Electronic aspects of the hydride transfer mechanism. Ab initio analytical gradient studies of the cyclopropenyl‐cation/lithium hydride model reactant system

The electronic mechanisms of a model hydride transfer reaction are theoretically studied with ab inito RHF and UHF SCF MO procedures at the 4‐31G basis set level and analytical gradient methods. The model system describes the reduction of cyclopropenyl cation to cyclopropene by the oxidation of lithium hydride to lithium cation. The molecular fragments corresponding to the asymptotic reactive channels characterizing the stepwise mechanisms currently discussed in the literature have been characterized. The binding energy between the fragments is estimated within a simple electrostatic approximate scheme. The results show that a hydride‐ion mechanism is a likely pathway for this particular sy…