Metal-Catalyzed C–C Bond Cleavage in Alkanes: Effects of Methyl Substitution on Transition-State Structures and Stability

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (27) ◽  
pp. 9664-9676 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Flaherty ◽  
David D. Hibbitts ◽  
Enrique Iglesia
2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (12) ◽  
pp. 1716-1726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabry El-Taher

Ab initio molecular-orbital calculations have been performed to investigate the reaction mechanisms of the HO•-initiated reactions of the α,β-unsaturated aldehydes: acrolein (ACR), methacrolein (MACR), and trans-crotonaldehyde (CROT). All geometries were fully optimized at the MP2(Full)/6–31G(d,p) level. The correlation energy corrections were introduced by carrying out single-point calculations using both spin-projected second-order Møller–Plesset perturbation theory (PMP2) and coupled-cluster theory (CCSD(T)) using basis sets of different sizes. All reaction pathways studied proceed via a barrierless formation of a loosely bound pre-reactive complex in the entrance channel. The transition-state structures of the HO• additions to the terminal (β) and to the central (α) carbon atoms of the C=C double bond are found to be reactant-like structures. The lowest-energy barrier pathways are found to be the aldehydic H-atom abstraction. The β-addition pathways are found to be energetically more favored than the α-addition pathways. The HO• addition and aldehydic H-atom abstraction pathways are found to be highly exoergic, with the H-atom abstraction pathway being more exoergic than the addition pathways. Although the methyl substitution at the C=C double bond of methacrolein and crotonaldehyde lowers the energies of the transition-state structures of both α- and β-addition pathways, it destabilizes the energies of the transition-state structures of the corresponding aldehydic H-atom abstraction pathways, compared with that of acrolein.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Ferrier ◽  
Anne-Marie Boulanger ◽  
David M.P. Holland ◽  
David A. Shaw ◽  
Paul M. Mayer

Threshold photoelectron–photoion coincidence (TPEPICO) spectroscopy has been employed to investigate the competition between bond cleavage and rearrangement reactions in the dissociation of ionized nitromethane, 1. Modeling TPEPICO breakdown diagrams with a combination of RRKM theory and ab initio calculations at the G3 level of theory allowed the derivation of the activation energy for the isomerisation of 1 to ionized methyl nitrite, 2, 82 kJ mol−1. In addition, evidence was found for a transition state switch in the bond cleavage reaction in 1 leading to CH3• + NO2+. As internal energy increases, the effective transition state for this reaction becomes tighter (i.e. is characterized by a lower entropy of activation, Δ‡S). Fitted thresholds for NO+ and CH2OHO+ ions, originating from the isomeric methyl nitrite ion, are consistent with G3 level ab initio calculations.


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (20) ◽  
pp. 3235-3240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon R. Freeman ◽  
E. Diane Stover

The initial yields of the major products of the gamma radiolysis of liquid methylcyclopentane (MCP) at 25° are: G(H2) = 4.2, G(1-methylcyclopentene plus methylenecyclopentane) = 2.7, G(3- plus 4-methyl-cyclopentene) = 1.0, G(open chain hexene) = 1.0, and G(bimethylcyclopentyl) = 0.9. The effects of scavengers on the product yields are reported and the mechanism is discussed.The liquid phase radiolytic decompositions of cyclohexane (CH), methylcyclohexane (MCH), cyclopentane (CP), and MCP are compared. The net amount of C—C bond cleavage is much greater in the five-membered than in the six-membered rings. Methyl substitution on the ring reduces G(H2) by about one unit, mainly because of the formation of a type of ion (QH+) that does not yield hydrogen when neutralized by an electron. The QH+ type ions are formed in MCH and MCP, but not in CH and CP. In all the systems, another type of ion (N+) that does not yield hydrogen when neutralized by an electron is formed with a G value of about unity. The type of ion (PH+) that does yield hydrogen when neutralized by an electron has a G value of 3.4 in CH and CP, but only 2.0 in MCP. It is concluded that G(total ionization) is in the vicinity of 4.4 in the liquid compounds, virtually the same as the gas phase values.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 8879-8883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemeng Chen ◽  
Xue Xiao ◽  
Haotian Sun ◽  
Yue Li ◽  
Haolin Cao ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Andrea N. Bootsma ◽  
Steven Wheeler

<div>Density functional theory (DFT) has emerged as a powerful tool for analyzing organic and organometallic systems and proved remarkably accurate in computing the small free energy differences that underpin many chemical phenomena (e.g. regio- and stereoselective reactions). We show that the lack of rotational invariance of popular DFT integration grids reveals large uncertainties in computed free energies for isomerizations, torsional barriers, and regio- and stereoselective reactions. The result is that predictions based on DFT-computed free energies for many systems can change qualitatively depending on molecular orientation. For example, for a metal-free propargylation of benzaldehyde, predicted enantioselectivities based on B97-D/def2-TZVP free energies using the popular (75,302) integration grid can vary from 62:38 to 99:1 by simply rotating the transition state structures. Relative free energies for the regiocontrolling transition state structures for an Ir-catalyzed C–H functionalization reaction computed using M06/6-31G(d,p)/LANL2DZ and the same grid can vary by more than 5 kcal mol–1, resulting in predicted regioselectivities that range anywhere from 14:86 to >99:1. Errors of these magnitudes occur for different functionals and basis sets, are widespread among modern applications of DFT, and can be reduced by using much denser integration grids than commonly employed.</div>


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