laser results in Wolff rearrangement via nonresonant two-photon absorbance of light. The 10% conversion of starting material resulting in the formation of methyl 1H-indene-3-carboxylate (2) was achieved after 11 min of irradiation of the methanol solution of 1 with an unfocused beam of a Ti:Sapphire laser operating at 1 kHz. The two-photon cross-section of the diazonaphthoquinone 1 at 800 nm was calculated to be sigma = 2.2 x 10-51 cm4 s photon-1 (0.2 GM).     

Model studies of hydrogen atom addition and abstraction processes involving ortho-, meta-, and para-benzynes.

H-atom addition and abstraction processes involving ortho-, meta-, and para-benzyne have been investigated by multiconfigurational self-consistent field methods. The H(A) + H(B)...H(C) reaction (where r(BC) is adjusted to mimic the appropriate singlet-triplet energy gap) is shown to effectively model H-atom addition to benzyne. The doublet multiconfiguration wave functions are shown to mix the "singlet" and "triplet" valence bond structures of H(B)...H(C) along the reaction coordinate; however, the extent of mixing is dependent on the singlet-triplet energy gap (DeltaE(ST)) of the H(B)...H(C) diradical. Early in the reaction, the ground-state wave function is essentially the "singlet" VB function, yet it gains significant "triplet" VB character along the reaction coordinate that allows H(A)-H(B) bond formation. Conversely, the wave function of the first excited state is predominantly the "triplet" VB configuration early in the reaction coordinate, but gains "singlet" VB character when the H-atom is close to a radical center. As a result, the potential energy surface (PES) for H-atom addition to triplet H(B)...H(C) diradical is repulsive! The H3 model predicts, in agreement with the actual calculations on benzyne, that the singlet diradical electrons are not coupled strongly enough to give rise to an activation barrier associated with C-H bond formation. Moreover, this model predicts that the PES for H-atom addition to triplet benzyne will be characterized by a repulsive curve early in the reaction coordinate, followed by a potential avoided crossing with the (pi)1(sigma*)1 state of the phenyl radical. In contrast to H-atom addition, large activation barriers characterize the abstraction process in both the singlet ground state and first triplet state. In the ground state, this barrier results from the weakly avoided crossing of the dominant VB configurations in the ground-state singlet (S0) and first excited singlet (S1) because of the large energy gap between S0 and S1 early in the reaction coordinate. Because the S1 state is best described as the combination of the triplet X-H bond and the triplet H(B)...H(C) spin couplings, the activation barrier along the S0 abstraction PES will have much less dependence on the DeltaE(ST) of H(B)...H(C) than previously speculated. For similar reasons, the T1 potential surface is quite comparable to the S0 PES.     

Ketene reactions with the aminoxyl radical tempo: preparative, kinetic, and theoretical studies

Tetramethylpiperidinyloxy (TEMPO, TO*) reacts with ketenes RR(1)C=C=O generated by either Wolff rearrangement or by dehydrochlorination of acyl chlorides to give products resulting from addition of one TEMPO radical to the carbonyl carbon and a second to the resulting radical. Reactions of phenylvinylketenes 4b and 4f, phenylalkynylketene 4c, and the dienylketene AcOCMe=CHCH=CHCMe=C=O (11) occur with allylic or propargylic rearrangement. Even quite reactive ketenes were generated as rather long-lived species by photochemical Wolff rearrangement in isooctane solution, characterized by IR and UV, and used for kinetic studies. The rate constants of TEMPO addition to eight different ketenes have been measured and give a qualitative correlation of log k(2)(TEMPO) = 1.10 log k(H(2)O) -3.79 with the rate constants for hydration of the same ketenes. Calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G//B3LYP/6-311G level are used to elucidate the ring opening of substituted cyclobutenones leading to vinylketenes and of 2,4-cyclohexadienone (17) forming 1,3,5-hexatrien-1-one (18).     

