Orbital symmetry rules

Correlation diagrams can be constructed in an analogous fashion for the disrotatory and conrotatory modes for interconversion of hexatriene and cyclohexadiene. They lead to the prediction that the disrotatory mode is an allowed process whereas the conrotatory reaction is forbidden. This is in agreement with the experimental results on this reaction. Other electrocyclizations can be analyzed by the same method. Substituted derivatives of polyenes obey the orbital symmetry rules, even in cases in which the substitution pattern does not correspond in symmetiy to the orbital system. It is the symmetry of the participating orbitals, not of the molecule as a whole, that is crucial to the analysis. 

Is the reaction concerted As was emphasized in Chapter 11, orbital symmetry considerations apply only to concerted reactions. The possible involvement of triplet excited states and, as a result, a nonconcerted process is much more common in photochemical reactions than in the thermal processes. A concerted mechanism must be established before the orbital symmetry rules can be applied. 

Because a [1,5] sigmatropic rearrangement involves three electron pairs (two ir bonds and one cr bond), the orbital-symmetry rules in Table 30.3 predict a suprafacial reaction. In fact, the 1,5] suprafacial shift of a hydrogen atom across... 

Orbital symmetry rules for inorganic reactions from perturbation theory. R. G. Pearson, Top. Curr. Chem., 1973, 41, 75-112 (53). 

In this method, the orbital symmetry rules are related to the Hiickel aromaticity rule discussed in Chapter 2. Huckel s mle, which states that a cyclic system of electrons is aromatic (hence, stable) when it consists of 4n + 2 electrons, applies of course to molecules in their ground states. In applying the orbital symmetry principle, we are not concerned with ground states, but with transition states. In the present method, we do not examine the molecular orbitals themselves but rather the p orbitals before they overlap to form the MO. Such a set of p orbitals is called a basis set (Fig. 15.5). In investigating the possibility of a concerted reaction, we put the basis sets into the position they would occupy in the transition state. Figure 15.6 shows this for both the... 

There is evidence that the reactions can take place by all three mechanisms, depending on the structure of the reactants. A thermal [ 2, + 2s] mechanism is ruled out for most of these substrates by the orbital symmetry rules, but a [ 2s + mechanism is allowed (p. 1072), and there is much evidence that ketenes and certain other linear molecules in which the steric hindrance to such an approach is... 

Dihydrothiophene-1,1-dioxides (42) and 2,17-dihydrothiepin-1,1-dioxides (43) undergo analogous 1,4 and 1,6 eliminations, respectively (see also 17-38). These are concerted reactions and, as predicted by the orbital-symmetry rules (p. 1067), the former is a suprafacial process and the latter an antarafacial process. The rules also predict that elimination of SO2 from episulfones cannot take place by a concerted mechanism (except antarafacially, which is unlikely for such a small ring), and the evidence shows that this reaction occurs by a non-concerted pathway.The eliminations of SO2 from 42 and 43 are examples of cheletropic reactions, which are defined as reactions in which two a bonds that terminate at a single atom (in this case the sulfur atom) are made or broken in concert. 

Although the orbital-symmetry rules predict the stereochemical results in almost all cases, it is necessary to recall (p. 1070) that they only say what is allowed and what is forbidden, but the fact that a reaction is allowed does not necessarily mean that the reaction takes place, and if an allowed reaction does take place, it does not necessarily follow that a concerted pathway is involved, since other pathways of lower energy may be available.Furthermore, a forbidden reaction might still be made to go, if a method of achieving its high activation energy can be found. This was, in fact, done for the cyclobutene butadiene interconversion (cis-3,4-dichloro-cyclobutene gave the forbidden cis.cis- and rran.y, ra i -l,4-dichloro-1,3-butadienes,... 

In any given sigmatropic rearrangement, only one of the two pathways is allowed by the orbital-symmetry rules the other is forbidden. To analyze this situation we first use a modified frontier-orbital approach. We will imagine that in the transition state the migrating H atom breaks away from the rest of the system, which we may treat as if it were a free radical. 

