6533b7d7fe1ef96bd126857b

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Understanding the reactivity of captodative ethylenes in polar cycloaddition reactions. A theoretical study

Patricia PérezLuis R. DomingoEduardo Chamorro

subject

chemistry.chemical_compoundEthylenechemistryNucleophileStereochemistryComputational chemistryOrganic ChemistryElectrophileMoleculeReactivity (chemistry)Molecular orbitalCycloadditionNatural bond orbital

description

The electrophilic/nucleophilic character of a series of captodative (CD) ethylenes involved in polar cycloaddition reactions has been studied using DFT methods at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. The transition state structures for the electrophilic/nucleophilic interactions of two CD ethylenes toward a nucleophilically activated ethylene, 2-methylene-1,3-dioxolane, and an electrophilically activated ethylene, 1,1-dicyanoethyelene, have been studied, and their electronic structures have been characterized using both NBO and ELF methods. Analysis of the reactivity indexes of the CD ethylenes explains the reactivity of these species. While the electrophilicity of the molecules accounts for the reactivity toward nucleophiles, it is shown that a simple index chosen for the nucleophilicity, Nu, based on the HOMO energy is useful explaining the reactivity of these CD ethylenes toward electrophiles.

10.1021/jo800572a