Spontaneous emergence of enantioenriched chiral aldol reaction products from Achiral precursors in solution and origin of biological homochirality of sugars: a first-principles study.

Experimental reports about observation of spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking and chiral amplification in stereoselective Mannich and aldol reactions, run under fully achiral initial conditions, have drawn a lot of attention, fuelled partly by the role these reactions could have played in chemical evolution as a cause for still puzzling observed homochirality of biomolecules, often considered a prerequisite for the origin of life. We have now revisited this still unresolved problem, using DFT computation of all combinatorially possible transition states and numerical solution of complete set of resulting coupled kinetic rate equations to model the aldol reaction rigorously "from the first principles" and without making any a priori assumptions. Spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking in this autocatalytic, reversible, closed and homogenous system is explained by a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation, occurring in concentrations of enantiomers due to time-delayed kinetic instability of racemic composition of reaction mixture, when reactants are initially provided in non-stoichiometric quantities. Same process, taking place under similar conditions in primordial "soup" of chemicals, might conceivably explain origin of biological homochirality of sugar molecules on early earth billions of years ago. Our results suggest that seemingly innocuous chemical reactions could exhibit unexpected and counter-intuitive emergent behaviour, when initial conditions are appropriately chosen. Chiral amplification in self-catalyzed aldol reaction occurs during approach of thermodynamic equilibrium in accord with principle of microscopic reversibility and second law of thermodynamics.

Disclosure of Ground-State Zimmerman-Möbius Aromaticity in the Radical Anion of [6]Helicene and Evidence for 4π Periodic Aromatic Ring Currents in a Molecular "Metallic" Möbius Strip.

In 1966, Zimmerman proposed a type of Möbius aromaticity that involves through-space electron delocalization; it has since been widely applied to explain reactivity in pericyclic reactions, but is considered to be limited to transition-state structures. Although the easily accessible hexahelicene radical anion has been known for more than half a century, it was overlooked that it exhibits a ground-state minimum and robust Zimmerman-Möbius aromaticity in its central noose-like opening, becoming, hence, the oldest existing Möbius aromatic system and with smallest Möbius cycle known. Despite its overall aromatic stabilization energy of 13.6 kcal mol-1 (at B3LYP/6-311+G**), the radical also features a strong, globally induced paramagnetic ring current along its outer edge. Exclusive global paramagnetic currents can also be found in other fully delocalized radical anions of 4N+2 π-electron aromatic polycyclic benzenoid hydrocarbons (PAH), thus questioning the established magnetic criterion of antiaromaticity. As an example of a PAH with nontrivial topology, we studied a novel Möbius[16]cyclacene that has a non-orientable surface manifold and a stable closed-shell singlet ground state at several density functional theory levels. Its metallic monoanion radical (0.0095 eV band gap at HSE06/6-31G* level) is also wave-function stable and displays an unusual 4π-periodic, magnetically induced ring current (reminiscent of the transformation behaviour of spinors under spatial rotation), thus indicating the existence of a new, Hückel-rule-evading type of aromaticity.

Speeding up Viedma Deracemization through Water-catalyzed and Reactant Self-catalyzed Racemization.

Viedma deracemization is based on solution phase racemization, dissolution of racemic or scalemic conglomerates and crystal growth through autocatalytic cluster formation. With rate limiting racemization, its acceleration by appropriate catalysts may result in speeding up deracemization. A conglomerate-forming chiral compound may principally racemize directly, or via reverse of its formation reaction. For a hydrazine derivative, we investigated available racemization pathways in presence of pyrrolidine or thiourea amine as base catalysts: via Mannich or aza-Michael reaction steps and their reverse, or by enolization. Racemization by enolization was computationally found to dominate, both under water-free conditions and in presence of water, involving a multitude of different pathways. Faster racemization in presence of water resulted indeed in more rapid deracemization, when the base was pyrrolidine. Under water-free conditions, the role of water as enolization catalyst is assumed by chiral hydrazine itself - in autocatalytic racemization and in which both reactant and product are catalysts.

Hückel and Möbius Aromaticity in Charged Sigma Complexes.

In sigma complexes, intermediates in nucleophilic and electrophilic aromatic substitution and other reactions, delocalization in the aromatic ring is formally disrupted. Unexpectedly, computational evidence is presented that favorable processes contain aromatic sigma complexes. Tetracoordinated carbon therein surprisingly employs orbitals that are more similar to sp2 than to sp3 hybrids in sigma bonds with adjacent ring atoms. Both leaving groups and nucleo- or electrophiles may donate electrons to the π-system depending on the availability of p-type orbitals to fulfill Hückel (4N+2) or Möbius (4N) rules of aromaticity in analogy to conjugated transition-metal metallacycles.

