Formation mechanism and conformational structure of 2,3,4-trimethyl-1,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)pentane-1,5-dione: quantum chemical study

The mechanism of formation of 1,5-diketone, a key intermediate in the stereoselective assembly of 2,3,4-trimethyl-7-methylidene-1,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane, and the conformational structures of the reagents and products were studied by quantum chemical calculations at the MP2/6-311++G**//B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory with solvent effects treated within the polarizable continuum model. The activation barrier for the addition of the 1-oxo-1-(thiophen-2-yl)propan-2-ide ion (1), which is generated from 1-(thiophen-2-yl)propan-1-one, to acetylene is 15.2 kcal mol^–1. The reaction affords β,γ-unsaturated ketone. The subsequent addition of carbanion 1 to the C=C double bond of the resulting β,γ-unsaturated ketons yields 1,5-diketone and occurs with insignificant (less than 1 kcal mol^–1) activation barrier.