Molecular-orbital calculations addition reactions

Hydroxypyridine 1-oxide is insoluble in chloroform and other suitable solvents, and, although the solid-state infrared spectrum indicates that strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding occurs, no additional structural conclusions could be reached. Jaffe has attempted to deduce the structure of 4-hydroxypyridine 1-oxide using the Hammett equation and molecular orbital calculations. This tautomeric compound reacts with diazomethane to give both the 1- and 4-methoxy derivatives, " and the relation of its structure to other chemical reactions has been discussed by Hayashi. ... 

Molecular orbital calculations (ah initio or semiempirical methods) are also often used to provide a description of radical species and their reactions. High levels of theory are required to provide reliable data. However, rapid advances in computer power and computational methods are seeing these methods more widely used and with greater success (for leading references on the application of theory to describe radical addition reactions, see Section 1.2.7). 

Various ab initio and scmi-cmpirical molecular orbital calculations have been carried out on the reaction of radicals with simple alkenes with the aim of defining the nature of the transition state (Section 1.2.7).2I>,j , 6 These calculations all predict an unsymmetrical transition state for radical addition (i.e. Figure 1.1) though they differ in other aspects. Most calculations also indicate a degree of charge development in the transition state. 

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations are being used to study the reactions of anionic nucleophiles with carbonyl compounds in the gas phase. A rich variety of energy surfaces is found as shown here for reactions of hydroxide ion with methyl formate and formaldehyde, chloride ion with formyl and acetyl chloride, and fluoride ion with formyl fluoride. Extension of these investigations to determine the influence of solvation on the energy profiles is also underway the statistical mechanics approach is outlined and illustrated by results from Monte Carlo simulations for the addition of hydroxide ion to formaldehyde in water. 

Self-consistent field molecular orbital calculations by Fenske and coworkers have confirmed that nucleophilic additions to Fischer and related complexes [e.g., (CO)sCr=CXY, (T)5-C5H5)(CO)2Mn=CXY], are frontier orbital-controlled rather than charge-controlled reactions (7-9). Interaction of the HOMO of the nucleophile with the carbene complex LUMO (localized on Ca) destroys the metal-carbon w-interaction and converts the bond to a single one. 

There is considerable literature precedent for this reaction. In particular, Fotsch and Chamberlin (10) have reported that open chain y,8, 8,e and 6, -epoxy ketones and esters undergo cyclization in the presence of acids to form the corresponding dioxacarbenium ions. In addition, molecular orbital calculations were conducted to determine the heats of formation of the intermediates IX and X. Data from these calculations are given in Table 2. These calculations suggest that 1,6-attack (X) is... 

Radical ions - charged species with unpaired electrons - are easily generated by a number of methods that are discussed in more detail below. Their properties have been characterized by several spectroscopic techniques, and their structures and spin density contributions have been the subject of molecular orbital calculations at different levels of sophistication. The behaviour of radical ions in rearrangement and isomerization reactions as well as in bond-cleavage reactions has been extensively studied [for recent reviews see Refs. 11-13 and references cited therein]. Useful synthetic applications, such as the radical-cation-catalyzed cycloaddition [14-20] or the anfi-Markovnikov addition of nucleophiles to alkenyl radical cations [21-25], have been well documented. In... 

Addition of DBr to 1,3-cyclohexadiene occurs by a 1,2-anti process and a 1,4-syn process,133 a conclusion also predicted by molecular orbital calculations.134 Stereospecific allylic rearrangement of the 1,2-trans product, however, eventually produces a reaction mixture containing predominantly cis products. 

Further support for structure 7a is obtained by AMI molecular orbital calculations performed on the reaction of C o and silylenes (Ph2Si ). These calculations show that Ph2Si adds across the junction of two six-membered rings in Cgo to give the 1,2-addition silirane analogous to 7a with an exothermicity of 61.3 kcalmol-1. The analog of 7b was not located on the potential energy surface. Also, 7a was 19.4 and 10.7 kcalmol-1 more stable than the 1,6-adducts 11a and lib, respectively (Scheme 4). 

Molecular orbital calculations of the w-electron distribution in pyridine predict that more 4- than 2-aminopyridine should be formed in the Tschitschibabin reaction.4 The fact that no 4-aminopyridine can be detected when the two positions are allowed to compete for a deficiency of sodamide (see, e.g., Abramovitch et al 268) has led to the suggestion that the observed orientation in this reaction depends on the relative ease of elimination of a hydride ion from C-2 and C-4 and not upon the initial mode of addition (which, by implication, must take place predominantly at C-4 as predicted by the molecular orbital calculations).4 This hypothesis necessitates that the addition step be rapidly reversible and that the second stage, the elimination of hydride ion, be the rate-determining one (Scheme VII). Although it seems reasonable to assume that the hydride ion eliminations are the slow steps in this reaction, the fact that no deuterium isotope effect was observed in the reaction of 3-picoline-2d and of pyridine-2d with sodamide implies that the first stage must be virtually irreversible,268 as was found also in the case of the addition of phenyllithium to pyridine.229 The addition stage must, therefore, be the product-... 

With the development of powerful methods for molecular orbital calculations (e.g. DFT) (see Molecular Orbital Theory), several computational studies of the C-H oxidative addition (see Alkane Carbon-Hydrogen Bond Activation) process have been undertaken. One has used CpRh(PH3) to model the reactive intermediate Cp Rh(PMe3) proposed for the reaction shown in equation (13). The results... 

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