Adrián Varela-Álvarez

Ruthenium(IV)‐Catalyzed Isomerization of the CC Bond of O‐Allylic Substrates: A Theoretical and Experimental Study

A general mechanism to rationalize Ru(IV) -catalyzed isomerization of the C=C bond in O-allylic substrates is proposed. Calculations supporting the proposed mechanism were performed at the MPWB1K/6-311+G(d,p)+SDD level of theory. All experimental observations in different solvents (water and THF) and under different pH conditions (neutral and basic) can be interpreted in terms of the new mechanism. Theoretical analysis of the transformation from precatalyst to catalyst led to structural identification of the active species in different media. The experimentally observed induction period is related to the magnitudes of the energy barriers computed for that process. The theoretical energy profile for the catalytic cycle requires application of relatively high temperatures, as is experimentally observed. Participation of a water molecule in the reaction coordinate is mechanistically essential when the reaction is carried out in aqueous medium. The new mechanistic proposal helped to develop a new experimental procedure for isomerization of allyl ethers to 1-propenyl ethers under neutral aqueous conditions. This process is an unique example of efficient and selective catalytic isomerization of allyl ethers in aqueous medium.

Desulfinylation of prop-2-enesulfinic acid: experimental results and mechanistic theoretical analysis.

The potential energy surfaces of the desulfinylation of prop-2-enesulfinic acid (13) in CH(2)Cl(2) solution at -15 degrees C have been explored by quantum calculations and analyzed with kinetic data obtained for the reaction in absence or presence of additives. Monomeric 13 adopts a preferred conformation with gauche S=O/sigma(C(1)-C(2) bond pairs and the O-H bond pointing toward C(3). It equilibrates with the more stable dimer (13)(2) (at -15 degrees C) formed by two O-H...O=S hydrogen bonds and in which the S=O/sigmaC(1)-C(2) are gauche also, but the SOH moieties are antiperiplanar with respect to sigma(C(1)-C(2)). Dimer (13)(2) undergoes desulfinylation into propene + SO(2) + 13 following a one-step, concerted mechanism. The preferred transition state is a six-membered, chairlike transition structure (C...S elongation and S-O...H...C(3) hydrogen transfer occur in concert) in which the S=O/sigma(C(1)-C(2)) bonds are gauche (S=O adopt pseudoaxial positions). There are at least 48 transition states, each one defining a different pathway, all with similar calculated free energies (DeltaG(double dagger) = 25.3-28.6 kcal/mol), which makes the bimolecular (autocatalyzed) retro-ene elimination of SO(2) competing (entropy factor) with a monomolecular process for which the transition state (calculated DeltaG(double dagger) = 24.3 kcal/mol) implies only one molecule of sulfinic acid. This agrees with the experimental rate law of the reaction which is first order in the concentration of dimer (13)(2). SO(2), CF(3)COOH, and BF(3) x Me(2)O do not catalyze the reaction. In the presence of an excess of BF(3) x Me(2)O the desulfinylation is completely inhibited due to the formation of a stable tetramolecular complex of type (CH(2)=CHCH(2)SO(2)H x BF(3))(2) (18), for which quantum calculations show that the S=O/sigma(C(1)-C(2)) bonds are antiperiplanar whereas the S-OH/sigma(C(1)-C(2)) bonds are gauche. Independently of the additive, the retro-ene eliminations of SO(2) are calculated to be concerted and have transition states adopting six-membered cyclic structures in which S=O and sigma(C(1)-C(2)) are gauche, the S=O interacting with the additive. Preliminary experiments suggested that the thermodynamically unfavored ene reaction of SO(2) with propene can occur at low temperature using 1 equiv of BF(3).

BCl3-mediated ene reaction of sulfur dioxide and unfunctionalized alkenes.

The first ene reactions of SO(2) and unfunctionalized alkenes are reported. Calculations suggest that the endergonic ene reactions of SO(2) with alkenes can be used to generate beta,gamma-unsaturated sulfinyl and sulfonyl compounds. Indeed, in the presence of one equivalent of BCl(3), the unstable sulfinic acid form stable sulfinic acid.BCl(3) complexes that can be reacted in situ with NCS to generate corresponding sulfonyl chlorides, or with a base to generate corresponding sulfinates. The latter can be reacted with electrophiles to generate sulfones, or with silyl chloride to form beta,gamma-unsaturated silyl sulfinates. The sulfinic acid.BCl(3) complexes can be reacted with ethers that act as oxygen nucleophiles to produce corresponding sulfinic esters. Thus one-pot, three-component synthesis of beta,gamma-unsaturated sulfonamides, sulfinyl esters and sulfones have been developed starting from alkenes and sulfur dioxide (reagent and solvent).

Canonical Variational Transition-State Theory Study of the CF3CHFCH2F + OH Reaction

Variational transition-state theory rate constants with multidimensional tunneling contributions using the small curvature method have been calculated for the CF(3)CHFCH(2)F (HFC-245eb) + OH reaction over a temperature range from 200 to 800 K. The mPW1B95-41.0 hybrid functional, parametrized by Albu and Swaminathan to generate theoretical rate constants nearly identical to the experimental values for the CH(3)F + OH reaction, has been used in conjunction with the 6-31+G(d,p) basis set to explore the potential energy surface of the title reaction. The functional provides results within the limits of chemical accuracy, supporting the conclusions about transferability of a previous study on the CF(3)CH(2)CH(3) + OH reaction. Fourteen different reaction channels have been explored, all of them with significant contributions to the global rate constants.