Theoretical studies of mechanism of cycloaddition reaction between germylidene and formaldehyde

Mechanism of the cycloadditional reaction between singlet germylidene (R1) and formaldehyde (R2) has been investigated with MP2/6‐31G* method, including geometry optimization, and vibrational analysis for the involved stationary points on the potential energy surface. The energies of the different conformations are calculated by CCSD(T)//MP2/6‐31G* method. From the potential energy profile, it can be predicted that the dominant reaction pathway of the cycloadditional reaction between singlet germylidene and formaldehyde is reaction (4) , which consists of three steps: the two reactants (R1, R2) first form an intermediate INT1b through a barrier‐free exothermic reaction of 28.1 kJ/mol; this intermediate reacts further with formaldehyde (R2) to give an intermediate INT4, which is also a barrier‐free exothermic reaction of 37.2 kJ/mol; subsequently, the intermediate INT4 isomerizes to a heteropolycyclic germanic compound P4 via a transition state TS4, for which the barrier is 18.6 kJ/mol. The dominant reaction has an excellent selectivity and differs considerably from its competitive reactions in thermodynamic property and reaction rate. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008