Anionic polymerization. VI. Effect of polar modifiers on alkylsodium and alkylpotassium polymerization of butadiene

It was found that N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylene diamine and hexamethyl phosphorus triamide minimize chain transfer reactions in the polymerization of 1,3-butadiene in hydrocarbon solvent with alkylsodium or alkylpotassium initiators. The polymers obtained with alkylsodium initiators had a high molecular weight and high vinyl content at 90–95% conversion. The molecular weight of the polybutadiene made by alkylsodium and alkylpotassium initiators was dependent on the polymerization temperatures and modifier ratios, but the vinyl contents were independent of the modifier ratios. Vinyl contents of alkylpotassium-initiated polymers showed a slight dependency on polymerization temperature; the vinyl contents of alkylsodium-initiated polymers were independent of temperature. Addition of lithium tert-butoxide and potassium tert-amylate to these initiators in the presence of the modifiers affected the molecular weight but not the microstructure.     

Anionic polymerization of isoprene in tetrahydrofuran: A study of isomerization reactions and ion-pair propagation rates

The ion-pair propagation rates for isoprene have been determined in tetrahydrofuran with counter-ions lithium and sodium. Because of the instability of the carbonions of diene monomers in this solvent, a parallel spectroscopic study was carried out to check for the occurrence of side-reactions. With Li⁺ counter-ion, the anions were found to be stable up to 0° but with Na⁺, instability was noticeable even at ?40° and may be significant at even lower temperatures. For these reasons, the lithium ion-pair rates show normal behaviour but those for sodium are difficult to interpret.     

MNDO study of the electronic structure and potential energy surface of fluorinated singlet cyclopentadienyl and methylcyclopentadienyl cations

The electronic structure and geometry of some symmetric fluorinated singlet cyclopentadienyl and methylcyclopentadienyl cations are studied by the MNDO method. The structure of the potential energy surface (PES), which is a pseudorotation surface, is investigated. Extreme points of the PES, determining the PES barrier, correspond to structures with inverted frontier molecular orbitals. (Anti)aromaticity of fluorinated methylcyclopentadienyl cations is estimated using the Dewar-Breslow criterion. Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 37, No. 6, pp. 1023–1030, November–December, 1996. Translated by L. Smolina     

MNDO Study of reaction pathways for SN2 reactions. Menschutkin reaction potential energy surfaces

MNDO molecular orbital calculations have been employed to investigate limited reaction pathways and potential energy surfaces for a series of S_N2 reactions. Model calculations for X^? + CH₃X (X = H, F, OH, OCH₃, and CN) indicate that the MNDO method gives qualitative agreement with ab initio studies except for the hydride–CH₄ exchange. Studies involving alkylation of pyridine (Menschutkin reaction) were also carried out. For the reaction of pyridine with CH₃Cl, which involves charge separation, our MNDO studies (which do not include solvation effects) do not produce a characteristic S_N2 pathway. For the reaction of pyridine with trimethyloxonium cation [(CH₃)₃O⁺] as the alkylating agent, a well defined S_N2 reaction pathway was obtained; this reaction involves charge transfer. A potential energy surface for the pyridine–trimethyloxonium cation reaction shows the presence of a saddle point transition state that resembles starting materials, in agreement with the Hammond postulate for this exothermic reaction.     

MNDO CI study of the photoisomerization about polar double bonds

Cis-trans photoisomerization of ethylene, some of its methyl and fluoro derivatives, methaniminium, and aminoborane was studied and twisted biradical geometries of these molecules in S_o, S₁, and S₂ states were optimized using the half-electron version of the MNDO method with configuration interaction. The results are quite satisfactory, in good agreement with available ab initio data.     

MNDO study of reaction paths: Diboration of acetylene

The reaction of B₂H₄ with acetylene has been studied by the MNDO method. It is shown that the reaction is exothermic and proceeds in two steps. The first step is the formation of a three-center -complex and this is the rate-determining step of the reaction. The second step is the rearrangement of the -complex to the product and this step requires a very small amount of activation energy. The activation barrier for the diboration reaction is 12.8 kcal/mol.The proposed mechanism is significantly different from those proposed earlier and explains all experimental data relating to this reaction.     

