Stepwise aromatic nucleophilic substitution in continuous flow. Synthesis of an unsymmetrically substituted 3,5-diamino-benzonitrile library

Aromatic or heteroaromatic ring precursors with 2–3 identical functionalities are often used in sequential derivatization depending on the reactivity difference or the selective execution of the reaction such as nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Continuous flow chemistry offers an enhanced parameter space (pressure and temperature) with rapid parameter optimization that ensures selectivity in many cases. We developed a flow chemistry procedure to carry out a stepwise aromatic nucleophilic substitution of difluoro-benzenes having an activating group in meta position to the fluorines. The mono-aminated products were obtained in high yield and selectivity in an extremely short reaction time, while applying higher temperature, longer reaction zone (or time), and employing higher excess of another amine reactant, the subsequent introduction of the second amino group was also successfully achieved leading to an unsymmetrically substituted 3,5-diamino-benzonitrile library.     

Sulphur dioxide insertion into tin―carbon bonds: solvent effects and the nature of the transition state

Data describing the insertion of sulphur dioxide into the carbon―tin bond of a range of substituted phenyltrimethyltin compounds in methanol and benzene solvents have been reconsidered. The reaction in methanol is cleanly second order, but the reaction in benzene has both a second‐order and third‐order component, the latter ascribable to an initial equilibrium formation of a SO₂ complex with the phenyl ring followed by the insertion of a second SO₂ molecule into the carbon–tin bond. Molecular orbital calculations have identified the transition states (TS) and the favoured reaction pathways for the second‐order and third‐order reaction pathways in benzene. The effects of solvents on TS and enthalpies of reaction have also been examined. New insights into the types of TS involved in electrophilic substitution reactions are revealed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

密度泛函理论下氯普鲁卡因分子的能级结构和光谱计算

本文基于密度泛函理论,采用B3LYP方法,在6-31G(d,p)基组上对麻醉剂氯普鲁卡因的分子结构进行几何优化,在此基础上以乙醇为溶剂计算分子的前20个激发态,所有计算在Gaussian 09W-D01中进行。利用Multiwfn3.7软件绘制红外光谱图,并对其分子振动进行分析;利用Origin 2018 64Bit软件和Multiwfn3.7软件相结合绘制紫外光谱图,并计算空穴-电子来分析分子的激发态性质;通过计算前线轨道来预测氯普鲁卡因分子的活性位点。结果表明,在所计算得到的激发态中,由基态到第2、3、6、10激发态为局域激发,由基态到第19激发态为电荷转移激发。氯普鲁卡因乙氨基上的N22为亲电反应位点,苯环上的碳原子和脂基上的氧原子为亲核反应位点。本研究对更好的了解氯普鲁卡因分子的反应机理和在医学上的麻醉活性提供理论参考。     

Mechanism of nucleophilic substitutions at phenacyl bromides with pyridines. A computational study of intermediate and transition state

DFT computations have been performed on nucleophilic substitutions of phenacyl bromides with pyridines to investigate the mechanism of the reaction. In contrast with earlier suppositions, tetrahedral intermediate is not formed by the addition of pyridine on the C?O group of phenacyl bromide, because the total energy of the reacting species increases continuously, when the distance between the N and C(?O) atoms of reactants is shorter than 2.7 Å. At a greater distance, however, a bridged complex of the reactants is observed, in which the N atom of pyridine is slightly closer to the C atom of the C?O, than to the C atom of the CH₂Br group of phenacyl bromide, the distances are 2.87 and 3.05 Å, respectively. The attractive forces between the oppositely polarized N and C(?O) atoms in the complex decrease the free energy of activation of the S_N2 attack of pyridine at the CH₂Br group. The calculated structural parameters of the S_N2 transition states (TS) indicate, that earlier TSs are formed when the pyridine nucleophile bears electron‐donating (e‐d) groups, while electron‐withdrawing (e‐w) groups on phenacyl bromide substrate increase the tightness of the TS. Free energies of activation computed for the S_N2 substitution agree well with the data calculated from the results of kinetic experiments and correlate with the σ_Py substituent constants, derived for pyridines, and with the Hammett σ constants, when the substituents (4‐MeO‐4‐NO₂) are varied on the pyridine or on the phenacyl bromide reactants. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanism of 4‐methyl‐1,2,4‐triazol‐3‐thiole reaction with formaldehyde. A DFT study

