Xiting Zhang

Mechanism and Enantioselectivity of Dirhodium-Catalyzed Intramolecular C–H Amination of Sulfamate

The mechanisms and enantioselectivities of the dirhodium (Rh2L4, L = formate, N-methylformamide, S-nap)-catalyzed intramolecular C-H aminations of 3-phenylpropylsulfamate ester have been investigated in detail with BPW91 density functional theory computations. The reactions catalyzed by the Rh2(II,II) catalysts start from the oxidation of the Rh2(II,II) dimer to a triplet mixed-valent Rh2(II,III)-nitrene radical, which should facilitate radical H-atom abstraction. However, in the Rh2(formate)4-promoted reaction, as a result of a minimum-energy crossing point (MECP) between the singlet and triplet profiles, a direct C-H bond insertion is postulated. The Rh2(N-methylformamide)4 reaction exhibits quite different mechanistic characteristics, taking place via a two-step process involving (i) intramolecular H-abstraction on the triplet profile to generate a diradical intermediate and (ii) C-N formation by intersystem crossing from the triplet state to the open-shell singlet state. The stepwise mechanism was found to hold also in the reaction of 3-phenylpropylsulfamate ester catalyzed by Rh2(S-nap)4. Furthermore, the diradical intermediate also constitutes the starting point for competition steps involving enantioselectivity, which is determined by the C-N formation open-shell singlet transition state. This mechanistic proposal is supported by the calculated enantiomeric excess (94.2% ee) with the absolute stereochemistry of the product as R, in good agreement with the experimental results (92.0% ee).

Aquation and dimerization of osmium(II) anticancer complexes: a density functional theory study

In this paper, the hydrolytic and aqueous solution chemistry of two half-sandwich OsII arene complexes [(η6-p-cym)Os(pic)Cl] (1) and [(η6-p-cym)Os(mal)Cl] (2) (pic = 2-picolinic acid and mal = maltolate) have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT). For aquation (substitution of chloride by H2O) of the complexes, three attacking models were explored, including two forms of side attack (A and B) and back attack C. Side attack A required the lowest free energy of activation of the three, both in the gas phase and in aqueous solution, suggesting that it best describes the hydrolysis of the complexes. Both the activation and reaction energies indicated faster aquation for 2 than 1, which was in accordance with previous experimental observations. With the side attack model of the complexes, it was found that the conformations of complexes had little effect on the aquation process. Moreover, mechanistic pathways have been obtained for the dimerization of aqua adducts. As for 1a, the ligand departure was the rate-determining step with an activation free energy of 26.1 kcal mol−1, while for 2a, the first step of ring opening and protonation is rate-determining with a free energy of activation of 24.8 kcal mol−1, suggesting that 1a was kinetically more stable toward dimerization. There were three factors presented to explain the stability of 1a: differences in HOMO/LUMO densities, the large activation energy of 1a, and stabilization of Os-pic bonding. This study assists in understanding the aqueous solution chemistry of the anticancer complexes and in the design of novel anticancer drugs.

Photoconversion of β-Lapachone to α-Lapachone via a Protonation-Assisted Singlet Excited State Pathway in Aqueous Solution: A Time-Resolved Spectroscopic Study

The photophysical and photochemical reactions of β-lapachone were studied using femtosecond transient absorption, nanosecond transient absorption, and nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy techniques and density functional theory calculations. In acetonitrile, β-lapachone underwent an efficient intersystem crossing to form the triplet state of β-lapachone. However, in water-rich solutions, the singlet state of β-lapachone was predominantly quenched by the photoinduced protonation of the carbonyl group at the β position (O9). After protonation, a series of fast reaction steps occurred to eventually generate the triplet state α-lapachone intermediate. This triplet state of α-lapachone then underwent intersystem crossing to produce the ground singlet state of α-lapachone as the final product. 1,2-Naphthoquinone is examined in acetonitrile and water solutions in order to elucidate the important roles that water and the pyran ring play during the photoconversion from β-lapachone to α-lapachone. β-Lapachone can also be converted to α-lapachone in the ground state when a strong acid is added to an aqueous solution. Our investigation indicates that β-lapachone can be converted to α-lapachone by photoconversion in aqueous solutions by a protonation-assisted singlet excited state reaction or by an acid-assisted ground state reaction.