The orbital symmetry rules also help us to explain, as on pages 1083 and 1433, the unexpected stability of certain compounds. Thus, 102 could, by a thermal [1,3] sigmatropic rearrangement, easily convert to toluene, which of course is far more stable because it has an aromatic sextet. Yet 102 has been prepared and is stable at dry ice temperature and in dilute solutions. ... 

The mechanisms of these reactions are not completely understood, although relief of strain undoubtedly supplies the driving force. The reactions are thermally forbidden by the orbital-symmetry rules, and the role of the catalyst is to provide low-energy pathways so that the reactions can take place. The type 1 reactions are the reverse of the catalyzed [2 + 2] ring closures discussed at 15-61. The following... 

Woodward and Hoffmann presented an orbital symmetry rule for pericychc reactions [12, 13]. 

Orbital symmetry rules and the 16 mechanism of inorganic reactions (25) TT-Complex mechanism of catalysis 14... 

As discussed in Section 10.4 of Part A, concerted suprafacial [2tt + 2tt] cycloadditions are forbidden by orbital symmetry rules. Two types of [2 + 2] cycloadditions are of synthetic value addition reactions of ketenes and photochemical additions. The latter group includes reactions of alkenes, dienes, enones, and carbonyl compounds, and these additions are discussed in the sections that follow. 

In some cases orbital symmetry rules can label the least-motion approach of two reacting fragments as forbidden. Semi-empirical MO calculations, such as EHT ones, can then be used to pick out the minimum-energy path, as outlined in the foregoing section. Another example is given by the reactions 17) ... 

The calculations thus fail to indicate any substantial energy preference for the allowed paths with respect to the forbidden ones. An inspection of the overall shape of the surface confirms, however, that along the allowed CCW path a less steep slope has to be climbed (Fig. 18). The general conclusion is that steric and symmetry factors are so intimately interwoven that it is impossible to distinguish their relative importance in cases where the magnitudes of the two effects are similar. This can perhaps be taken as a warning that orbital symmetry rules should only be applied with some caution to very strained systems. 

Pearson, R. G. Orbital Symmetry Rules for Inorganic Reactions from Perturbation Theory. 41, 75-112(1973). 

On the other hand, the extent to which RDA reactions occur among various ste-reoisomeric bicyclic A -alkenes does not much depend on the stereochemistry of the ring juncture (Scheme 6.49b). These results were interpreted in terms of RDA reactions that do not follow orbital symmetry rules established for thermal reactions, and therefore rather proceed in a step-wise fashion. [112]... 

The RDA reaction is often observed from steroid molecular ions, and it can be very indicative of steroidal stmcture. [107,110,113,114] The extent of the RDA reaction depends on whether the central ring junction is cis or trans. The mass spectra of A -steroidal olefins, for example, showed a marked dependence upon the stereochemistry of the A/B ring juncture, in accordance with orbital symmetry rules for a thermal concerted process. In the trans isomer the RDA is much reduced as compared to the cis isomer. The effect was shown to increase at 12 eV, and as typical for a rearrangement, the RDA reaction became more pronounced, whereas simple cleavages almost vanished. This represented the first example of such apparent symmetry control in olefinic hydrocarbons. [114]. 

The interpretation of chemical reactivity in terms of molecular orbital symmetry. The central principle is that orbital symmetry is conserved in concerted reactions. An orbital must retain a certain symmetry element (for example, a reflection plane) during the course of a molecular reorganization in concerted reactions. It should be emphasized that orbital-symmetry rules (also referred to as Woodward-Hoffmann rules) apply only to concerted reactions. The rules are very useful in characterizing which types of reactions are likely to occur under thermal or photochemical conditions. Examples of reactions governed by orbital symmetry restrictions include cycloaddition reactions and pericyclic reactions. 

Orbital Symmetry Rules See Woodward-Hoffmann Rules. 

This is one of the observations that led to the Woodward-Hoffmann orbital symmetry rules.86... 

As noted previously, the outstanding success of orbital symmetry rules in organic chemistry (75, 242) has led to many attempts to extend these rules to organometallic chemistry and metal-catalyzed processes. These qualitative analyses based on the principle of conservation of orbital symmetry or second-order Jahn-Teller effects have been reviewed extensively (91, 142, 143, 173, 175, 179, 221, 225) and will not be considered in any detail here. 

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