The reaction of atomic oxygen with methanethiol. A theoretical study of the structures and the potential energy surface

Ab initio calculations at the Hartree-Fock, MP2 and MP4 levels were performed to find structures of the equilibrium and transition states and the reaction energies and energies of activation of several competing reaction pathways of O (3P)+CH3SH. A 6-31G* basis set was used in all calculations. The mechanism of hydrogen atom abstraction from the S-H group methanethiol was found to be very competitive with the oxygen atom addition to the sulfur atom.     

Anionic polymerization of caprolactam in organic media. Morphological aspects

Crystalline entities formed during anionic polymerization of caprolactam (CL) in nonpolar solvents were examined, mainly by scanning electron microscopy and wide angle X-ray scattering. The morphological development of these entities is governed by the complex interaction between the competing polymerization and physical processes like phase separation and crystallization. The effect of the efficiency of catalytic systems on their interaction, the mechanisms of the phase separation and the crystal growth under topological restrictions set by the phase separation are discussed. Under reaction conditions, for these ones favouring high polymer yields, the final morphology of the polycaproamide (PCA) particles can be controlled by the efficiency of both catalytic species (activator and catalyst). Despite the large range of particle sizes two typical morphologies, namely – connected globules evolving to large blocks and macroporous powders are obtained using more or less efficient catalytic systems, respectively. An adequate selection of the catalytic pairs allows to control the particles’ size and their internal morphology, which is important for certain specific applications of PCA. Received: 1 August 1997 Accepted: 5 February 1998     

Quantum mechanical study of the potential energy surface of the ClO + NO2 reaction

In the study of the reaction pathways of the ClO + NO2 reaction including reliable structures of the reactants, products, intermediates, and transition states as well as energies the MP2/6-311G(d), B3LYP/6-311G(d), and G2(MP2) methods have been employed. Chlorine nitrate, ClONO2, is formed by N-O association without an entrance barrier and is stabilized by 29.8 kcal mol(-1). It can undergo either a direct 1,3 migration of Cl or OCl rotation to yield an indistinguishable isomer. The corresponding barriers are 45.8 and 7.1 kcal mol(-1), respectively. ClONO2 can further decompose into NO3 + Cl with an endothermicity of 46.4 kcal mol(-1). The overall endothermicity of the NO2 + ClO --> NO3 + Cl reaction is calculated to be 16.6 kcal mol(-1). The formation of cis-perp and trans-perp conformer of chlorine preoxynitrite, ClOONO(cp) and ClOONO(tp), are exothermic by 5.4 and 3.8 kcal mol(-1), respectively. Calculations on the possible reaction pathways for the isomerization of ClOONO to ClONO2 showed that the activation barriers are too high to account for appreciable nitrate formation from peroxynitrite isomerization. All quoted relative energies are related to G2(MP2) calculations.     

A hybrid potential reaction path and free energy study of the chorismate mutase reaction.

We present a combination of two techniques--QM/MM statistical simulation methods and QM/MM internal energy minimizations--to get a deeper insight into the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme chorismate mutase. Structures, internal energies and free energies, taken from the paths of the reaction in solution and in the enzyme have been analyzed in order to estimate the relative importance of the reorganization and preorganization effects. The results we obtain for this reaction are in good agreement with experiment and show that chorismate mutase achieves its catalytic efficiency in two ways; first, it preferentially binds the active conformer of the substrate and, second, it reduces the free energy of activation for the reaction relative to that in solution by providing an environment which stabilizes the transition state.     

