HOMO-LUMO interactions theory

The frontier orbital theory [7-9] assumes that the stabihzation by the electron delocalization could control chemical reactions. The stabilization comes from the interactions between the occupied molecular orbitals of one molecule and the unoccupied molecular orbitals of another (Sect. 1.4). The strong interaction occurs when the energy gap is small (Sect. 1.3). The HOMO and the LUMO are the closest in energy to each other. The HOMO-LUMO interaction, especially the interaction between the HOMO of electron donors and the LUMO of electron acceptors, controls the chemical reactions (Scheme 20). The HOMO and the LUMO are termed the frontier orbitals. ... 

Thermal dimerization of ethylene to cyclobutane is forbidden by orbital symmetry (Sect 3.5 in Chapter Elements of a Chemical Orbital Theory by Inagaki in this volume). The activation barrier is high E =44 kcal mof ) [9]. Cyclobutane cannot be prepared on a preparative scale by the dimerization of ethylenes despite a favorable reaction enthalpy (AH = -19 kcal mol" ). Thermal reactions between alkenes usually proceed via diradical intermediates [10-12]. The process of the diradical formation is the most favored by the HOMO-LUMO interaction (Scheme 25b in chapter Elements of a Chemical Orbital Theory ). The intervention of the diradical intermediates impfies loss of stereochemical integrity. This is a characteric feature of the thermal reactions between alkenes in the delocalization band of the mechanistic spectrum. 

Such cycloadditions involve the addition of a 2tt- electron system (alkene) to a 4ir- electron system (ylide) and have been predicted to occur in a concerted manner according to the Woodward-Hoffmann rules. The two most important factors involved in the cycloaddition reactions are (i) the energy and symmetry of the reacting orbitals and (ii) the thermodynamic stability of the cycloadduct. The reactivity of 1,3-dipolar systems has been successfully accounted for in terms of HOMO-LUMO interactions using frontier MO theory (71TL2717). This approach has been extended to explain the 1,3 reactivities of the nonclassical A,B-diheteropentalenes <77HC(30)317). 

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. 

Assuming that the possibility of a chemical reaction is determined by favourable HOMO-LUMO interactions of the reacting species (FMO-Theory)90 and neglecting steric factors. 

This chapter is an introduction to qualitative molecular orbital theory and pericyclic reactions. Pericyclic reactions have cyclic transition states and electron flow paths that appear to go around in a loop. The regiochemistry and stereochemistry of these reactions are usually predictable by HOMO-LUMO interactions, so to understand them we need to understand molecular orbital theory, at least on a qualitative basis. 

The positively charged allyl cation would be expected to be the electron acceptor in any initial interaction with ethylene. Therefore, to consider this reaction in terms of frontier orbital theory, the question we need to answer is, do the ethylene HOMO and allyl cation LUMO interact favorably as the reactants approach one another The orbitals that are involved are shown in Fig. 1.27. If we analyze a symmetrical approach, which would be necessary for the simultaneous formation of the two new bonds, we see that the symmetries of the two orbitals do not match. Any bonding interaction developing at one end would be canceled by an antibonding interaction at the other end. The conclusion that is drawn from this analysis is that this particular reaction process is not favorable. We would need to consider other modes of approach to analyze the problem more thoroughly, but this analysis indicates that simultaneous (concerted) bond formation between ethylene and an allyl cation to form a cyclopentyl cation is not possible. 

According to Frontier Molecular Orbital (FMO) theory, Diels-Alder reaction between an electron-rich diene and an electron-poor dienophile involves interaction between the highest-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) on the diene and the lowest-unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) on the dienophile. The better the HOMO/LUMO overlap and the smaller their energy difference, the more favorable the interaction and the faster the reaction. 

These concepts play an important role in the Hard and Soft Acid and Base (HSAB) principle, which states that hard acids prefer to react with hard bases, and vice versa. By means of Koopmann s theorem (Section 3.4) the hardness is related to the HOMO-LUMO energy difference, i.e. a small gap indicates a soft molecule. From second-order perturbation theory it also follows that a small gap between occupied and unoccupied orbitals will give a large contribution to the polarizability (Section 10.6), i.e. softness is a measure of how easily the electron density can be distorted by external fields, for example those generated by another molecule. In terms of the perturbation equation (15.1), a hard-hard interaction is primarily charge controlled, while a soft-soft interaction is orbital controlled. Both FMO and HSAB theories may be considered as being limiting cases of chemical reactivity described by the Fukui ftinction. 

We have discussed in Section 10.3 the application of perturbation theory to processes in which two molecules come together. We saw there that the most important interactions will be between the HOMO of one molecule and the LUMO of the other. This method can serve as a useful guide in deciding whether there will be a stabilization as a pericyclic reaction begins to occur. The HOMO-LUMO approach was the first one that Woodward and Hoffmann used for ana-... 

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