Density functional theory study of the mechanism of zinc carbenoid promoted cyclopropanation of allenamides

The mono- and bis-cyclopropanation of allenamides with the zinc carbenoid Zn(CH2Cl)2 have been studied using density functional theory calculations employing the M06 functional. The monomeric and dimeric precursor complexes were both constructed to model the reaction processes. In the monomeric reaction, the formation of the endo-monocyclopropyl species takes place via a methylene transfer pathway rather than a carbometalation pathway. The formation of the exo-monocyclopropyl species does not readily occur via a methylene transfer pathway due to a high activation barrier. The corresponding carbometalation pathway was not able to be found. Following the monocyclopropanation step, the biscyclopropanation of the endo-monocyclopropyl species is facile to form amidospiro[2.2]pentane. In the aggregation model, the allenamides and the zinc carbenoid form a dimer aggregate that is then followed by two pathways. One pathway takes place via transition states inside the aggregate structure (denoted here as a closed-mode process) while the other pathway introduces another zinc carbenoid molecule from outside the aggregation species (denoted here as an open-mode process). The aggregate mechanisms are not favored because the dimeric reactant of the open-mode process is not stable to coexist with the monomer and the activation barriers of the two aggregate pathways are higher than those of the monomeric pathways. The calculation results show that the key factors in the reaction mechanisms are the co-planarity of the allenic moiety with the oxazolidinone ring, the torsional strain in the butterfly-type transition state, the ring strain in the substrate–carbenoid complexes and the coordination between the carbenoid-Zn and O(CO) atoms and other long-distance interactions.

Platinum(II)-catalyzed cyclization sequence of aryl alkynes via C(sp3)-H activation: a DFT study.

The mechanism and intermediates of hydroalkylation of aryl alkynes via C(sp(3))-H activation through a platinum(II)-centered catalyst are investigated with density functional theory at the B3LYP/[6-31G(d) for H, O, C; 6-31+G(d,p) for F, Cl; SDD for Pt] level of theory. Solvent effects on reactions were explored using calculations that included a polarizable continuum model for the solvent (THF). Free energy diagrams for three suggested mechanisms were computed: (a) one that leads to formation of a Pt(II) vinyl carbenoid (Mechanism A), (b) another where the transition state implies a directed 1,4-hydrogen shift (Mechanism B), and (c) one with a Pt-aided 1,4-hydrogen migration (Mechanism C). Results suggest that the insertion reaction pathway of Mechanism A is reasonable. Through 4,5-hydrogen transfer, the Pt(II) vinyl carbenoid is formed. Thus, the stepwise insertion mechanism is favored while the electrocyclization mechanism is implausible. Electron-withdrawing/electron-donating groups substituted at the phenyl and benzyl sp(3) C atoms slightly change the thermodynamic properties of the first half of Mechanism A, but electronic effects cause a substantial shift in relative energies for the second half of Mechanism A. The rate-limiting step can be varied between the 4,5-hydrogen shift process and the 1,5-hydrogen shift step by altering electron-withdrawing/electron-donating groups on the benzyl C atom. Additionally, NBO and AIM analyses are applied to further investigate electronic structure changes during the mechanism.

meta versus para substitution: how does C-H activation in a methyl group occur in 3-methylbenzophenone but does not take place in 4-methylbenzophenone?

The photophysical and photochemical reactions of 3-methylbenzophenone (3-MeBP) and 4-methylbenzophenone (4-MeBP) were investigated using femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) and nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman (ns-TR(3)) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. 3-MeBP and 4-MeBP were observed to behave similarly to their parent compound benzophenone (BP) in acetonitrile and isopropyl alcohol solvents. However, in acidic aqueous solutions, an unusual acid-catalyzed proton exchange reaction (denoted the m-methyl activation) of 3-MeBP (with a maximum efficiency at pH 0) is detected to compete with a photohydration reaction. In contrast, only the photohydration reaction was observed for 4-MeBP under the acidic pH conditions investigated. How the m-methyl activation takes place after photolysis of 3-MeBP in acid aqueous solutions is briefly discussed and compared to related photochemistry of other meta-substituted aromatic carbonyl compounds.