Strict Correlation of HOMO Topology and Magnetic Aromaticity Indices in d-Block Metalloaromatics.

Magnetic aromaticity and antiaromaticity of closed shell metalloaromatics with 4d transition metals (Nb, Tc, Rh) is strictly correlated with the orbital topology (Möbius or Hückel) of their π-HOMO, investigated computationally with DFT methods. A surprisingly simple rule emerged: the metallacycle is aromatic (antiaromatic) when the number of π MOs is even and the π-HOMO is of Möbius (Hückel) topology-and vice versa when the number of π MOs is odd.

Spin-paired solvated electron couples in alkali-ammonia systems.

Alkali metals form deep blue solutions of solvated electrons in liquid ammonia. To explain the diamagnetism of more concentrated solutions, DFT and ab initio computations have been used to show that spin-paired couples of electrons can overcome Coulomb repulsion, occupying a cavity formed by solvent molecules, comparable in size to that of single solvated electrons. Sluggish hydrogen evolution from the solutions is rationalized by a high activation barrier for reaction of the electron pair with an ammonia molecule.

Iron-Catalyzed Olefin Metathesis with Low-Valent Iron Alkylidenes.

Inspired by recent reports of low-valent iron-complex-catalyzed formal [2+2] cycloaddition of olefins, we demonstrate computationally that with such low-valent iron complexes and with "strong" ligands, the olefin metathesis is also preferred over the undesired cyclopropanation side-reaction, competition already studied by Hoffmann and co-workers almost 40 years ago (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1981, 103, 5582). The [2+2] cycloaddition step in metathesis propagation, which gives a Chauvin-type metallacyclobutane intermediate, is proposed to proceed either via a planar four-electron Craig-Möbius aromatic [π2s +π2s ] transition-state structure with a low barrier of 4.7 kcal mol-1 or, alternatively, via a twisted Zimmerman-Möbius aromatic [π2s +π2a ] transition state with a 5.5 kcal mol-1 activation-energy barrier, with respect to an "encounter" π-complex minimum obtained from an FeII alkylidene and the entering olefin, while the corresponding triplet pathways are all disfavored.

4N electron aromatic cycles in polycyclic hydrocarbons.

Polycyclic fully conjugated hydrocarbons in which aromatics are fused to aromatics - or aromatics to antiaromatics - are important as potential organic semiconductors. Herein we explore the only remaining fusion pattern of antiaromatics to antiaromatics. It is shown computationally that the central antiaromatic unit (cyclobutadiene or pentalene) in such a three-unit polycyclic hydrocarbon, generated by fusion of three antiaromatic molecules, turns aromatic according to magnetic shielding (NICS) criteria. The resulting neutral 4N electron molecules possess a 4N π electron perimeter with pronounced CC bond length equalization (as indicated by the HOMA geometric index) and significant aromatic stabilization energies (computed using the isomerization-stabilization method) and could be promising synthetic targets with small HOMO-LUMO gaps.

A new architecture for high spin organics based on Baird's rule of 4n electron triplet aromatics.

Due to the absence of open subshells (unlike transition metal compounds), stable high spin organic molecules are rare and are mostly limited to states of low multiplicity. As an alternative to high multiplicity polyradicals and polycarbenes, with their small energetic separation of different spin isomers, it is demonstrated that Baird's rule of 4n electron aromaticity in the triplet electronic state allows, in principle, the design of polycyclic high spin organics with high spin multiplicity in the electronic ground state and a large energetic separation for other spin states. Energy spacing between spin isomers is dictated here by the aromaticity or antiaromaticity of individual cycles (taking into account all π electrons), rather than by a spin Hamiltonian alone (accounting only for unpaired spin electrons). As a proof of concept, dyads of the cyclopentadienyl cation (which has been reported to possess a triplet ground state) have been computationally found to possess a quintet electronic ground state with two ferromagnetically coupled Baird aromatic rings (with SCF-GIAO NICS(0) = -4.6 and -4.4, respectively; "NICS" is "nucleus independent chemical shift") at the CASMP2(8,10)/6-311G*//CASSCF(8,10)/6-311G* level, which is 48.3 kcal mol-1 lower in energy than the C2 open shell singlet with two antiaromatic rings (with NICS = +17.4), and 19.7 kcal mol-1 below the triplet which has one aromatic and one antiaromatic ring, with NICS = -4.8 and +45.0, respectively. Triads of the cyclopentadienyl cation in linear and branched topologies are also proposed to be ground states of maximum spin multiplicity by computations at the DFT and CCSD(T)/6-31G//UB3LYP/6-311G* levels.