Contrary to the typical nucleophilic substitution, occurring on the sulfur atom of 4‐methyl‐1,2,4‐ triazol‐3‐thiole, the reaction with formaldehyde leads to the formation of the N? C bond rather than the S? C bond. The mechanism of this reaction has been characterized theoretically. Calculations indicate that the reaction proceeds via a cyclic transition state involving one solvent molecule with the Gibbs free activation energy of only 2 kcal/mol. The alternative pathway that leads to the S? C bond formation is about 5 kcal/mol more energetically demanding. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theoretical study of the smiles rearrangement in the activation mechanism of proton pump inhibitors

This work describes the conformational behavior and the activation mechanism of timoprazole and substituted prazoles from the most stable conformation to the sulphenic acid. The stability of the conformers can be explained by the presence of hydrogen bonds, stereoelectronic effect because of the lone pair of sulfur atom and the N^…C and N^…S interactions. The first step of the Smile rearrangement is a nucleophilic addition to benzimidazole by pyridine moiety, which depends on the difference of the electron population of the atoms involved in the attack. The second step produces sulphenic acid by a concerted reaction where breaking of the S–C bond goes along with a proton migration, and is determined by the electron population of the sulfur atom. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reactions of Wheland complexes: base catalysis in re‐aromatization reaction of σ complexes obtained from 1,3,5‐tris(N,N‐dialkylamino)benzene and arenediazonium salts

The usual idea on the two‐steps mechanism of aromatic electrophilic substitution reactions is that the first step (the attack of the electrophilic reagent on the activated substrate) is rate limiting, while the driving force of the reaction is the fast proton departure to recover the resonance energy of the aromatic substrate. The now examined systems allow the formation of stable σ cationic complexes (Wheland intermediates) which may be investigated by simple procedures. Data here reported represent a clear and simple instance of a measurement of the rate of the proton abstraction from a Wheland intermediate and they indicate that this proton abstraction occurs by base catalysis in a rate determining step. Probably, this feature is more frequent than that usually conceived in the mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions, because these reactions are often carried out in reaction mixtures containing large amounts of proton acceptor species which might mask the possible base catalysis. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

分子振光谱中的吸电子效应和供电子效应

本文就分子振动光谱中的吸电子效应和供电子效应提出了新观点：对共价键来说，吸电子效应使化学键强度增加，因而伸缩振动频率升高；供电子效应使供价键强度减弱，因而伸缩振动频率降低。对于配价键而言，如果取代基和配价键中提供电子对的原子相连，则供电子取代基使配价键加强，因而配价键的伸缩振动频率升高；吸电子取代基使配价键减弱，因而其伸缩振动频率降低。如果取代基和配价键中的受电子原子相连，则取代基的电子效应正好相     

2-硝基苯胺合成苯并氧化呋咱反应的密度泛函研究

用密度泛函理论在B3LYP/6-31G(d,p)计算水平下研究了次氯酸钠氧化邻硝基苯胺生成苯并氧化呋咱的环氧化反应．考虑溶剂化效应对反应的影响,使用极化连续反应场模型进行几何优化．计算了该反应的两种可能反应通道,它们都是分步反应,反应通道A经历氧化、移氢、脱水和环化四步反应,在反应通道B中,氢氧化钠的OH^-首先进攻邻硝基苯胺的胺基H原子,生成邻硝基苯亚胺负离子．计算结果表明,在反应通道A是可行的反应通道,1个水分子辅助进行分子内脱水反应是速控步骤．     

