Mechanism, Stereoselectivity, and Role of O2 in Aza-Diels-Alder Reactions Catalyzed by Dinuclear Molybdenum Complexes: A Theoretical Study.

The aza-Diels-Alder-type reaction between imines and functionalized alkenes is one of the most versatile approaches to obtain piperidine derivatives. When using the Lewis acid [Mo2(OAc)4] (CAT) as a catalyst, it was found that the activation of CAT by O2 was essential for an efficient reaction. In this paper, the mechanism and stereoselectivity of the aza-Diels-Alder reaction between aromatic acyl hydrozones 1 and Danishefsky diene 2 under uncatalyzed and catalyzed (CAT not activated by O2 and CAT activated by O2) conditions have been studied by density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The results show that the uncatalyzed reaction is difficult to proceed at room temperature due to the high energy barrier. The CAT not activated by molecular oxygen has catalytic activity but not too much. When CAT is activated by O2, CATO2 may be the correct catalytic species, which results in a dramatic increase of reaction activity. The reaction mechanisms with/without the catalyst are different. The uncatalyzed reaction is concerted for both the endo and exo pathways. For the CAT-catalyzed reaction, the endo pathway is concerted, but the exo pathway is nonconcerted and involves two steps. The endo product is the main product for the reaction catalyzed by CAT, while for reactions catalyzed by CATO1 and CATO2, the endo and exo products can be obtained. The reaction activity is directly correlated to the atomic charges of two coupling C atoms. Our work explains the experimental results, determines the structure of the O2-activated catalyst species, and provides predictions for the reaction activity and stereoselectivity controlling.

Computational prediction on the catalytic activity of heterobimetallic complex featuring MM' triple bond in acetylene cyclotrimerization: Mechanistic study.

A detailed reaction mechanism of acetylene cyclotrimerization catalyzed by V(i PrNPMe2 )3 Fe-PMe3 (denote as CAT), a heterobimetallic complex featuring V-Fe triple bond, was computationally investigated using density functional theory. The calculated results show that the first acetylene firstly attaches to the V atom of CAT to get a four-membered ring structure through [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. For the second acetylene addition, there are two cyclotrimerization mechanisms, outer sphere mechanism and inner mechanism. The inner sphere reaction pathway is the main reaction pathway. By replacing the V with Nb and Ta, Fe with Ru and Os, a series of new catalysts are screened computationally. The calculated results show that, all of the nine heterobimetallic complexes show high activity at mild condition. The energy barrier of the rate determining step is related to the natural population analysis (NPA) charge of M' and the Wiberg bond index (WBI) of M-M' bond. The more negative NPA charge of M' and the smaller WBI of M-M' bond, the lower energy barrier is.

Substituent-regulated mechanism on reaction Cp2NbH3 (Cp = η5-C5H5) with RC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CR (R = COOMe and Me).

The reaction of alkynes with bis-cyclopentadienyl hydride complexes of niobium has aroused substantial concern due to their important roles in catalytic hydrogenation processes. In this paper, the reaction mechanisms of Cp2NbH3 (Cp = η5-C5H5) with substituted alkynes RC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CR (R = COOMe (1) and Me (2)) were investigated and compared based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The calculated results demonstrate that the reaction mechanisms and products of the title reactions are regulated by the characteristics of the alkyne substituent. For alkynes that feature the electron-withdrawing substituent COOMe, the corresponding fumaric ester complex, namely, Cp2NbH(trans-MeO2CCH[double bond, length as m-dash]CHCO2Me), can be obtained at ambient temperature through an insertion process. For alkynes that feature the electron-donating substituent Me, the products are hydride niobocene Cp2NbH(MeC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CMe) and H2, which are obtained via the elimination of hydrogen molecules, and they can only be obtained with irradiation by UV light. Our studies provide reasonable explanations for experimental observations and predict new chemical reactions in this domain.

The chalcogen bond in F2P(S)N⋠⋠⋠SX2, F2PNS⋠⋠⋠SX2, F2PSN⋠⋠⋠SX2 (X = F, Cl, Br, OH, CH3, NH2) complexes.

As a kind of intermolecular noncovalent interaction, chalcogen bonding plays a critical role in the fields of chemistry and biology. In this paper, S⋅⋅⋅S chalcogen bonds in three groups of complexes, F2P(S)N⋅⋅⋅SX2, F2PNS⋅⋅⋅SX2, and F2PSN⋅⋅⋅SX2 (X = F, Cl, Br, OH, CH3, NH2), were investigated at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. The calculated results show that the formation of S⋅⋅⋅S chalcogen bond is in the manner of attraction between the positive molecular electrostatic potential (VS,max) of chalcogen bond donator and the negative VS,min of chalcogen bond acceptor. It is found that a good correlation exists between the S⋅⋅⋅S bond length and the interaction energy. The energy decomposition indicates the electrostatic energy and polarization energy are closely correlated with the total interaction energy. NBO analysis reveals that the charge transfer is rather closely correlated with the polarization, and the charge transfer has a similar behavior as the polarization in the formation of complex. Our results provide a new example for interpreting the noncovalent interaction based on the σ-hole concept. Graphical abstract The chalcogen bonds in the studied binary complexes are Coulombic in nature, and the charge transfer has a similar behavior as the polarization in the formation of the complex.

Bonding analysis of the donor-acceptor sandwiches CpE-MCp (E = B, Al, Ga; M = Li, Na, K; Cp = η5-C5H5).

The nature of E-M bonds in CpE-MCp (E = B, Al, Ga; M = Li, Na, K; Cp = η (5)-C5H5) donor-acceptor sandwiches was studied using the atoms in molecules (AIM) theory, electron localization function (ELF), energy decomposition analysis (EDA), and natural bond orbital analysis (NBO) methods. Both topological and orbital analysis show that the E atom determines the bond strength of the E-M bonds, while the M atom has little influence on it. E-M bond strength decreases in the order E = B, Al, and Ga. The EDA analysis shows that the electrostatic character decreases following the sequence E = B > Al > Ga. Not only the s orbital, but also the p orbital of the E/M atom participates in formation of the E-M bond. The interactions of E and M with Cp are different. The M-Cp interaction is purely electrostatic while the E-Cp interaction has a partly covalent character.

Reaction mechanism of CH3M≡MCH 3 (M=C, Si, Ge) with C2H4: [2+1] or [2+2] cycloaddition?

The mechanism of the cycloaddition reaction CH3M≡MCH3 (M=C, Si, Ge) with C2H4 has been studied at the CCSD(T)/6-311++G(d,p)//MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level. Vibrational analysis and intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC), calculated at the same level, have been applied to validate the connection of the stationary points. The breakage and formation of the chemical bonds of the titled reactions are discussed by the topological analysis of electron density. The calculated results show that, of the three titled reactions, the CH3Si≡SiCH3+C2H4 reaction has the highest reaction activity because it has the lowest energy barriers and the products with the lowest energy. The CH3C≡CCH3+C2H4 reaction occurs only with difficulty since it has the highest energy barriers. The reaction mechanisms of the title reactions are similar. A three-membered-ring is initially formed, and then it changed to a four-membered-ring structure. This means that these reactions involve a [2+1] cycloaddition as the initial step, instead of a direct [2+2] cycloaddition.