Duality of Orbital-Symmetry-Allowed Transition States for Thermal Sigmatropic Hydrogen Shifts in Transition Metal Compounds.

Herein, the Zimmerman Möbius/Hückel concept is extended to pericyclic reactions involving transition metals. While sigmatropic hydrogen shifts in parent hydrocarbons are either uniquely antarafacial or suprafacial, we have shown by theoretical orbital topology considerations and quantum chemical computations at DFT level that both modes of stereoselectivity must become allowed in the same system as a consequence of Craig-Möbius-type orbital arrays, in which a transition metal d orbital induces a phase dislocation in metallacycles. This may have fundamental implications for the understanding of reactivity and bonding in organometallic chemistry.

Reversal of Orbital Symmetry Control in Electrocyclic Ring Closures through Craig-Möbius Aromaticity.

Experimentalists are challenged to find the organometallic thermal electrocyclizations that are computationally predicted to proceed with opposite stereoselectivity compared to their metal-free parent 4n and 4n+2 π-electron systems. While ring closure of, for example, s-cis-butadiene proceeds conrotatory, an iron alkyl complex formed by replacement of a (CH) unit by an [FeH] metal fragment results in a disrotatory electrocyclization.

Demonstration of "Möbius" aromaticity in planar metallacycles.

Möbius aromaticity, predicted by Edgar Heilbronner in 1964, is a stabilizing effect exhibited by 4n electron fully conjugated cyclic molecules (or transition states) with an odd number of orbital phase inversions. Although it has previously been suggested that this effect might also apply to planar metallacycles in which a transition metal employs a d orbital in delta-type binding mode, only very few examples of stable twisted molecules composed of main group elements are known. We report herein, the first computationally confirmed 4npi aromatic planar metallacyclic examples and their building principles. Aromatic stabilization energy (ASE) of a 8pi metalla-cycloheptatriene [Fe(CH)(6)H(2)], with four doubly occupied pi orbitals and a HOMA value of +0.80 (cf. benzene=+1.0), an NICS(0) value of -8.5 (benzene=-9.8, NICS=nucleus independent chemical shift), and with one phase inversion, is +27.5 kcal mol(-1) (about two-thirds of the value for benzene). In contrast, an unknown non-Möbius 1,4-dimetallabenzene [Fe(2)(CH)(4)H(4)], also with 8pi electrons, and without phase inversions, has an ASE of -4.1 kcal mol(-1) and a NICS(0)=+15.6, indicative of antiaromaticity. Aromaticity of the proposed Möbius aromatic metallacycles is confirmed by using magnetic (NICS(0), NICS(1)(zz), delta(1)H) and geometric (HOMA) aromaticity criteria, planarity, and near equalized C-C bond lengths, bonding analysis (Wiberg bond indices, NBO, and NLMO analysis). The role of wave function boundary conditions (periodic vs. antiperiodic) in chemistry is further stressed, being equivalent to Zimmerman's concept of nodal parity for Möbius/Hückel systems.

Spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking in the aldol reaction and its potential relevance in prebiotic chemistry.

The origin of the single chirality of most biomolecules is still a great puzzle. Carbohydrates could form in the formose reaction, which is proposed to be autocatalytic and contains aldol reaction steps. Based on our earlier observation of organoautocatalysis and spontaneous enantioenrichment in absence of deliberate chiral influences in the aldol reaction of acetone and p-nitrobenzaldehyde we suggest that a similar effect might be present also in the aldol reactions involved in gluconeogenesis. Herein we show that reactant precipitation observed in our earlier reported experiments does not affect the asymmetric autocatalysis in the aldol reaction we studied. We explain the phenomenon of spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking in such organocatalytic homogenous systems qualitatively by non-linear reaction network kinetics and classical transition state theory.

Autocatalytic enantiomerisation at the crystal surface in deracemisation of scalemic conglomerates.

Deracemisation of racemic or scalemic conglomerates of intrinsically chiral compounds appears to be a promising method of chiral resolution. By combining the established methods of asymmetric synthesis and the physical process of crystal growth, we were able to achieve a complete deracemisation (with 100% ee) of an asymmetric Mannich product conglomerate--vigorously stirred in its saturated solution--from a starting enantiomeric excess value of 15.8% in the presence of pyrrolidine (8 mol %) as an achiral catalyst for the CC bond-forming reaction. Strong activation of this deracemisation process was observed on mild isothermal heating to only 40 degrees C, resulting in dramatic acceleration by a factor of about 20 with respect to the results obtained at room temperature. Despite the fact that the racemisation half-life time of the nearly enantiopure Mannich product (with 99% ee) in the homogenous solution at the reaction temperature is eight days, the deracemisation process took only hours in a small-scale experiment. This apparent paradox is explained by a proposed rapid enantiomerisation at the crystal/solution interface, which was corroborated by a (13)C labelling experiment that confirmed the involvement of rapid enantiomerisation. Frequent monitoring of the solution-phase ee of the slowly racemising compound further revealed that the minor enantiomer dominated in solution, supporting an explanation based on a kinetic model. A generalisation of the process of "aymmetric autocatalysis" (resulting in automultiplication of chiral products in homogenous media) to encompass heterogeneous systems is also suggested.