Quinoline formation via a modified Combes reaction: examination of kinetics,substituent effects,and mechanistic pathways

This is the first reported investigation of the Combes condensation employing 19F NMR spectroscopy to monitor intermediate consumption and product formation rates. The reaction was found to be first order in both the diketone and aniline. Product regioselectivity and reaction rates were found to be influenced by substituents on the diketones and anilines with rates varying as much as five fold. The consumption rate of key imine and enamine intermediates mirrored quinoline formation rates, in accord with rate determining annulation. A ρ of ?0.32 was determined for this cyclization. While the sign of the reaction constant is consistent with rate limiting electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS), the magnitude is likely a composite value, resulting from opposing substituent effects in the nucleophilic addition and EAS steps. Mechanistic details and reaction pathways supporting these findings are proposed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Competition between the concerted and nonconcerted addition of ozone to a double bond

Quantum chemistry methods are used to investigate the mechanism of the reaction of ozone with the double bond of ethylene. It is shown that there are two possible reaction mechanism; concerted addition through a symmetrical transition state (Criegee mechanism) and nonconcerted addition through a biradical transition state (DeMore mechanism). In the single-determinant approximation, both mechanisms were described by using the QCISD, CCSD, and B3LYP methods. These methods give a reasonable ratio between the rates of the two reaction channels, with the rate constants being closer to the experiment when calculated by the CCSD and B3LYP methods. Multiconfiguration calculations are performed at the MRMP2 level. They also show the presence of both channels of the reaction and yield reasonable values of the rate constants for reaction channels and the ratio thereof. It is shown that the reaction of ethylene with ozone via the concerted addition mechanism is much faster.     

Concerted versus stepwise mechanisms of cyclic proton transfer: Experiments,simulations, and current challenges

Proton transfer (PT) is a process of fundamental importance in hydrogen (H)-bonded systems. At cryogenic or moderate temperatures, pronounced quantum tunneling may happen due to the light mass of H. Single PT processes have been extensively studied. However, for PT involving multiple protons, our understanding remains in its infancy stage due to the complicated interplay between the high-dimensional nature of the process and the quantum nature of tunneling. Cyclic H-bonded systems are typical examples of this, where PT can happen separately via a "stepwise" mechanism or collectively via a "concerted" mechanism. In the first scenario, some protons hop first, typically resulting in metastable intermediate states (ISs) and the reaction pathway passes through multiple transition states. Whilst in the concerted mechanism, all protons move simultaneously, resulting in only one barrier along the path. Here, we review previous experimental and theoretical studies probing quantum tunneling in several representative systems for cyclic PT, with more focus on recent theoretical findings with path-integral based methods. For gas-phase porphyrin and porphycene, as well as porphycene on a metal surface, theoretical predictions are consistent with experimental observations, and enhance our understanding of the processes. Yet, discrepancies in the PT kinetic isotope effects between experiment and theory appear in two systems, most noticeably in water tetramer adsorbed on NaCl (001) surface, and also hinted in porphycene adsorbed on Ag (110) surface. In ice I_h, controversy surrounding concerted PT remains even between experiments. Despite of the recent progress in both theoretical methods and experimental techniques, multiple PT processes in cyclic H-bonded systems remain to be mysterious.     

