The structure and CH-acidity of CF3-substituted β-thiolactones. A theoretical study

Ab initio calculations of the molecules of CH₃- and CF₃-substituted β-propiothiolactones and the productsof their deprotonation were carried out by the restricted Hartree—Fock method with full geometry optimization using the 6–31 G^* basis set. Peculiarities of the geometry and electronic structure of the systems in question were established. Only 2-methyl-β-propiothiolactone forms a mesomeric stabilized carbanion in the case of proton abstraction from the α-position of thiolactone cycle. Carbanions of 3-methyl, 2-, and 3-thrifluoromethyl-β-propiothiolactones are stabilized due to the ring opening to form ketene thiolate ions. The CH-acidity of fluorine-containing β-thiolactones is much higher than that of nonfluorinated analogs (the differences in the deprotonation energies are 13.4 to 25.2 kcal mol⁻¹). Deceased. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 1719–1725, September, 1998.