Mechanism of Dehydrobromination of 1,2-Dibromo-1-phenylethane under Conditions of Phase-Transfer Catalysis

Selective dehydrobromination of 1,2-dibromo-1-phenylethane to -bromostyrene was effected under conditions of phase-transfer catalysis in systems containing KOH, toluene, and tetraalkylammonium bromides. The high selectivity of the catalytic systems originates from stabilization by lipophilic cation of the phase-transfer catalyst of a E1cb-like transition state in the E2 mechanism. In the presence of a catalytic amount of lipophilic alcohols, phenylacetylene was obtained. Substrate activation by alcohol molecules is explained by enhancement of the acceptor power of halogen atoms due to solvation and by increased mobility of hydrogen atoms.     

Methane Hydroxylation by Methane Monooxygenase: On the Problem of the Process Dynamics

Published data on the kinetic isotope effects of the hydroxylation of deuterium-substituted methane molecules (CHD₃, CH₂D₂, and CH₃D) by methane monooxygenase are examined in the framework of the two-step nonradical mechanism through the intermediate formation of a complex containing pentacoordinate carbon. The kinetic schemes with the first step involving one, two, and three hydrogen atoms of the oxidized substrate are considered. Contrary to the widely accepted oxygen rebound mechanism, the experimental results obtained for the oxidation of various substrates by methane monooxygenase and cytochrome P450 can be explained from the viewpoint of the dynamics of a general nonradical mechanism.     

Electronic Structure of Ni(II) Acetylacetonate and Its γ-Substituted Analogs

The ab initio Hartree–Fock method with the DZA basis in single- and multideterminant approximations was used to study the electronic structure of nickel bis(acetylacetonate) and its -substituted analogs (X = Cl and CH₃). The character and sequence of canonical molecular orbitals were determined; the influence of -substituents and the role of the correlation and relaxation effects were elucidated.     

Meldrum's acid and its analogs

2-Substituted or 2,2-disubstituted 4,6-dioxo-1,3-dioxanes, which are analogs of Meldrum's acid and were obtained by reaction of malonic acid with acetic anhydride and the appropriate carbonyl compound in the presence of sulfuric acid, exist in solution preferably in a single form according to the PMR and ¹³C NMR spectral data. Fluctuation of the CH₂ group is not observed. The mass spectra are characteristic and are distinguished by splitting out of the carbonyl compound from the molecular ion or successive splitting out of CO₂ and ketene molecules. The Meldrum acid analogs do not affect plant growth but have a depressive effect on the central nervous system of animals and low toxicity.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 11, pp. 1482–1486, November, 1975.