Transition from concerted to stepwise processes as a function of leaving group ability: density functional theory and experimental study of lyoxide‐promoted cleavages of phosphorothioate and phosphate triesters in water and methanol

The base‐promoted solvolysis of a series of O,O‐dimethyl O‐aryl and O,O‐dimethyl O‐alkyl phosphorothioates (1) as well as O,O‐dimethyl O‐aryl and O,O‐dimethyl O‐alkyl phosphates (2) was studied computationally by density functional theory methods in methanol and water continuum media to determine the transition between concerted and stepwise processes. In addition, an experimental study was undertaken on the solvolysis of these series in basic methanol and water. The computations indicate that the solvolytic mechanism for series 1 involves lyoxide attack anti to the leaving group in a concerted manner with good leaving groups having pK_a^Lg values < 12.3 in methanol and in a stepwise fashion with the formation of a 5‐coordinate thiophosphorane intermediate when the pK_a^Lg > 12.3. A similar transition from concerted to stepwise mechanism occurs with series 2 in methanol as well as with series 1 and 2 in water, although for the aqueous solvolyses with hydroxide nucleophile, the transitions between concerted and stepwise mechanisms occur with better leaving groups than in the case in methanol. The computational data allow the construction of Brønsted plots of log k₂^?OS versus pK_a^Lg in methanol and water, which are compared with the experimental Brønsted plots determined with these series previously and with new data determined in this work. Both the computational and experimental Brønsted data reveal discontinuities in the plots between substrates bearing O‐aryl and O‐alkyl leaving groups, with the gradients of the plots being far steeper than, and non‐collinear with, the O‐aryl leaving groups for solvolysis of the O‐alkyl‐containing substrates. These discontinuities signify that care should be exercised in interpreting breaks in Brønsted plots in terms of changes in rate‐limiting steps that signify the formation of an intermediate during a solvolytic process. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computational studies of the effects of ortho‐ring and para‐ring activation on the kinetics of SNAr reactions of 1‐chloro‐2‐nitrobenzene and 1‐phenoxy‐2‐nitrobenzene with aniline

Computational studies are reported for reactions of 4‐substituted‐1‐chloro‐2,6‐dinitrobenzenes 1 , 6‐substituted‐1‐chloro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzenes 2 and some of the corresponding 1‐phenoxy derivatives 3 and 4 with aniline in the gas phase. The effects of substituent groups in the calculated energy values for reactants 1–4 , transition states structures, intermediates and products formed in the reactions between the compounds and anilines have been compared. Calculated bonds length and angles from optimized structures of the reactants were comparable with values reported for some of compounds 1–4 obtained by X‐ray crystal structures analysis. Generally, the decomposition of the Meisenheimer intermediate to the products requires more energy compared with the reactants except for when R = H. The order of stabilization of the intermediate was found to reflect the relative order of activation by substituents in the substrates. The 4‐substituted‐1‐chloro‐2,6‐dinitrobenzenes 1 and the phenoxy derivatives 3 were found to be more stable than their corresponding 6‐substituted analogues. This is an indication that the rate of nucleophilic attack at 1‐position will increase with increasing ring activation but may be reduced by steric repulsion at the reaction centre that increases in the order Cl < OPh. However, the steric hindrance to the steps involved in nucleophilic substitution by aniline is significantly increased when the substrates contain two ortho‐substituents. In most cases, the rate determining step is the decomposition of the σ‐adduct intermediate except with 1‐chloro‐2,6‐dinitrobenzenes 1 and 6‐substituted‐1‐chloro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzenes 2 , either because of reduction in ring activation or the presence of bulky ortho‐substituents in the chloro compounds 1 and 2 . Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preferred channels for nucleophilic and electrophilic attack from simple molecular potential maps

Molecular potential maps were constructed to yield information on initial stage of nucleophilic and electrophilic substitution reactions. As proposed recently, the electrostatic part of the potential was calculated from approximately transferable bond fragments. The electrostatic potential was corrected by addition of a 6–12 term to reach better agreement withab initio minimal basis set results. The obtained map gives information on attack of a point-like electrophile. On the other hand, by subtraction, a modified potential is obtained which can be used for nucleophilic reaction channels. Applications, like approach of hydride anion to formaldehyde and orientation rules for aromatic substitution reactions, are discussed.

