A computational investigation on the sequential rearrangement mechanism of 2-allyl-2,4,5-hexatrienaldehyde involving [1,5]-hydrogen migration and 8pi-electrocyclization

The sequential rearrangement reaction mechanism of the 2-allyl-2,4,5-hexatrienaldehyde has been studied at the unrestricted Becke three-parameter hybrid functional combined with Lee-Yang-Parr correlation functional (UB3LYP)/6-31G**, Complete Active Space Self-Consistent Field (CAS (8,8))/6-31G**, Configuration Interaction with Single and Double Excitations (CISD)//UB3LYP/6-31G** and the second-order perturbation theory based on the CASSCF reference wave function (CASPT2)//CAS(8,8)/6-31G** levels. Two pathways have been found to be involved for this reaction. The first pathway includes four processes of the rotation of the C3--C4 single bond, the stepwise 2 + 2] cycloaddition, the 1,5]-hydrogen migration, and the ring opening isomerization, while the second pathway undergoes only two processes of the 1,5]-hydrogen migration and the 8pi-electrocyclization. The calculation results indicate that the second pathway is favorable, in good agreement with the recent experimental observation. The whole reaction is stepwise and strong exothermic.