The mechanism of the (bispidine)copper(II)-catalyzed aziridination of styrene: a combined experimental and theoretical study

Experimental and DFT-based computational results on the aziridination mechanism and the catalytic activity of (bispidine)copper(I) and -copper(II) complexes are reported and discussed (bispidine=tetra- or pentadentate 3,7-diazabicyclo3.1.1]nonane derivative with two or three aromatic N donors in addition to the two tertiary amines). There is a correlation between the redox potential of the copper(II/I) couple and the activity of the catalyst. The most active catalyst studied, which has the most positive redox potential among all (bispidine)copper(II) complexes, performs 180 turnovers in 30 min. A detailed hybrid density functional theory (DFT) study provides insight into the structure, spin state, and stability of reactive intermediates and transition states, the oxidation state of the copper center, and the denticity of the nitrene source. Among the possible pathways for the formation of the aziridine product, the stepwise formation of the two N-C bonds is shown to be preferred, which also follows from experimental results. Although the triplet state of the catalytically active copper nitrene is lowest in energy, the two possible spin states of the radical intermediate are practically degenerate, and there is a spin crossover at this stage because the triplet energy barrier to the singlet product is exceedingly high.