Pivalyl-r-butylmethylene and its quintet radical pair: Isolation and ESR detection

Pivalyl-t-butylmethylene was Generated by the photolysis of 2,2,5,5,-tetramethyl-4-diazo-3-hexanone at T < 22 K. As expected. only one set of triplet signals was observed in the ESR which was assigned to pivalyl-r- butylmethylene, the first alkyl substituted ketocarbene isolated, in the trans conformation. In addition a set of weak, but well-reproducible signals was also observed and it was assigned to the quintet state triplet radical pair. Photolysis of the analogous 3-diazo-2-butanone, however, fails to generate any triplet signal indicating that probably Wolff rearrangement with migration of a methyl and/or 1.2-H shift can compete successfully with ISC from the singlet ketocarbene.     

Dihydrosilaanthracenylidene and dihydroanthracenylidene

Carbenes generated from 10-diazo-9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydro-9-silaanthracene and 10-diazo-9,9-dimethyl-9,10-dihydroanthracene gave hydrogen abstraction products by the triplet nature of these carbenes. The triplet dihydrosilaanthracenylidene was shown by the electron spin resonance study.     

Secondary orbital effect in the electrocyclic ring closure of 7-Azahepta-1,2,4,6-tetraeneA CASSCF molecular orbital study

Results of (10,9)CASSCF/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G* level calculations on the potential surface for the electrocyclic ring closure of E-7-azahepta-1,2,4,6-tetraene 3 to 1-aza-6-methylidenecyclohexa-2,4-diene ( 4) are reported, as well as parallel calculations on the electrocyclizations of hepta-1,2,4,6-tetraene 5, hexa-1,3,5-triene 7, Z and E-1-aza-1,3,5-hexatrienes 9 and 10, and Z-7-azahepta-1,2,4,6-tetraene 12 for purposes of careful comparison. The 3 --> 4 rearrangement has been studied computationally with density functional theory (DFT) by others, leading to disagreement over whether it is pseudopericyclic (de Lera, A. R.; Alvarez, R.; Lecea, B.; Torrado, A.; Cossío, F. P. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 557-561; de Lera, A. R.; Cossío, F. P. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2002, 41, 1150-1152) or pericyclic (Rodríguez-Otero, J.; Cabaleiro-Lago, E. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2002, 41, 1147-1150). In accordance with disrotatory motion, the normal mode vectors for TS 3-->4 calculated at the (10,9)CASSCF/6-31G* level show a greater magnitude of rotation of the N1-H group relative to the N1-C2 bond being formed than in TS 3-->4 calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. Furthermore, comparison of orbital correlation diagrams constructed entirely from localized complete active space (CAS) molecular orbitals (MOs) for the electrocyclizations of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 10 suggest that it is the highest occupied delocalized pi-MO of 3 that is primarily responsible for sigma-bond formation in 4, not the terminal allenyl pi-bond MO. However, there does appear to be a special secondary orbital effect role for the nitrogen lone-pair and hence the process is likely neither purely pericyclic nor pseudopericyclic.     

Photolytic, thermal, addition, and cycloaddition reactions of 2-diazo-5,6- and -3,8-disubstituted acenaphthenones

Preparation and varied thermal and photolytic reactions of 2-diazo-5,6-(disubstituted)acenaphthenones (11a-d) and 2-diazo-3,8-dimethoxyacenaphthenone (12) are reported. Alcohols react thermally and photolytically with 11a-c with losses of N(2) to yield 2-alkoxynaphthenones (24a,band 47a,b) and acenaphthenones (25 and 48a,b). Aniline and diphenylamine are converted by 11a-c at 180 degrees C to acenaph[1,2-b]indoles (29a,b and 53a,b). Thermolyses of 11a-c at approximately 450 degrees C (0.15 mmHg) yield reduction products 25 and 48a,b, respectively. Wolff rearrangements to 1,8-naphthyleneketenes (15a-d) and/or their derivatives are not observed in the above experiments. Oxygen converts 11a-c thermally to acenaphthenequinones (19a-c) and/or 1,8-naphthalic anhydrides. Insertion, addition, substitution, and/or isomerization reactions occur upon irradiation of 2-diazoacenaphthenones in cyclohexane, benzene, and tetrahydrofuran. Photolysis of 11d in benzene in the presence of O(2) yields the insertion-oxidation product 2-hydroxy-5,6-dinitro-2-phenylacenaphthenone (60). Photolyses of 11a-c in nitriles result in N(2) evolution and dipolar cycloaddition to give acenaph[1,2-d]oxazoles (41 and 61a,b). Acetylenes undergo thermal and photolytic cycloaddition/1,5-sigmatropic rearrangement reactions with 11a-d with N(2) retention to give pyrazolo[5,1-a]quinolin-7-ones (69f-j). 2-Diazoacenaphthenones 1a and 11a react thermally and photolytically with electronegatively-substituted olefins with N(2) expulsion to yield (E)- and (Z)-2-oxospiro[acenaphthylene-1(2H),1'cyclopropanes] 73a-c and 74a-c, respectively. The mechanisms of the reactions of 1a, 11a-d, and 12 reported are discussed.     