Electronic excitation in anionic polymerization of butadiene: Nonempirical calculations of reaction complexes

A new mechanism of anionic polymerization of butadiene is proposed. In the elementary chemical act, the “living” polymer–monomer complex is excited into the low‐lying triplet state. This state has the character of charge (electron) and cation (Li⁺ or Na⁺) transfer from the terminal unit of the active center to the monomer molecule. In the framework of this concept, the probability of chemical bond formation is determined by spin density on radical centers of reagent molecules. Semiempirical and ab initio 6‐31G** quantum‐chemical calculations showed stable interaction between components of the complex in the ground electronic state (9–11 kcal/mol) and low energy levels of triplet excited states (<14 kcal/mol). This new approach is shown to be useful in the analysis of polymerization kinetics and the microstructure of polybutadiene depending on the cation type and the ion pair state. The mechanism of cis‐trans isomerization in the terminal unit of the living polymer consists in concerted rotation about the C_β? C_γ bond and the migration of Li between C_α and C_γ atoms. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002     

MNDO study of reaction paths: Hydroboration of methyl cyanide

The hydroboration reaction of methyl cyanide has been investigated by the MNDO method. It has been shown that the reaction requires an activation energy of 25.3 kcal/mol and involves a four-center-like transition state in the rate-determining step. This reaction has been compared with the corresponding reaction of hydrogen cyanide, and the effect of methyl substitution on the reaction has been discussed. The charge-transfer effects accompanying the reaction have also been studied.     

MNDO study of reaction paths: Hydroboration of carbonyl systems

The hydroboration reactions of acetaldehyde and acetone have been investigated by the MNDO method. The reactions have been shown to be twostep reactions involving an intermediate adduct. This adduct subsequently undergoes hydrogen rearrangement. The hydroboration reactions of acetaldehyde and acetone have been compared with the corresponding reaction of formaldehyde. The charge transfer effects accompanying these reactions have also been discussed.     

自由基HO2与C2H2反应势能面的理论研究

应用量子化学从头计算和密度泛函理论(DFT)对HO2+C2H2反应体系的反应机理进行了研究.在B3LYP/6-311G**和CCSD(T)/6-311G**水平上计算了HO2+ C2H2反应的二重态反应势能面.计算结果表明,主要反应方式为自由基HO2的H原子和C2H2分子中的C原子结合,经过一系列异构化,最后分解得到主要产物P1 (CH2O+ HCO).此反应是放热反应,化学反应热为-321.99 kJ·mol-1.次要产物为P2 (CO2 +CH3),也是放热反应.     

Ab initio MO study of potential energy surface of NH2 with CN reaction

An extensive quantum chemical study of the potential energy surfaces (PES) for the association reaction of NH₂ with CN and the subsequent isomerization and dissociation reactions has been carried out using density functional theory (DFT)/B3LYP/6‐311++G(3df,2p) level of theory on both singlet and triplet states. The reaction mechanism on the triplet surface is more complicated than that on the singlet surface. A total of 19 isomers and 46 transition states have been identified and characterized on the triplet PES. Among them, IM2 (IM2a), IM3 (IM3a, IM3b), and IM10 are the lowest‐lying isomers with thermodynamic stability. Twenty available dissociation channels, depending on the different initial isomers, have been identified. On the singlet surface, only 12 isomers and 16 transition states have been found, and among them IM1(S) and IM2(S) are the lowest‐lying isomers. The higher isomerization and dissociation barriers on the singlet surface indicate that the addition and the subsequent reactions of NH₂+CN are most likely to occur on the triplet PES because of the lower barriers. A prediction can be made for the possible mechanism explaining the production of H+HNCN. Besides HNCN, other major products are NH+HCN and NH+HNC, which are produced by direct dissociation reactions from triplet IM2 and IM3, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006     

CBr+O_2反应在二重态势能面上的机理研究(英文)

用UB3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)和QCISD(单点能)的方法考察了CBr+O2反应在二重态势能面上的反应机理。研究发现该反应在高温过程中重要,且有两个产物通道,它们分别是BrCO+O和Br+CO2,其中前者为优势通道。为了弄清溴原子取代对次甲基与氧气反应的机理的影响,我们对CBr+O2反应与CH+O2反应的相似性和差异也作了讨论。结果表明:两反应的第一步都是CX(X=H,Br)自由基与氧气反应生成链状过氧化物XCOO,且溴原子取代对反应的活性、产物通道的数量和产物的形成过程等都有影响。     

