Pd-catalyzed highly regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective allylic alkylation of α-fluorophosphonates
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Tue, 06/03/2014 - 13:07Highly efficient Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation reaction of ethyl-2-fluoro-2-(diethoxyphosphoryl)acetate with monosubstituted allylic substrates has been developed, affording corresponding α-fluorophosphonates with two chiral centers in high regio-, diastereo- and enantio-selectivities. The usefulness of the products in organic synthesis has been demonstrated.
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/cc/c4cc02158d#!divAbstract
Mechanism, Reactivity, and Selectivity in Rh(III)-Catalyzed Phosphoryl-Directed Oxidative C–H Activation/Cyclization: A DFT Study
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Sat, 05/24/2014 - 00:12Density functional theory calculations (DFT) have been performed on Rh(III)-catalyzed phosphoryl-directed oxidative C–H activation/cyclization to investigate the detailed mechanism, including four basic steps: C–H activation, alkyne insertion, reductive elimination, and catalyst recycling, each of which consists of different steps. Interestingly, the Rh(III)–AgOAc catalyst system was found to be more favorable in the C–H activation step in comparison with the Rh(III)–Ag2CO3 system, whereas the Rh(I)–Ag2CO3 catalyst system was more efficient for catalyst recycling.
Concerted or Stepwise Mechanism? New Insight into the Water-Mediated Neutral Hydrolysis of Carbonyl Sulfide
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Wed, 05/07/2014 - 08:55The water-mediated neutral hydrolysis mechanism of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) has been re-examined using the hybrid supramolecule/continuum models with n = 2–8 explicit water cluster at the level of MP2(fc)(CPCM)/6-311++G(d,p)//MP2(fc)(CPCM) /6-31+G(d). Present calculations indicate that the potential energy surface in water solution is different from the one in the gas-phase, and only stepwise mechanism is observed in aqueous solution, i.e., monothiocarbonic acid (H2CO2S) is formed via monothiocarbonate (OCSOH–, MTC) and its counterion, protonated water cluster, (H2O)nH3O+.
G2(+)M Study on N-Alkylamino Cation Affinities of Neutral Main-Group Element Hydrides: Trends Across the Periodic Table
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Wed, 04/30/2014 - 08:31We have made an extensive theoretical exploration of gas-phase N-alkylamino cation affinities (NAAMCA), including amino cation affinities (AMCA) and N-dimethylamino cation affinities (NDMAMCA), of neutral main-group element hydrides of groups 15–17 and periods 2–4 in the periodic table by using the G2(+)M method. Some similarities and differences are found between NAAMCA and the corresponding alkyl cation affinities (ACA) of HnX.
A Metal-Bridged Tricyclic Aromatic System: Synthesis of Osmium Polycyclic Aromatic Complexes
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Wed, 04/30/2014 - 00:43Aromaticity is one of the most important concepts in organic chemistry. A variety of metalla-aromatic compounds have been recently prepared and in most of those examples, the metal participates only in a monocyclic ring. In contrast, metal-bridged bicyclic aromatic molecules, in which a metal is shared between two aromatic rings, have been less developed. Herein, we report the first metal-bridged tricyclic aromatic system, in which the metal center is shared by three aromatic five-membered rings. These metalla-aromatics are formed by reaction between osmapentalyne and arene nucleophiles.
Unconventional Facile Way to Metallanaphthalenes from Metal Indenyl Complexes Predicted by DFT Calculations: Origin of Their Different Thermodynamics and Tuning Their Kinetics by Substituents
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Thu, 04/24/2014 - 22:47Metallaaromatics have attracted considerable interest from both experimentalists and theoreticians over the past three decades. However, most studies in this field have focused on metallabenzene, in which a CH group is replaced by a transition metal fragment. In comparison with monocyclic metallabenzenes, bicyclic metallanaphthalenes are rather limited. Thus, it is urgent to explore more synthetic approaches to this less developed system. One of the difficulties in the synthesis of metallanaphthalenes could be due to its low thermodynamic stability relative to the metal indenyl complexes.
Theoretical study on the stability of osmasilabenzynes
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Thu, 04/03/2014 - 20:47Metallabenzyne has attracted considerable interest from theoreticians and experimentalists since its first isolation in 2001. However, metallasilabenzyne, formed by the replacement of the carbyne carbon with a silicon atom in metallabenzyne, has never been reported either theoretically or experimentally. Here we carry out density functional theory (DFT) calculations on this system for the first time. Our results reveal a polarized and weak Os–Si triple bond in osmasilabenzyne due to the reluctance of the silicon to participate in π bonding.
Theoretical Study on the Stability and Aromaticity of Metallasilapentalynes
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Sat, 03/22/2014 - 11:20Antiaromatic compounds and small cyclic alkynes or carbynes are both challenging for synthetic chemists because of the destabilization caused by their antiaromaticity and highly distorted triple bonds, respectively. These dual destabilizations could be the reason why pentalyne (I), a highly antiaromatic and extremely strained cyclic alkyne, has never been synthesized.
Evaluation of Triplet Aromaticity by the Indene–Isoindene Isomerization Stabilization Energy Method
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Fri, 03/07/2014 - 20:28Aromaticity, one of the most important concepts in chemistry, has attracted considerable interest from both experimentalists and theoreticians. According to Baird's rule, triplet annulenes with 4n π electrons are aromatic. However, the approach to evaluate the magnitude of the triplet aromaticity is less developed. Herein we apply the indene–isoindene isomerization stabilization energy (ISE) method to evaluate the aromaticity in the triplet state.
In Search of Flexible Molecular Wires with Near Conformer-Independent Conjugation and Conductance: A Computational Study
Submitted by Jun Zhu on Fri, 03/07/2014 - 00:17Oligomers of 1,4-disila/germa/stannacyclohexa-2,5-dienes as well as all-carbon 1,4-cyclohexadienes connected via E—E single bonds (E = C, Si, Ge, or Sn) were studied through quantum chemical calculations in an effort to identify conformationally flexible molecular wires that act as molecular “electrical cords” having conformer-independent conjugative and conductive properties. Our oligomers display neutral hyperconjugative interactions (σ/π-conjugation) between adjacent σ(E—E) and π(C═C) bond orbitals, and these interactions do not change with conformation.