On the weak O-H···halogen hydrogen bond: a rotational study of CH3CHClF···H2O

We measured the molecular beam Fourier transform microwave spectra of six isotopologues of the 1?:?1 adduct of CH(3)CHClF with water. Water prefers to form an O-H···F rather than an O-H···Cl hydrogen bond. This is just the contrary of what was observed in the chlorofluoromethane-water adduct, where an O-H···Cl link was formed (W. Caminati, S. Melandri, A. Maris and P. Ottaviani, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2006, 45, 2438). The water molecule is linked with an O-H···F bridge to the fluorine atom, with r(F···H(w)) = 2.14 ?, and with two C-H···O contacts to the alkyl hydrogens with r(C(1)-H(1)···O(w)) = 2.75 ? and r(C(2)-H(2)···O(w)) = 2.84 ?, respectively. Besides the rotational constants, the quadrupole coupling constants of the chlorine atom have been determined. In addition, information on the internal dynamics has been obtained.     

Mechanisms of the Photochemical Rearrangement of Diphenyl Ethers

The mechanism of the photochemical rearrangement of diphenyl ether (1a) was studied. Irradiation of 1a in ethanol gave 2-phenylphenol (2, 42%) and 4-phenylphenol (3, 11%) as rearrangement products, in addition to phenol (4, 30%) and benzene (5, 25%) as diffusion products. Cross-coupling experiments employing [(2)H(10)]1a demonstrated that the formation of 2- and 4-phenylphenol was an intramolecular process. Irradiation of 1a in benzene or in toluene gave biphenyls in good yields. The combined yields of rearrangement products (2and 3) increased with increase of solvent viscosity, with a concomitant decrease in the formation of 4. All the results can be rationalized in terms of excitation of 1a to the singlet state and dissociation to a radical pair intermediate involving phenoxy and phenyl radicals. Intramolecular recombination of these radicals gives rearrangement products, and escape followed by hydrogen abstraction from the solvent gives diffusion products. When position 4 of 1a was occupied by an electron-donating substituent (1b-e), aryloxy-phenyl bond cleavage to give the corresponding rearrangement products prevailed over phenoxy-aryl bond cleavage. The opposite was the case for substrates with an electron-withdrawing substituent at position 4 (1h,i).     

热分解三苯氧基膦臭氧加成物产生单线态氧与6-羟基-1,4-顺,顺-环辛二烯的反应

控制反应条件,热分解三苯氧基膦臭氧加成物(Ⅱ)产生单线态分子氧,其产率由70%提高到98%,同单线态氧的探针化合物α-蒎烯反应,得到单一的“ene”型产物,松香芹醇(pinocarveol)。同6-羟基-1,4-顺,顺-环辛二烯(Ⅰ)反应占优势的过程也是“ene”反应,分离出还原产物5,8-二羟基-1,3-顺,顺-环辛二烯(Ⅲ),以及(Ⅲ)的热重排产物6-羟基-4-顺-环辛烯酮(Ⅳ),这同用光敏氧化的方法氧化(Ⅰ)得到的结果相一致。通过构型分析,说明了化合物(Ⅰ)同单线态氧作用,通过协同的“ene”反应进行,使分子轨道相互作用不利的[_π4_s+_π2_s]加成过程被抑制。     