The electronic substituent influence on the thermally allowed electrocyclic interconversion cyclobutene/butadiene. A MNDO study

The effects of donor/acceptor substitution on the conrotatory cyclobutene/butadiene interconversion have not yet been experimentally studied. MNDO Synchronous Transit/MINIMAX calculations for all possible combinations of NH₂/NH₃ ⁺ ₃ groups at the fissile single bond reveal very large substituent effects on the opening reactions and reverse cyclisations. Diamino(1b/2b), diammonio-(1c/2c) and amino-ammonio-substitutions (1d/2d) change the activation energy of the reference ring opening reaction (1a 2a) from 49.9 kcal/mol to 34.7, 29.8 and 26.0 kcal/mol, respectively. This rate enhancement parallels the monotone shift of the transition state pathcoordinate towards the cyclobutenes. Relative to the electrocyclic reactions 1a/2a — 1c/2c the calculated result for 1d/2d is in opposition to the Hammond postulate, but a detailed analysis of the reaction paths suggests a mechanistic deviation in this kind of reaction. The calculated data for the reference process (1a/2a) and the oxetene isomerisation (3/4) when compared with available experimental data indicate that the MNDO calculations accurately reflect the experimental trends.     

Theoretical study of the mechanism for the ClOO + NO reaction on the singlet potential energy surface

A detailed quantum chemical study is performed on the mechanism of ClOO + NO reaction at the B3LYP/6-311+G (2d) level of theory combined with CCSD (T) single point energy calculation. The possible product channels for the reaction are obtained and discussed on the basis of the singlet [ClNO₃] potential energy surface. The calculation indicates that the dominant product for the title reaction is ClO + NO₂ by the direct dissociation of the initial adduct, and the formation of the other products is much less likely since they are unfavorable kinetically. A comparison is also made between the title reaction and the analogous reaction of FO₂ + NO to gain a deeper insight into the mechanism of the XO₂ + NO reactions.     

The reaction of phenyl radical with molecular oxygen: a G2M study of the potential energy surface

Ab initio G2M calculations have been performed to investigate the potential energy surface for the reaction of C6H5 with O2. The reaction is shown to start with an exothermic barrierless addition of O2 to the radical site of C6H5 to produce phenylperoxy (1) and, possibly, 1,2-dioxaspiro[2.5]octadienyl (dioxiranyl, 8) radicals. Next, 1 loses the terminal oxygen atom to yield the phenoxy + O products (3) or rearranges to 8. The dioxiranyl can further isomerize to a seven-member ring 2-oxepinyloxy radical (10), which can give rise to various products including C5H5 + CO2, pyranyl + CO, o-benzoquinone + H, and 2-oxo-2,3-dihydrofuran-4-yl + C2H2. Once 10 is produced, it is unlikely to go back to 8 and 1, because the barriers separating 10 from the products are much lower than the reverse barrier from 10 to 8. Thus, the branching ratio of C6H5O + O against the other products is mostly controlled by the critical transition states between 1 and 3, 1 and 8, and 8 and 10. According to the calculated barriers, the most favorable product channel for the decomposition of 10 is C5H5 + CO2, followed by pyranyl + CO and o-benzoquinone + H. Since C6H5O + O and C5H5 + CO2 are expected to be the major primary products of the C6H5 + O2 reaction and thermal decomposition of C6H5O leads to C5H5 + CO, cyclopentadienyl radicals are likely to be the major product of phenyl radical oxidation, and so it results in degradation of the six-member aromatic ring to the five-member cyclopentadienyl ring. Future multichannel RRKM calculations of reaction rate constants are required to support these conclusions and to quantify the product branching ratios at various combustion conditions.