Valence bonds transition states

This valence bond description leads to an interesting conclusion. Because the transition state occurs at the point where the initial and final state VB configurations cross, the transition state receives equal contributions from each. This is so whether the transition state is early or late. Thus, the nucleophile Y and the leaving group X possess about equal charge densities in the transition state. This conclusion means that an early transition state is not (in this sense) reactantlike , for a reactantlike transition state should have most of the charge on Y. Similarly, a late transition state is not necessarily productlike. This view is at variance with other interpretations. 

The hypothesis that electron-pair donation from the a atom will stabilize this transition state leads to the difficulty that the attacking atom must carry more bonds than conventional valence bond symbolism admits. Despite this problem, the general idea is expressed by 7 and its relationship to 6 by resonance. It is possible that transition state stabilization can be obtained in this way by rehybridization of the entire molecule. Klopman et al. suggest that the a effect arises from... 

According to the transition state theory, the pre-exponential factor A is related to the frequency at which the reactants arrange into an adequate configuration for reaction to occur. For an homolytic bond scission, A is the vibrational frequency of the reacting bond along the reaction coordinates, which is of the order of 1013 to 1014 s 1. In reaction theory, this frequency is diffusion dependent, and therefore, should be inversely proportional to the medium viscosity. Also, since the applied stress deforms the valence geometry and changes the force constants, it is expected... 

Raimondi M, Cooper DL (1999) Ab Initio Modern Valence Bond Theory. 203 105-120 Rao CNR, Seikh MM, Narayana C (2004) Spin-State Transition in LaCoOj and Related Materials. 234 1-21... 

They demonstrated that electron-deficient R groups and electron-rich R substituents at S accelerated the reductive elimination. They proposed 123 (Lj = DPPE, R = Ph, R = Ar) as a transition state, where R acts as an electrophile and thiolate as a nucleophile. The Hammet plot for the reductive elimination showed that the resonance effect of the substituent in R determines the inductive effect of the R group, and the effect in SR showed an acceptable linear relationship with the standard o-values. The relative rate for sulfide elimination as a function of the hybrid valence configuration of the carbon center bonded to palladium followed the trend sp > sp spl... 

Thus, the radius of the atom carrying the free valence has a substantial influence on the activation barrier to the addition reaction the greater the radius of this atom, the higher the activation energy. Apparently, this effect is due to the repulsion in the transition state, which is due to the interaction between the electron shells of the attacked double bond and the atom that attacks this bond. 

Primary steric effects are due to repulsions between electrons in valence orbitals on atoms which are not bonded to each other. They are believed to result from the interpenetration of occupied orbitals on one atom by electrons on the other resulting in a violation of the Pauli exclusion principle. All steric interactions raise the energy of the system in which they occur. In terms of their effect on chemical reactivity, they may either decrease or increase a rate or equilibrium constant depending on whether steric interactions are greater in the reactant or in the product (equilibria) or transition state (rate). 

In summary, we may say that the NBO/NRT description of partial proton transfer in the equilibrium H-bonded complex(es) is fully consistent with the observed behavior along the entire proton-transfer coordinate, including the transition state. At the transition state the importance of partial co valency and bond shifts can hardly be doubted. Yet the isomeric H-bonded complexes may approach the TS limit quite closely (within 0.2 kcal mol-1 in the present example) or even merge to form a single barrierless reaction profile (as in FHF- or H502+). Hence, the adiabatic continuity that connects isomeric H-bond complexes to the proton-transfer transition state suggests once more the essential futility of attempting to describe such deeply chemical events in terms of classical electrostatics. 

Quantum mechanics provide many approaches to the description of molecular structure, namely valence bond (VB) theory (8-10), molecular orbital (MO) theory (11,12), and density functional theory (DFT) (13). The former two theories were developed at about the same time, but diverged as competing methods for describing the electronic structure of chemical systems (14). The MO-based methods of calculation have enjoyed great popularity, mainly due to the availability of efficient computer codes. Together with geometry optimization routines for minima and transition states, the MO methods (DFT included) have become prevalent in applications to molecular structure and reactivity. 

Using a valence bond scheme parametrized with an effective Hamiltonian technique, it was shown that the mechanistic preference for a synchronous pathway with an aromatic transition state versus a non-synchronous mechanism via biradicaloid intermediate can be controlled by two factors (1) the stability of the long bond in the Dewar valence bond structure, and (2) the softness of the Coulomb interaction between the end methylene groups in the 1,5-diene chain. This means that the mechanism of rearrangement (equation 153) can strongly depend on substituents218. 

Ab initio calculation of energy changes accompanying distortions of the dioxathiaazapentalene cation (8) showed structure (8) not to have the lowest energy but to be rather a transition state between the two valence bond structures (9) and (10). This process corresponds to an in-plane bend parallel to the 3c,4e-hypervalent bond at sulfur. An out-of-plane bend about the SN bond also leads to an energy minimum but this is at a much higher level and is therefore less realistic <91PS(55)35>. 

---