Combined experimental-theoretical characterization of the hydrido-cobaloxime [HCo(dmgH)2(PnBu3)

A combined theoretical and experimental approach has been employed to characterize the hydrido-cobaloxime [HCo(dmgH)(2)(PnBu(3))] compound. This complex was originally investigated by Schrauzer et al. [Schrauzer et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1971, 93,1505] and has since been referred to as a key, stable analogue of the hydride intermediate involved in hydrogen evolution catalyzed by cobaloxime compounds [Artero, V. et al. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 7238-7266]. We employed quantum chemical calculations, using density functional theory and correlated RI-SCS-MP2 methods, to characterize the structural and electronic properties of the compound and observed important differences between the calculated (1)H NMR spectrum and that reported in the original study by Schrauzer and Holland. To calibrate the theoretical model, the stable hydrido tetraamine cobalt(III) complex [HCo(tmen)(2)(OH(2))](2+) (tmen = 2,3-dimethyl-butane-2,3-diamine) [Rahman, A. F. M. M. et al. Chem. Commun. 2003, 2748-2749] was subjected to a similar analysis, and, in this case, the calculated results agreed well with those obtained experimentally. As a follow-up to the computational work, the title hydrido-cobaloxime compound was synthesized and recharacterized experimentally, together with the Co(I) derivative, giving results that were in agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

Experimental and theoretical investigation of reversible interconversion, thermal reactions, and wavelength-dependent photochemistry of diazo Meldrum's acid and its diazirine isomer, 6,6-dimethyl-5,7-dioxa-1,2-diaza-spiro[2,5]oct-1-ene-4,8-dione

The photochemical or thermal decomposition of diazo Meldrum's acid (1) in methanolic solutions yields ketoester 3a, the product of the Wolff rearrangement, while products produced from the singlet carbene were not detected. This observation, combined with the analysis of activation parameters for the thermal decomposition of 1, as well as with the results of DFT B3PW91/6-311+G(3df,2p) and MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//B3PW91/6-311+G(3df,2p) calculations, allows us to conclude that the Wolff rearrangement of 1 is a concerted process. The outcome of the photolysis of diazo Meldrum's acid depends on the wavelength of irradiation. Irradiation with 254 nm light results in an efficient (Phi(254) = 0.34) photo-Wolff reaction, while at 355 nm, the formation of diazirine 2 becomes the predominant process (Phi(350) = 0.024). This unusual wavelength selectivity indicates that Wolff rearrangement and isomerization originate from different electronically excited states of 1. The UV irradiation of diazirine 2 leads to the loss of nitrogen and the Wolff rearrangement, apparently via a carbene intermediate. This process is accompanied by a reverse isomerization to diazo Meldrum's acid. Triplet-sensitized photolysis of both isomers results in the formation of Meldrum's acid, the product of a formal reduction of 1 and 2. Mild heating of diazirine 2 produces quantitative yields of diazo Meldrum's acid. The activation parameters for thermal reactions of diazo 1 and diazirino 2 isomers were determined in aqueous and dioxane solutions.     

A systematic computational study of the reactions of HO2 with RO2: the HO2 + C2H5O2 reaction

The reaction of HO2 with C2H5O2 has been studied using the density functional theory (B3LYP) and the coupled-cluster theory [CCSD(T)]. The reaction proceeds on the triplet potential energy surface via hydrogen abstraction to form ethyl hydroperoxide and oxygen. On the singlet potential energy surface, the addition-elimination mechanism is revealed. Variational transition state theory is used to calculate the temperature-dependent rate constants in the range 200-1000 K. At low temperatures (e.g., below 300 K), the reaction takes place predominantly on the triplet surface. The calculated low-temperature rate constants are in good agreement with the experimental data. As the temperature increases, the singlet reaction mechanism plays more and more important role, with the formation of OH radical predominantly. The isotope effect of the reaction (DO2 + C2D5O2 vs HO2 + C2H5O2) is negligible. In addition, the triplet abstraction energetic routes for the reactions of HO2 with 11 alkylperoxy radicals (CnHmO2) are studied. It is shown that the room-temperature rate constants have good linear correlation with the activation energies for the hydrogen abstraction.