Aromaticity and pericyclic reactions

The appearance in the previous section of the 4 + 2 and 4r formulas brings to mind the criteria for aromatic and antiaromatic systems discussed in Chapter 1. Furthermore, the HOMO-LUMO interaction patterns discussed in Section 11.2 are reminiscent of those used in Section 10.4 to analyze aromatic stabilization. In this section, we trace the connection between aromaticity and pericyclic reactions, and show how it leads to a third approach to the pericyclic theory. 

M. J. S. Dewar, A Molecular Orbital Theory of Organic Chemistry-VIII Aromaticity and Electrocyclic Reactions. Tetrahedron Suppl. 1966,8,75-92 Aromaticity and Pericyclic Reactions. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1971, 10,761-776 The Molecular Orbital Theory of Organic Chemistry, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1969. 

Up-to-Date Treatment In addition to the classical reactions, this book covers many techniques and reactions that have more recently gained wide use among practicing chemists. Molecular-orbital theory is included early and used to explain electronic effects in conjugated and aromatic systems, pericyclic reactions, and ultraviolet spectroscopy. Carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy is treated as the routine tool it has become in most research laboratories, and the DEPT technique is included in this edition. Many of the newer... 

Using benzene-like aromatic systems and pericyclic reactions with an even number of centers, the principles of graph-theoretical structure theory are described and extended to conjugated heterocycles and cyclic systems with an odd number of centres. With topological analysis of the graphs of these systems as a foundation, a graph-theoretical definition of the idea of aromaticity in regard to monocyclic compounds is presented. 

The choice between these two possibilities (—G or —Gr) is still uncertain. Note that if the reaction is concerted, then it must take place by the reverse of a face-to-face n cycloaddition. If the reaction took place by the reverse of an allowed cis-rrans n cycloaddition (see p. 350), it could not be chemiluminescent because in an aromatic ( allowed ) pericyclic reaction, the ground-state and excited-state surfaces remain far apart throughout. Similar chemiluminescent reactions are also observed in the case of bicyclic oxetanes, a good example being the chemiluminescent oxidation " of lophine (115) by alkaline hydrogen peroxide. Here again it is uncertain whether the final step is a concerted — G -type process or a — G -type process involving an intermediate biradical. 

CAMEO has numerous modules, and includes nucleophilic addition, electrophilic addition, electrophilic aromatic substitution, pericyclic reactions, carbene reactions, dissolving metal reactions, diastereoselectivity, ene and retro-ene reactions, and so forth." The program does a very good job of predicting the products of reactions which fall within the scope of its modules, and has been made available to the public through various commercial and non-commercial organizations. 

The special case of pericyclic reactions is an appropriate means of introducing the subject These reactions are very common, and were extensively studied experimentally and theoretically. They also provide a direct and straightforward connection with aromaticity and antiaromaticity, concepts that mm out to be quite useful in analyzing phase changes in chemical reactions. 

The results of the derivation (which is reproduced in Appendix A) are summarized in Figure 7. This figure applies to both reactive and resonance stabilized (such as benzene) systems. The compounds A and B are the reactant and product in a pericyclic reaction, or the two equivalent Kekule structures in an aromatic system. The parameter t, is the reaction coordinate in a pericyclic reaction or the coordinate interchanging two Kekule structures in aromatic (and antiaromatic) systems. The avoided crossing model [26-28] predicts that the two eigenfunctions of the two-state system may be fomred by in-phase and out-of-phase combinations of the noninteracting basic states A) and B). State A) differs from B) by the spin-pairing scheme. 

Adopting the view that any theory of aromaticity is also a theory of pericyclic reactions [19], we are now in a position to discuss pericyclic reactions in terms of phase change. Two reaction types are distinguished those that preserve the phase of the total electi onic wave-function - these are phase preserving reactions (p-type), and those in which the phase is inverted - these are phase inverting reactions (i-type). The fomier have an aromatic transition state, and the latter an antiaromatic one. The results of [28] may be applied to these systems. In distinction with the cyclic polyenes, the two basis wave functions need not be equivalent. The wave function of the reactants R) and the products P), respectively, can be used. The electronic wave function of the transition state may be represented by a linear combination of the electronic wave functions of the reactant and the product. Of the two possible combinations, the in-phase one [Eq. (11)] is phase preserving (p-type), while the out-of-phase one [Eq. (12)], is i-type (phase inverting), compare Eqs. (6) and (7). Normalization constants are assumed in both equations ... 

Mechanistically the observed stereospecificity can be rationalized by a concerted, pericyclic reaction. In a one-step cycloaddition reaction the dienophile 8 adds 1,4 to the diene 7 via a six-membered cyclic, aromatic transition state 9, where three r-bonds are broken and one jr- and two cr-bonds are formed. The arrangement of the substituents relative to each other at the stereogenic centers of the reactants is retained in the product 10, as a result of the stereospecific y -addition. 