Photodissociation of a ruthenium(II) arene complex and its subsequent interactions with biomolecules: a density functional theory study

AbstractThe piano-stool RuII arene complex [(η6-benz)Ru(bpm)(py)]2+ (benz = benzene, bpm = 2,2′-bipyrimidine, and py = pyridine), which is conventionally nonlabile (on a timescale and under conditions relevant for biological reactivity), can be activated by visible light to selectively photodissociate the monodentate ligand (py). In the present study, the aquation and binding of the photocontrolled ruthenium(II) arene complex [(η6-benz)Ru(bpm)(py)]2+ to various biomolecules are studied by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT). Potential energy curves (PECs) calculated for the Ru–N (py) bonds in [(η6-benz)Ru(bpm)(py)]2+ in the singlet and triplet state give useful insights into the photodissociation mechanism of py. The binding energies of the various biomolecules are calculated, which allows the order of binding affinities among the considered nuleic-acid- or protein-binding sites to be discerned. The kinetics for the replacement of water in the aqua complex with biomolecules is also considered, and the results demonstrate that guanine is superior to other biomolecules in terms of coordinating with the RuII aqua adduct, which is in reasonable agreement with experimental observations. FigurePhotoinduced aquation and biomolecules replacement reaction for the complex

How Does the C–Halogen Bond Break in the Photosubstitution Reaction of 3-Fluorobenzophenone in Acidic Aqueous Solutions?

The efficient photosubstitution reaction of m-fluorobenzophenone and the related photohydration reactions were systematically investigated in acidic aqueous solutions. The mechanisms and intermediates were directly characterized by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and nanosecond time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy, which is supported by density functional theory calculations. This photosubstitution was found to be a two-step process, based on the observation of a meta-hydration intermediate. The protonation of the ketone was confirmed as a crucial precursor step for further photochemical reactions as indicated by the observation of the absorption spectrum of an excited triplet protonated species. More interestingly, the efficient photosubstitution reaction could selectively occur under specific conditions. Control experiments on a series of halogen-substituted benzophenones were conducted to study the influence of the solution acidity, substituent positions, and the kind of substituted halogens on the efficiency in forming the corresponding hydroxyl photosubstitution product. Some practical conditions in predicting the efficiency of the photosubstitution reaction of interest are summarized, and they were successfully used to predict when the photosubstitution reaction takes place for some other halogen-substituted benzophenone derivatives. The driving force of this photosubstitution reaction may provide insights into several possible applications which are also briefly discussed.

Direct Observation of Photoinduced Ultrafast Generation of Singlet and Triplet Quinone Methides in Aqueous Solutions and Insight into the Roles of Acidic and Basic Sites in Quinone Methide Formation

Femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy experiments and density functional theory computations were done for a mechanistic investigation of 3-(1-phenylvinyl)phenol (1) and 3-hydroxybenzophenone (2) in selected solvents. Both compounds went through an intersystem crossing (ISC) to form the triplet excited states Tππ* and Tnπ* in acetonitrile but behave differently in neutral aqueous solutions, in which a triplet excited state proton transfer (ESPT) induced by the ISC process is also proposed for 2 but a singlet ESPT without ISC is proposed for 1, leading to the production of the triplet quinone methide (QM) and the singlet excited QM species respectively in these two systems. The triplet QM then underwent an ISC process to form an unstable ground state intermediate which soon returned to its starting material 2. However, the singlet excited state QM went through an internal conversion process to the ground state QM followed by the formation of its final product in an irreversible manner. These differences are thought to be derived from the slow vinyl C-C rotation and the moderate basicity of the vinyl C atom in 1 as compared with the fast C-O rotation and the greater basicity of the carbonyl O atom of 2 after photoexcitation. This can account for the experimental results in the literature that the aromatic vinyl compounds undergo efficient singlet excited state photochemical reactions while the aromatic carbonyl compounds prefer triplet photochemical reactions under aqueous conditions. These results have fundamental and significant implications for understanding of the ESPT reactivity in general, as well as for the design of molecules for efficient QM formation in aqueous media with potential applications in cancer phototherapy.