Molecular-orbital calculations isomerizations

The EPR spectra of electrolytically produced anion radicals of Q -aminoanthraquin-ones were measured in DME and DMSO. The isotropic hyperfine coupling constants were assigned by comparison with the EPS spectra of dihydroxy-substituted antraquinones and molecular-orbital calculations. Isomerically pure phenylcarbene anion (PhCH ) has been generated in the gas phase by dissociative electron ionization of phenyldiazirine. PhCH has strong base and nucleophilic character. It abstracts an S atom from and OCS, an N atom from N2O, and an H atom from... 

Molecular orbital calculations predict that oxirane forms the cyclic conjugate acid (39), which is 30 kJ moF stabler than the open carbocation (40) and must surmount a barrier of 105kJmoF to isomerize to (40) (78MI50500). The proton affinity of oxirane was calculated (78JA1398) to be 807 kJ mol (cf. the experimental values of 773 kJ moF for oxirane and 777-823 kJ moF for dimethyl ether (80MI50503)). The basicity of cyclic ethers is discussed in (B-67MI50504). 

Unlike reactive diatomic chalcogen-nitrogen species NE (E = S, Se) (Section 5.2.1), the prototypical chalcogenonitrosyls HNE (E = S, Se) have not been characterized spectroscopically, although HNS has been trapped as a bridging ligand in the complex (HNS)Fc2(CO)6 (Section 7.4). Ab initio molecular orbital calculations at the self-consistent field level, with inclusion of electron correlation, reveal that HNS is ca. 23 kcal mof more stable than the isomer NSH. There is no low-lying barrier that would allow thermal isomerization of HNS to occur in preference to dissociation into H -1- NS. The most common form of HNS is the cyclic tetramer (HNS)4 (Section 6.2.1). 

Three decades ago the preparation of oxepin represented a considerable synthetic challenge. The theoretical impetus for these efforts was the consideration that oxepin can be regarded as an analog of cyclooctatetraene in the same sense that furan is an analog of benzene. The possibility of such an electronic relationship was supported by molecular orbital calculations suggesting that oxepin might possess a certain amount of aromatic character, despite the fact that it appears to violate the [4n + 2] requirement for aromaticity. By analogy with the closely related cycloheptatriene/norcaradiene system, it was also postulated that oxepin represents a valence tautomer of benzene oxide. Other isomers of oxepin are 7-oxanorbornadiene and 3-oxaquadricyclane.1 Both have been shown to isomerize to oxepin and benzene oxide, respectively (see Section 1.1.2.1.). 

The protocol developed by Jacobsen and Katsuki for the salen-Mn catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes continues to dominate the field. The mechanism of the oxygen transfer has not yet been fully elucidated, although recent molecular orbital calculations based on density functional theory suggest a radical intermediate (2), whose stability and lifetime dictate the degree of cis/trans isomerization during the epoxidation <00AG(E)589>. 

These authors conclude that the problem of internal solvation is still an experimental and theoretical challenge GB measurements for this type of molecules of low volatility are not always in good agreement194. Molecular orbital calculations may help to solve the difficult experimental problems, but they have to take into account conformational isomerisms and the prototropic tautomerisms of the amidine and guanidine moieties. In light of the above discussion, the proton affinities deduced from the experimental GB values should be based on accurate estimations of the entropy of cyclization 86. 

Katritzky (Katritzky et al., 1986) has recently advanced the idea that captodative-substituted radicals should be stabilized significantly by polar solvents. This hypothesis, which is qualitatively derived from the polar resonance structures for these radicals, was supported by semiempirical molecular orbital calculations. An experimental test was carried out by Beckhaus and Riichardt (1987). For the dissociation of [24] and [25] into the radicals [21] and [28], they were unable to confirm Katritzky s hypothesis. The rate of thermolysis of [24] and [25] is not affected by a change in solvent polarity. If the stabilization were of the order of Katritzky s prediction, it should, however, have become evident in the rate measurements. The experiments thus suggest that the contribution of polar resonance structures to the ground state of the radicals is not appreciable. See, however, the results obtained by Koch (1986) on the dl meso isomerization of [47]. 

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... 

Hori and co-workers studied the BF3 OEt2 catalyzed isomerization of a chiral Al-acylaziridine 213 to the oxazoline 214. It was established that the ring expansion proceeds with retention of configuration. The authors have proposed a Sivri mechanism for this transformation through the transition state 213a. Ab initio molecular orbital calculations agree well with this hypothesis (Scheme 8.59). 