The orbital phase theory includes the importance of orbital symmetry in chanical reactions pointed out by Fukui [11] in 1964 and estabhshed by Woodward and Holiimann [12,13] in 1965 as the stereoselection rule of the pericyclic reactions via cyclic transition states, and the 4n + 2n electron rule for the aromaticity by Hueckel. The pericyclic reactions and the cyclic conjugated molecules have a conunon feature or cychc geometries at the transition states and at the equihbrium structures, respectively. 

Orbitals interact in cyclic manners in cyclic molecules and at cyclic transition structures of chemical reactions. The orbital phase theory is readily seen to contain the Hueckel 4n h- 2 ti electron rule for aromaticity and the Woodward-Hof nann mle for the pericyclic reactions. Both rules have been well documented. Here we review the advances in the cyclic conjugation, which cannot be made either by the Hueckel rule or by the Woodward-Hoffmann rule but only by the orbital phase theory. 

Diels-Alder reactions are found to be little influenced by the introduction of radicals (cf. p. 300), or by changes in the polarity of the solvent they are thus unlikely to involve either radical or ion pair intermediates. They are found to proceed stereoselectively SYN with respect both to the diene and to the dienophile, and are believed to take place via a concerted pathway in which bond-formation and bond-breaking occur more or less simultaneously, though not necessarily to the same extent, in the transition state. This cyclic transition state is a planar, aromatic type, with consequent stabilisation because of the cyclic overlap that can occur between the six p orbitals of the constituent diene and dienophile. Such pericyclic reactions are considered further below (p. 341). 

The connection of radical and pericyclic transformations in one and the same reaction sequence seems to be on the fringe within the field of domino processes. Here, we describe two examples, both of which are highly interesting from a mechanistic viewpoint. The first example addresses the synthesis of dihydroindene 3-326 by Parsons and coworkers, starting from the furan 3-321 (Scheme 3.79) [128]. Reaction of 3-321 with tributyltin hydride and AIBN in refluxing toluene led to the 1,3,5-hexatriene 3-324 via the radicals 3-322 and 3-323. 3-324 then underwent an elec-trocyclization to yield the hexadiene 3-325 which, under the reaction conditions, aromatized to afford 3-326 in 51 % yield. 

The second mechanism, due to the permutational properties of the electronic wave function is referred to as the permutational mechanism. It was introduced in Section I for the H4 system, and above for pericyclic reactions and is closely related to the aromaticity of the reaction. Following Evans principle, an aromatic transition state is defined in analogy with the hybrid of the two Kekule structures of benzene. A cyclic transition state in pericyclic reactions is defined as aromatic or antiaromatic according to whether it is more stable or less stable than the open chain analogue, respectively. In [32], it was assumed that the in-phase combination in Eq. (14) lies always the on the ground state potential. As discussed above, it can be shown that the ground state of aromatic systems is always represented by the in-phase combination of Eq. (14), and antiaromatic ones—by the out-of-phase combination. 

The present section is organized as follows. Firstly, the reactivity and aromaticity of the different rings that compose an acene system as a reactant is analyzed, and secondly, the aromaticity of the TS structures of pericyclic and pseudopericyclic reactions is discussed. 

In addition to the numerous pericyclic aromatic TSs, other reactions deserve attention. These include the Cope and Claisen rearrangements, the pericyclic reactions with Mobius TSs, the Bergman cyclizations [77,116], and the TSs for 1,5-H shifts [100,117],... 

In a pericyclic reaction, the electron density is spread among the bonds involved in the rearrangement (the reason for aromatic TSs). On the other hand, pseudopericyclic reactions are characterized by electron accumulations and depletions on different atoms. Hence, the electron distributions in the TSs are not uniform for the bonds involved in the rearrangement. Recently some of us [121,122] showed that since the electron localization function (ELF), which measures the excess of kinetic energy density due to the Pauli repulsion, accounts for the electron distribution, we could expect connected (delocalized) pictures of bonds in pericyclic reactions, while pseudopericyclic reactions would give rise to disconnected (localized) pictures. Thus, ELF proves to be a valuable tool to differentiate between both reaction mechanisms. 

Applying these rules in pericyclic reactions it has been shown and a generalization given that thermal reactiom occur via aromatic transition states while photochemical reactions proceed via antiaromatic transition state. A cyclic transition state is considered to be aromatic or isoconjugate with the corresponding aromatic system if the member of conjugated atoms and that of the n... 

One of the systems was found to be very efficient catalyzing enantioface-selective hydrogen transfer reactions to aromatic and in particular to aliphatic ketones with up to 95% ee. Regarding the latter reaction these are unprecedented ee values. The reaction mechanism of these transformations is best described as a metal-ligand bifunctional catalysis passing through a pericyclic-like transition state. 

Density functional theory and MC-SCF calculations have been applied to a number of pericyclic reactions including cycloadditions and electrocyclizations. It has been established that the transition states of thermally allowed electrocyclic reactions are aromatic. Apparently they not only have highly delocalized structures and large resonance stabilizations, but also strongly enhanced magnetic susceptibilities and show appreciable nucleus-independent chemical-shift values. 

---