7r-electron interactions

Paracyclophanes have been recognized for some time as interesting structures for stereochemical studies and for unusual intra- and intermolecular 7r-electron interactions.4-7 The non-planar, boatlike benzene rings8 of these compounds have attracted the attention of numerous synthetic organic chemists4-7 as well as theoreticians9,10 and spectroscopists.7,11... 

In Table 7 the six-membered monocyclic dienes are represented by the conjugated 1,3-cyclohexadiene and its isomer 1,4-cyclohexadiene. i,3-Cyclohexadiene has a nonplanar equilibrium conformation that is primarily influenced by three factors 7r-electron interaction (optimal for a planar conformation) angle strain and torsion strain (both optimal for a planar conformation). The reduced overlap between the two tt-orbital systems is, for the observed C=C—C=C angle of l8°, estimated at ca l0% and should therefore not influence the conjugation stabilization drastically, compared to a conformation with coplanar C=C bonds. 

Fora [4 + 2 -7r-electron cycloaddition (Diels-Aldei reaction), let s arbitrarily select the diene LUMO and the alkene HOMO. The symmetries of the two ground-slate orbitals are such that bonding of the terminal lobes can occur with suprafacial geometry (Figure 30.9), so the Diels-Alder reaction takes place readily under thermal conditions. Note that, as with electrocyclic reactions, we need be concerned only with the terminal lobes. For purposes of prediction, interactions among the interior lobes need not be considered. 

Cations are by no means the only species where the effects of hyperconjugative delocalization reveal themselves in such a striking manner. Similar effects exist in neutral systems or in anions. For instance, the normal propyl anion should tend to be eclipsed (E) since in this manner the molecule would optimize the 4-electron interactions between the ethyl group t orbital and the p orbital which carries the electron pair. In the bisected conformation, where ttchs and ttchs have both been raised in energy, the four-electron, destabilizing (see Section 1.7, rule 2) p ->7r interaction is stronger than in the eclipsed conformation. At the same time the two-electron, stabilizing p ->ir interaction is weaker than in the eclipsed conformation. Both effects favor the eclipsed conformation. 

Affrossman149 observed the accelerating effects of cation-exchange resins partially neutralized with AgOH toward the hydrolyses of allylacetate. 7r-Electron-binding interactions between Ag+ and the double bond in allylacetate were proposed. 7r-Complex formations of olefine with Cu+ and Ag+ have already been reported150 151. ... 

Zollinger and coworkers (Nakazumi et al., 1983) therefore supposed that the diazonium ion and the crown ether are in a rapid equilibrium with two complexes as in Scheme 11-2. One of these is the charge-transfer complex (CT), whose stability is based on the interaction between the acceptor (ArNj) and donor components (Crown). The acceptor center of the diazonium ion is either the (3-nitrogen atom or the combined 7r-electron system of the aryl part and the diazonio group, while the donor centers are one or more of the ether oxygen atoms. The other partner in the equilibrium is the insertion complex (IC), as shown in structure 11.5. Scheme 11-2 is intended to leave the question open as to whether the CT and IC complexes are formed competitively or consecutively from the components. ... 

In structural terms, aggregation of porphyrin rings usually results from 7r-7r and it a electronic interactions between parallel plates 69 however, if a coordinated metal is present, and it has axial ligands, then the aromatic systems cannot come close together, and so aggregation is inhibited and PDT activity is expected to be enhanced.72... 

The importance of alkali metal binding with available 7r-electron density in the formation of CIPs was also demonstrated by Niemeyer in the structural elucidation of the first monomeric non-solvated lithium cuprate, [(2,6-Mcs2(LI L)2CuLi] 450, formed from the reaction of 2 equiv. of (2,6-Mcs2Gf,I L)Li with /-BuOCu in pentane.447 The complex crystallizes as two different independent molecules in which the C-Cu-C angles differ (171.1° and 173.8°) as does the mode of coordination to the Li cations C pso and rf to one pendant Ph in molecule 1, with an additional rf interaction to a second Ph group in molecule 2. In the second molecule, the Li site is 10% occupied by a Cu ion. 

What kind of interaction exists between the 7r-electrons of the exocyclic C=C bonds ... 

Only for a special class of compound with appropriate planar symmetry is it possible to distinguish between (a) electrons, associated with atomic cores and (7r) electrons delocalized over the molecular surface. The Hiickel approximation is allowed for this limited class only. Since a — 7r separation is nowhere perfect and always somewhat artificial, there is the temptation to extend the Hiickel method also to situations where more pronounced a — ix interaction is expected. It is immediately obvious that a different partitioning would be required for such an extension. The standard HMO partitioning that operates on symmetry grounds, treats only the 7r-electrons quantum mechanically and all a-electrons as part of the classical molecular frame. The alternative is an arbitrary distinction between valence electrons and atomic cores. Schemes have been devised [98, 99] to handle situations where the molecular valence shell consists of either a + n or only a electrons. In either case, the partitioning introduces extra complications. The mathematics of the situation [100] dictates that any abstraction produce disjoint sectors, of which no more than one may be non-classical. In view if the BO approximation already invoked, only the valence sector could be quantum mechanical9. In this case the classical remainder is a set of atomic cores in some unspecified excited state, called the valence state. One complication that arises is that wave functions of the valence electrons depend parametrically on the valence state. 

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