Transition state structure isomerization

By ab initio MO and density functional theoretical (DPT) calculations it has been shown that the branched isomers of the sulfanes are local minima on the particular potential energy hypersurface. In the case of disulfane the thiosulfoxide isomer H2S=S of Cg symmetry is by 138 kj mol less stable than the chain-like molecule of C2 symmetry at the QCISD(T)/6-31+G // MP2/6-31G level of theory at 0 K [49]. At the MP2/6-311G //MP2/6-3110 level the energy difference is 143 kJ mol" and the activation energy for the isomerization is 210 kJ mol at 0 K [50]. Somewhat smaller values (117/195 kJ mor ) have been calculated with the more elaborate CCSD(T)/ ANO-L method [50]. The high barrier of ca. 80 kJ mol" for the isomerization of the pyramidal H2S=S back to the screw-like disulfane structure means that the thiosulfoxide, once it has been formed, will not decompose in an unimolecular reaction at low temperature, e.g., in a matrix-isolation experiment. The transition state structure is characterized by a hydrogen atom bridging the two sulfur atoms. 

Fig. 5. Selected geometric parameters (A) of the optimized rotational transition-state structures for allylic isomerization via the r(3-1s y ,ri1(C3)-octadienediyl-Ni11 TSiSo[3a] and TSiSo[3b],...

Experiments have demonstrated that the stoichiometric cyclotrimeriza-tion becomes accelerated by the presence of donor phosphines (i.e., PMe3, PEt3, PPh3) and also by excess butadiene.93 However, the rotational transition-state structure TS SO[6b] is found to be not stabilized in enthalpy by coordination of butadiene. Therefore, incoming butadiene does not serve to facilitate allylic isomerization and will not assist this process. Accordingly, reductive elimination is indicated to be accelerated by excess butadiene, which will be examined in the next section. 

Based on this feature, aggregation states of transition-state structures for base-promoted isomerization of oxiranes have been established by kinetic studies of LDA-mediated isomerizations of selected oxiranes in nonpolar media in the presence of variable concentrations of coordinating solvents (ligands). Results reported provide the idealized rate law V = [ligand]" [base] [oxtrane] for a-deprotonation and v = fc[ligand]°[base] / [oxirane]... 

A subsequent picosecond electronic absorption spectroscopic study of TPE excited with 266- or 355-nm, 30-ps laser pulses in cyclohexane found what was reported previously. However, in addition to the nonpolar solvent cyclohexane, more polar solvents such as THF, methylene chloride, acetonitrile, and methanol were employed. Importantly, the lifetime of S lp becomes shorter as the polarity is increased this was taken to be evidence of the zwitterionic, polar nature of TPE S lp and the stabilization of S lp relative to what is considered to be a nonpolar Sop, namely, the transition state structure for the thermal cis-trans isomerization. Although perhaps counterinmitive to the role of a solvent in the stabilization of a polar species, the decrease in the S lp lifetime with an increase in solvent polarity is understood in terms of internal conversion from to So, which should increase in rate as the S -So energy gap decreases with increasing solvent polarity. Along with the solvent-dependent hfetime of S lp, it was noted that the TPE 5ip absorption band near 425 nm is located where the two subchromophores— the diphenylmethyl cation and the diphenylmethyl anion—of a zwitterionic 5ip should be expected to absorb hght. A picosecond transient absorption study on TPE in supercritical fluids with cosolvents provided additional evidence for charge separation in 5ip. 

Scheme IV. Transition state structure for prolyl isomerization.

Ab initio molecular orbital theory is utilized to study the hydrogen abstraction reaction of n-bromopropane with hydroxyl radical and chlorine atom. The stability of the trans and gauche isomers of n-bromopropane is explored. The potential energy surface of both reactions is characterized by pre- and post-reactive complexes, as well as transition state structures in both trans and gauche isomeric forms. The importance of these two reactions relies on the ultimate product distribution from both reactions. Differences in the reactivity of 1-bromopropane toward OH and Cl are observed. The reaction of n-bromopropane with OH radical favors the abstraction of hydrogen atoms while the reaction with Cl atoms favors the abstraction of hydrogen atoms at the a and p carbon sites. 

Despite the amount of data and the simplicity of the chemical reaction catalyzed, the molecular basis of the catalytic mechanism of PPIases and APIases is still only poorly understood [155]. The considerable degree of amino acid sequence dissimilarity between the subgroups of peptide bond cis-trans isomerases also raises the challenging question of the mechanistic relatedness among the enzymes. At present there is a lack of detailed mechanistic investigations on APIases and multidomain PPIases. Thus, prototypic PPIases of all three families serve as the bases for unraveling catalytic pathways. One or more potential transition-state structures for enzyme-catalyzed prolyl isomerizations, alone or in combination, are consistent with the acceleration of the spontaneous rate of prolyl isomerization (Fig. 10.4). 

There is no doubt that the driving force for cyclopropene as the dienophile for a Diels-Alder reaction is the release of angle strain energy in the course of the reaction. This is demonstrated by its relatively low activation barrier. For example, cyclopropene reacts with cyclopentadiene and butadiene at 0°C or at room temperature, producing almost exclusively the endo cycloadduct [53]. This addition can be explored by computing activation barriers for two isomeric transition state structures. In this way, nonbonding interactions between diene and dienophile in two isomeric transition state structures can be closely evaluated. The reactivity and selectivity for two concurrent reaction pathways can also be computed. 

The computed geometries for two isomeric transition states are presented in Table 5. All computational methods predicted a synchronous formation of the two new C-C bonds and a concerted mechanism for the cycloaddition reaction. Due to the lack of an electron correlation in the HF ab initio computational approach, the computed bonds were substantially shorter when compared with experimental data or computational data obtained with correlational computational methods. If the two isomeric transition state structures obtained with DFT (B3LYP and BLYP) methods are taken into consideration, then it can be seen that the exo transition state structure is the closest structure to the reactants. According to the Hammond postulate [38], the exo transition state structure should then have a lower energy than the isomeric endo transition state structure. 

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