Diels-Alder computational study

Solvents exert their influence on organic reactions through a complicated mixture of all possible types of noncovalent interactions. Chemists have tried to unravel this entanglement and, ideally, want to assess the relative importance of all interactions separately. In a typical approach, a property of a reaction (e.g. its rate or selectivity) is measured in a laige number of different solvents. All these solvents have unique characteristics, quantified by their physical properties (i.e. refractive index, dielectric constant) or empirical parameters (e.g. ET(30)-value, AN). Linear correlations between a reaction property and one or more of these solvent properties (Linear Free Energy Relationships - LFER) reveal which noncovalent interactions are of major importance. The major drawback of this approach lies in the fact that the solvent parameters are often not independent. Alternatively, theoretical models and computer simulations can provide valuable information. Both methods have been applied successfully in studies of the solvent effects on Diels-Alder reactions. 

Studies on solvent effects on the endo-exo selectivity of Diels-Alder reactions have revealed the importance of hydrogen bonding interactions besides the already mentioned solvophobic interactions and polarity effects. Further evidence of the significance of the former interactions comes from computer simulations" and the analogy with Lewis-acid catalysis which is known to enhance dramatically the endo-exo selectivity (Section 1.2.4). 

Water has physical hemical properties that are very different from those of other solvents [1] and its role in enhancing the reactivity and selectivity of some organic reactions is still a debated question. Recent experimental studies [3e, 9] and computer simulations [10] seem to indicate, at least with respect to the rate enhancement of aqueous Diels Alder reactions, that the main effects are due to the enforced hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bond interactions. 

The effect of water molecules on pericyclic reactions can also be compared with the effects of Lewis acids on these reactions. The enhanced polarization of the transition state in these reactions would lead to stronger hydrogen bonds at the polar groups of the reactants, which will result in a substantial stabilization of the transition states in the same way Lewis acids do. A computer-simulation study on the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene by Jorgensen indicated that this effect contributes about a factor of 10 to the rates.7... 

AMI semi-empirical and B3LYP/6-31G(d)/AMl density functional theory (DFT) computational studies were performed with the purpose of determining which variously substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazoles would participate in Diels-Alder reactions as dienes and under what conditions. Also, bond orders for 1,3,4-oxadiazole and its 2,5-diacetyl, 2,5-dimethyl, 2,5-di(trifluoromethyl), and 2,5-di(methoxycarbonyl) derivatives were calculated <1998JMT153>. The AMI method was also used to evaluate the electronic properties of 2,5-bis[5-(4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[A thien-2-yl)thien-2-yl]-l,3,4-oxadiazole 8. The experimentally determined redox potentials were compared with the calculated highest occupied molecular orbital/lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO/LUMO) energies. The performance of the available parameters from AMI was verified with other semi-empirical calculations (PM3, MNDO) as well as by ab initio methods <1998CEJ2211>. 

A formally antiaromatic 1,4-dihydropyrazinothiadiazole has been prepared and characterized by single crystal X-ray spectroscopy. The antiaromatic character of which has been supported computationally using NICS measurements <20070L1073>. CHIH-DFT computational studies on acenaphtho[l,2-f]-l,2,5-thiadiazole 1,1-dioxide led to simulations of its infrared (IR) and ultraviolate (LJV) spectra, the dipole moment and polarizability <2007JMT373>. 4,6-Dinitrobenzothiadiazole was determined to have an electrophilic reactivity of —8.40 which corresponds to a pK z° of 7.86 for Meisenheimer complexation with water and is close to the demarcation boundary (E = —8.5) between super-and normal-electrophiles and between reactive dienophiles and inert partners in Diels-Alder adduct formation <20070BC1744>. 

Experimental and computational studies of the effect of solvents on the rate and selectivity of the concerted Diels-Alder reaction between cyclopentadiene and methyl... 

Density functional theory computational studies have been used to determine die importance of secondary orbital interactions for the stability of transition-state structures for die 4 + 2-cycloaddition of furan with cyclopropene.175 Kinetic studies of die 2 + 4-cycloaddition of 2-cyclopropylidene acetates with furan and dimethylful-vene suggest a mechanism involving diradicals or zwitterions as intermediates.176 Cyclopropene, produced by die reaction of allyl chloride with sodium bis(bimediyl-silyl)amide, reacts with 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran to produce both endo- and exo-Diels-Alder cycloadducts isolated for the first tune.177... 

The cycloaddition reactions of ketenes with cyclopentadiene have been known to give formal [2 + 2] cycloadduct (35) instead of [4 + 2] Diels Alder products (34) (Scheme 8). A combined computational and experimental study suggested that the reaction initially gives [4 + 2] cycloadduct, which subsequently rearranges to 35 via [3,3] sigmatropy.91,92 The MP2/6-31G //HF/3-21G calculations... 

Lipkowitz, K.B. and Pradhan, M. (2003) Computational studies of chiral catalysts a comparative molecular field analysis of an asymmetric Diels—Alder reaction with catalysts containing bisoxazoline or phosphinooxazoline ligands. /. Org. Chem., 68, 4648. 

In recent work (2008) ultrafast photolysis of a potential diazo ketone precursor of p-biphenylmethyloxirene failed to detect the oxirene, the UV absorption of which could, however, have been hidden by another band [8], and in a combined experimental/computational (ab initio and molecular dynamics with DFT) study, flash thermolysis of a formal Diels-Alder adduct was interpreted as affording acetylmethyloxirene and benzene [9]. 

In order to test the iminium-activation strategy, MacMillan first examined the capacity of various amines to enantioselectively catalyze the Diels-Alder reaction between dienes and a,/ -unsaturated aldehyde dienophiles [6]. Preliminary experimental findings and computational studies proved the importance of four objectives in the design of a broadly useful iminium-activation catalyst (1) the chiral amine should undergo efficient and reversible iminium ion formation (2) high... 

As indicated from computational studies, the catalyst-activated iminium ion MM3-2 was expected to form with only the (E)-conformation to avoid nonbonding interactions between the substrate double bond and the gem-dimethyl substituents on the catalyst framework. In addition, the benzyl group of the imidazolidinone moiety should effectively shield the iminium-ion Si-face, leaving the Re-face exposed for enantioselective bond formation. The efficiency of chiral amine 1 in iminium catalysis was demonstrated by its successful application in several transformations such as enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions [6], nitrone additions [12], and Friedel-Crafts alkylations of pyrrole nucleophiles [13]. However, diminished reactivity was observed when indole and furan heteroaromatics where used for similar conjugate additions, causing the MacMillan group to embark upon studies to identify a more reactive and versatile amine catalyst. This led ultimately to the discovery of the second-generation imidazolidinone catalyst 3 (Fig. 3.1, bottom) [14],... 

Computational studies of radical cation pericyclic reactions are also much more difficult than their neutral counterparts. Besides the problems of computational accuracy and unusual electronic effects discussed in an earlier chapter, the reaction pathways for a bimolecular reaction such as the Diels-Alder reaction will be much more complex than in their neutral counterparts. Since the quality of a computational study of a reaction mechanism relies on comparing the relative energies of the relevant pathways computed as unbiased as possible, special care needs to be... 

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