The effect of perfluorination on the aromaticity of benzene and heterocyclic six-membered rings.

Despite having six highly electronegative F's, perfluorobenzene C(6)F(6) is as aromatic as benzene. Ab initio block-localized wave function (BLW) computations reveal that both C(6)F(6) and benzene have essentially the same extra cyclic resonance energies (ECREs). Localized molecular orbital (LMO)-nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS) grids demonstrates that the F's induce only local paratropic contributions that are not related to aromaticity. Thus, all of the fluorinated benzenes (C(6)F(n)H((6-n)), n = 1-6) have similar ring-LMO-NICS(pi zz) values. However, 1,3-difluorobenzene 2b and 1,3,5-trifluorobenzene 3c are slightly less aromatic than their isomers due to a greater degree of ring charge alternation. Isoelectronic C(5)H(5)Y heterocycles (Y = BH(-), N, NH(+)) are as aromatic as benzene, based on their ring-LMO-NICS(pi zz) and ECRE values, unless extremely electronegative heteroatoms (e.g., Y = O(+)) are involved.

A preferred disrotatory 4n electron Möbius aromatic transition state for a thermal electrocyclic reaction.

Not forbidden: Thermal 4n electron electrocyclic reactions of Hückel topology structures proceed via "allowed" conrotatory pathways. However, for a Möbius topology, the Woodward-Hoffmann rules may be reversed and a "forbidden" disrotatory pathway can be preferred as shown theoretically for dodecahexaene 1 that transforms via a Heilbronner-Möbius aromatic transition structure 2 into a cyclic polyene 3.

Spontaneous emergence of homochirality via coherently coupled antagonistic and reversible reaction cycles.

Asymmetric synthesis aims at obtaining enantio-enriched products in stereoselective reactions under a chiral influence. We demonstrate both mathematically and numerically that, even under nominally achiral conditions, fully homochiral steady states can be obtained in open reactive systems by spontaneous mirror-symmetry breaking in the homogenous solution phase when the autocatalytic reaction network is closed in the form of coherently coupled antagonistic reversible reaction cycles which, paradoxically, allow for complete recycling of the reactant. We show that the fully reversible Frank mechanism for spontaneous mirror-symmetry breaking is closely related to the Lotka-Volterra system, which models predator-prey relations in ecosystems. Amplification of total enantiomeric excess and the principle of microscopic reversibility are not in conflict for all conceivable reactions. A viable and widely applicable reaction protocol is introduced and discussed, and it permits the theoretical implications to be applied to practical laboratory examples. Implications for the possible origin of biological homochirality on early earth are discussed.

Aromaticity with a twist: Möbius [4n]annulenes.

Aromatic Möbius [4n]annulenes with 4n pi electrons, originally conceived by Heilbronner, are characterized computationally. These (CH)(12), (CH)(16), and (CH)(20) minima have nearly equal C-C bond lengths, small twist angles around the rings, and magnetic properties (NICS, nucleus-independent chemical shifts--see above at various positions in [16]annulene--and magnetic susceptibility exaltations) indicating significantly diatropic ring currents. The Möbius forms are not the most stable isomers but may contribute significantly to the chemistry of these annulenes. [structure: see text]

Metal-mediated reactions modeled after nature.

The Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 436 'Metal-Mediated Reactions Modeled after Nature' was founded for the express purpose of analyzing the catalytic principles of metallo-enzymes in order to construct efficient catalysts on a chemical basis. The structure of the active center and neighboring chemical environment in enzymes serves as a focal point for developing reactivity models for the chemical redesign of catalysts. Instead of simply copying enzyme construction, we strive to achieve new chemical intuition based on the results of long-lasting natural evolution. We hope for success, since nature uses a limited set of building blocks, whereas we can apply the full repertoire of chemistry. Key substrates in this approach are small molecules, such as CO2, O2 NO3- and N2. Nature complexes these substrates, activates them and performs chemical transformations--all within the active center of a metalloenzyme. In this article, we report on some aspects and first results of the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 436, such as nitrate reductase, sphingolipid desaturase, carbonic anhydrase, leucine aminopeptidase and dopamine beta-monooxygenase.