Experimental and computational mechanistic investigation of chlorocarbene additions to bridgehead carbene-anti-Bredt systems: noradamantylcarbene-adamantene and adamantylcarbene-homoadamantene.

Cophotolysis of noradamantyldiazirine with the phenanthride precursor of dichlorocarbene or phenylchlorodiazirine in pentane at room temperature produces noradamantylethylenes in 11% yield with slight diastereoselectivity. Cophotolysis of adamantyldiazirine with phenylchlorodiazirine in pentane at room temperature generates adamantylethylenes in 6% yield with no diastereoselectivity. (1)H NMR showed the reaction of noradamantyldiazirine + phenylchlorodiazirine to be independent of solvent, and the rate of noradamantyldiazirine consumption correlated with the rate of ethylene formation. Laser flash photolysis showed that reaction of phenylchlorocarbene + adamantene was independent of adamantene concentration. The reaction of phenylchlorocarbene + homoadamantene produces the ethylene products with k = 9.6 × 10(5) M(-1) s(-1). Calculations at the UB3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) and UM062X/6-31+G(d,p)//UB3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) levels show the formation of exocyclic ethylenes to proceed (a) on the singlet surface via stepwise addition of phenylchlorocarbene (PhCCl) to bridgehead alkenes adamantene and homoadamantene, respectively, producing an intermediate singlet diradical in each case, or (b) via addition of PhCCl to the diazo analogues of noradamantyl- and adamantyldiazirine. Preliminary direct dynamics calculations on adamantene + PhCCl show a high degree of recrossing (68%), indicative of a flat transition state surface. Overall, 9% of the total trajectories formed noradamantylethylene product, each proceeding via the computed singlet diradical.

A computational study of chlorocarbene additions to cyclooctyne.

Dichloro- and phenylchlorocarbene (CCl2 and PhCCl) add to cyclooctyne via a barrierless process (MP2/6-311+G*, B3LYP/6-311+G*, B3LYP/6-31G*) to yield the expected corresponding cyclopropene adducts. A three-dimensional potential energy surface (PES) for CCl2 addition to cyclooctyne (B3LYP/6-31G*) shows the formation of the cyclopropene product and also possible formation of a vinylcarbene. Residing in a shallow energy well, the vinylcarbene easily rearranges to the cyclopropene product, or to an exocyclic vinyl bicyclo[3.3.0]octane. Although the calculated three-dimensional PES indicates possible dynamic control of the cyclooctyne-chlorocarbene system through the putative formation of a vinylcarbene (in addition to the expected cyclopropene), additional calculations and preliminary experimental work show paths through the vinylcarbene to be unlikely. If the additions of chlorocarbenes to cyclooctyne are controlled by reaction dynamics, we predict that the vast majority of the reactions proceed via traditional carbene cycloaddition with only a very minor amount of products formed from the alternative pathway.

Regioselectivity and mechanism of dihalocarbene addition to benzocyclopropene.

Dihalocarbenes add regioselectively to aryl-substituted benzocyclopropenes to produce dihalobenzocyclobutenes. The regioselectivity of addition is not due to steric effects but depends on the electronic donor or acceptor ability of the substituent. B3LYP/6-31G* calculations show preferential :CCl2 addition to substituted benzocyclopropene through electrophilic attack on the benzocyclopropene pi-system (Ea = 1.1-2.4 kcal/mol) rather than C-C sigma-bond insertion into the cyclopropenyl moiety (Ea = 5-24 kcal/mol). pi-Addition proceeds regioselectively through a single transition state to xylylene intermediates or directly to benzocyclobutene products.

Dichlorocarbene addition to cyclopropenes: a computational study.

Reaction paths for addition of dichlorocarbene to 1,2-disubstituted cyclopropenes were calculated using hybrid density functional theory (B3LYP/6-31G) in the gas phase and in the presence of a continuum solvation model corresponding to acetonitrile. In both the gas phase and acetonitrile, :CCl2-cyclopropene addition follows an asymmetric, non-least-motion approach. Barriers to addition range from 0 to 2 kcal/mol. The reactions proceed in concerted fashion in both the gas phase and solution to yield 1,3-dienes or bicyclobutanes. The reaction pathway on this complex potential energy surface of this reaction appears to bifurcate, and the product distribution is believed to be controlled by reaction dynamics. At the present level of theory, there appears to be no minimum on the potential energy surface corresponding to a dipolar intermediate.