Orbital mapping analysis of thermal isomerization of aza- and diaza-bicyclo[2.2.0]hexa-dienes has been carried out (80MI51205). Molecular orbital calculations (MNDO) of a series of bisdehydropyridines showed that the 2-azabicyclo[2.2.0]hexa-l,3,5-triene (125) is the least stable form having a calculated heat of formation of 728.4 kJ mol-1 (77CC539). 

In this section we mention the paramagnetic monocationic complexes [Mo(CO)2(dppe)2]+ and [Mo(CO)2(bipy)2]+, both of which are produced by oxidation of the parent Mo° complexes. In the former case, the oxidants used include [MeCftKUNJfBFj,46 NO[PF6], I2 and AgIla-47 and a variety of analogues [Mo(CO)2L2]+ has been obtained (L2 - dppm, dmpe, diars, etc.).1 47 Electrochemical oxidation has also been used, with other measurements, to show that a rapid cis — trans isomerization follows oxidation and an explanation for this phenomenon has been proposed on the basis of extended Huckel molecular orbital calculations, the stereochemical change being dependent on the number of valence electrons and the nature of the coligand jr-donor or -acceptor capacity. Similar studies have been made upon the compounds [Mo(CO)2L2]+ (L = bipy or phen).47... 

The results of molecular orbital calculations on isomeric furotropones 6a (Scheme 94), 306a, and 307a (Scheme 77) are presented in Table XXIII (Part A). 

Dienamines differ from simple enamines in that (i) there is an additional nucleophilic site at the -position and (ii) an equilibrium mixture of three isomeric dienamines is frequently formed, consisting of the linear s-trans isomer 1, the linear s-cis isomer 2 and the cross-conjugated isomer 31 (Scheme 1). A variety of factors influence the outcome of electrophilic attack on such an equilibrium system. Hiickel molecular orbital calculations indicate a significantly higher electron density at the -positions compared to the -positions of the dienamine system2 (Figure 1). 

Zahradnik and Koutecky made a series of molecular orbital calculations by the HMO method, using the Longuet-Higgins model for the sulfur atom, on thiazole and the isomeric thiadiazoles. They found the largest 7r-electron stabilization for the 1,2,4 isomer, but very little dilFerence between the 1,2,5 and 1,3,4 isomers. The calculated bond orders, however, show a larger 7r-electron delocalization in the 1,2,5 than in the 1,3,4 isomer, in agreement with the results of Bak et The formal double bonds have a lower bond order in the 1,2,5 than in the 1,3,4 isomer, whereas the reverse is true for the formal single bonds. These relations hold for three different sets of parameters for the carbon-sulfur bond. 

This enzyme s role in humans is to assist the detoxification of propionate derived from the degradation of the amino acids methionine, threonine, valine, and isoleucine. Propionyl-CoA is carboxylated to (5 )-methylmalonyl-CoA, which is epimerized to the (i )-isomer. Coenzyme Bi2-dependent methylmalonyl-CoA mutase isomerizes the latter to succinyl-CoA (Fig. 2), which enters the Krebs cycle. Methylmalonyl-CoA mutase was the first coenzyme B -dependent enzyme to be characterized crystallographically (by Philip Evans and Peter Leadlay). A mechanism for the catalytic reaction based on ab initio molecular orbital calculations invoked a partial protonation of the oxygen atom of the substrate thioester carbonyl group that facilitated formation of an oxycyclopropyl intermediate, which connects the substrate-derived and product-related radicals (14). The partial protonation was supposed to be provided by the hydrogen bonding of this carbonyl to His 244, which was inferred from the crystal structure of the protein. The ability of the substrate and product radicals to interconvert even in the absence of the enzyme was demonstrated by model studies (15). 

Figure 1. The isomerization of chorismate to prephenate via the chair-like transition state (upper pathway) or the boat-like transition state (lower pathway). The molecules are shown in the lowest energy conformations obtained from MIN DO/3 molecular orbital calculations (17). Oxygen atoms are shaded.

Bach et al. have calculated the energies and structures of parent dioxirane (lc) as well as the open diradical form (10) and the isomeric carbonyl oxide (11) <92JA7207>. The molecular orbital calculations were carried out using the GAUSSIAN 90 program and the second order Moller-Plesset (MP2) optimization was used to obtain the structure of (lc). The C—O and O—O bond distances were calculated to be 1.397 and 1.531 A, respectively, which compare well to the distances... 

A few molecular orbital calculations have been reported for these metallacycles. An ab initio study of a postulated azoniumrhodacyclopropane produced a structure in good agreement with known azoniummetallacyclopropanes. This as yet unknown heterocycle was studied because it has been proposed as an intermediate in the stereoselective isomerization of allyl amines to enamines... 

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