The reactions of imidazol-2-ylidenes with the hydrogen atom: a theoretical study and experimental confirmation with muonium

The possible radicals resulting from hydrogen atom addition to the imidazole rings of 1,3-bis(isopropyl)-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene (1) and 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene (2) have been studied by means of density functional calculations (B3LYP). The calculations included solvent effects estimated via the polarized continuum model (PCM) and an empirical treatment of vibrational averaging of hyperfine constants. Addition of a hydrogen (or muonium) atom to the carbeneic carbon of 1,3-bis(isopropyl)-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene was found to give a radical 60.46 kJ mol(-)(1) more stable than the radical resulting from addition to the double bond. Estimation of the activation barriers for reaction at the two sites shows that addition at the carbeneic carbon is favored. The site of addition was confirmed experimentally using muonium (Mu), which can be considered a light isotope of hydrogen. Muon spin rotation and muon level-crossing spectroscopy were used to determine muon, (13)C, and (14)N hyperfine coupling constants (hfc's) for the radical products of addition to the two carbenes. Good agreement between the experimental and calculated hfc's confirms that Mu (and hence H) adds exclusively to the carbeneic carbon. The radicals that are produced have nonplanar radical centers with most of the unpaired electron spin density localized on the alpha-carbon.