     

Theoretical investigation of the photochemical reaction mechanism of cyclopropenone decarbonylation

The gas-phase decomposition mechanism of the photochemical and thermal reaction of cyclopropenone leading to carbon monoxide and acetylene has been investigated theoretically. We employed the B3LYP, MP2, and CASSCF methods with the 6-311?+?G** basis set to determine the pathways and the potential energy surface (PES) of this reaction. PES minima were characterized by the absence of any imaginary frequencies and compared with the transition states that contained single imaginary frequencies. The intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) method was used to find the minimum energy paths in which reactants and products were connected to the transition states. Activation barrier, thermodynamic, and IRC analyses were performed using the above three methods. Our computations indicated that the decomposition of cyclopropenone proceeds through a stepwise mechanism containing two transition states (TS1 and TS2) and an intermediate. The results show that TS1, the critical transition state, determines the rate of the cyclopropenone decomposition reaction. Therefore, we employed natural bond order (NBO) calculations to probe the structure of the intermediate. The calculations showed that the intermediate has resonance structures containing a carbene and a zwitterion. Our results are in good agreement with previous theoretical and experimental studies.     

过渡金属氮化物中单原子固溶和力学性能的第一性原理研究

基于密度泛函理论(DFT)的第一性原理,计算Si原子在Ti族和V族氮化物中以及B、C和Ge原子在TiN晶体中固溶的稳定结构,讨论置换型和间隙型固溶的低能量稳定结构与晶体间距的关系,研究金属氮化物和固溶原子固溶结构的力学性能.结果表明:Si原子在TiN、ZrN、HfN和TaN晶体中固溶以及Ge原子在TiN晶体中固溶情况为,单原子不进入对应过渡金属氮化物晶体中形成间隙固溶或置换固溶,随着晶体间距离变化单原子可以在晶体之间形成间隙固溶或置换固溶;Si原子在NbN以及B原子在TiN晶体中可以实现间隙固溶,而不能形成置换固溶;Si原子在VN和C原子在TiN晶体中固溶结构形式均为置换固溶.单原子固溶形成低能量置换型固溶体和间隙型固溶体的弹性常数、体模量和剪切模量均低于原过渡金属氮化物的对应值.     

The mechanism of the gas-phase elimination kinetics of the β,γ-unsaturated aldehyde 2,2–dimethyl-3-butenal: a theoretical study

The study on the mechanism of the gas-phase elimination or thermal decomposition kinetics of 2, 2-dimethyl-3-butenal has been carried out by using theoretical calculation at MP2, combined ab initio CBSQB3 and DFT (B3LYP, B3PW91, MPW1PW91, PBEPBE, PBE1PBE, CAMB3LYP, M06, B97d) levels of theory. A good reasonable agreement between experimental and calculated parameters was obtained by using CAMB3LYP/6-311G(d,pd) calculations. The contrasted calculated parameters against experimental values suggested decarbonylation reaction to proceed through a concerted five-membered cyclic transition state type of mechanism, involving the hydrogen transfer from the carbonyl carbon to the gamma carbon, consistent with observed kinetic isotope effect. The breaking of alpha carbon–carbonyl carbon bond to produce carbon monoxide is 50% advanced in the transition state. The reaction mechanism may be described as a concerted moderately non-synchronous process. Examination of the Atoms in Molecules (AIM) analysis of electron density supports the suggested mechanism.     

Mechanism of magnesium carbenoid 1,3‐C–H insertion: a DFT study

The 1,3‐C–H insertion of magnesium carbenoid and related species was investigated via density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The 1,3‐C–H insertion occurred according to an S_N2‐like mechanism wherein the nucleophilic C–H bond attacked the electrophilic carbenoid carbon atom. The activation energies for the 1,3‐C–H insertion of (1‐chloropropyl)magnesium chloride, (1‐methoxypropyl)magnesium chloride, and [1‐(methylthio)propyl]magnesium chloride were 20.0, 33.8, and 47.1 kcal/mol, respectively. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.