Mechanistic insight on (E)-methyl 3-(2-aminophenyl)acrylate cyclization reaction by multicatalysis of solvent and substrate

The reaction mechanism of (E)-methyl 3-(2-aminophenyl)acrylate (A) with phenylisothiocyanate (B) as well as the vital roles of substrate A and solvent water were investigated under unassisted, water-assisted, substrate A-assisted, and water-A-assisted conditions. The reaction proceeds with four processes via nucleophilic addition, deprotonation and protonation, intramolecular cyclization with hydrogen transfer, and keto-enol tautomerization. According to the different H-shift mode, two possible types of H-shift P1 and P2 are carefully investigated to identify the most preferred pathway, differing in the NH2 group deprotonation and CH group of A protonation processes. It is found that substrate A and water not only act as reactant and solvent, but also as catalyst, proton shuttle, and stabilizer in effectively lowering the energy barrier. Therefore, the results demonstrate that the strong donating and accepting ability of NH2 group on A and the presence of bulk water are the keys to the title reaction proceed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

How does aqueous solubility of organic reactant affect a water-promoted reaction?

It was widely reported that under the "on water" condition, various water-promoted organic reactions can proceed with very high speed. Thus, it is considered that the aqueous solubility of reactant is not an important issue in these reactions. Three types of water-promoted organic reactions were investigated in the current study to distinguish whether the reaction rate of an aqueous reaction was affected by the aqueous solubilities of the reactants. The results showed that, for a Diels-Alder reaction which was fast under the neat conditions, the aqueous solubilities of reactants had little influence on the reaction. However, for the reactions which proceeded slowly under the neat conditions, such as [2σ+2σ+2π] cycloaddition reactions and epoxide aminolysis reactions, the reactants with good aqueous solubilities proceeded fast in water. Poorly aqueous soluble reactants reacted slowly or did not react under the "on water" condition, and an appropriate amount of organic cosolvent was needed to make the reaction become efficient. This evidence suggested that for these two types of reactions, the dissolution of the reactants in water was required.

Mechanism study of the intramolecular anti-Michael addition of N-alkylfurylacrylacetamides

The mechanism of the intramolecular nucleophilic addition of N-alkylfurylacrylacetamides is investigated by density functional theory calculations. Three possible reaction pathways have been considered based on possible conformations of the same reactant, which undergoes three stages, including hydrogen elimination by the base NaH, followed by the nucleophilic addition of N(-) on C(α) (C(β)) via an anti-Michael (Michael) mechanism, and then proton transfer affords the final product Pr-5 (Pr-6). The pathway corresponding to the reactant with the most stable conformation is found to be the most favorable one. The rate-determining step of the intramolecular nucleophilic addition is the nucleophilic addition of N(-) on C(α) (C(β)) featuring a cyclic ring transition state. Solvent effects are considered at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level in solvent DMSO, and the results suggest that the relative reaction trends are consistent with the gas-phase reaction. Furthermore, the difference of the energy barriers explains the origin of the regioselectivity of the experiment. Finally, the effects of the substituent on N1 and C(β) to the regioselectivity have been discussed.

The low spin Co(II) fragment with homoleptic 1,10-phenanthroline ligands: synthesis, structures, DFT investigations, and magnetic properties

Two complexes {[Co(II)(phen)(3)][Co(III)(phen)(CN)(4)](2)}·phen·11H(2)O (1) and [Co(II)(μ-CN)(2)(Co(III))(2)(phen)(4)(CN)(6)]·C(2)H(5)OH·2H(2)O (2) were synthesized with identical starting materials but with a different order of addition. Their crystal structures, spectroscopic analysis, DFT calculations, and investigations of their magnetic properties are reported herein. The X-ray diffraction studies reveal that complex 1 mainly consists of discrete [Co(II)(phen)(3)](2+) cations and [Co(III)(phen)(CN)(4)](-) anions, while complex 2 is dominantly comprised of discrete neutral V-shaped trinuclear units [Co(II)(μ-CN)(2)(Co(III))(2)(phen)(4)(CN)(6)]. The first low-spin Co(II) fragment with homoleptic 1,10-phenanthroline ligands in 1 is observed at room temperature, owing to charge transfer from the neighboring anion via adventitious contacts and anion-π interactions. This is verified by structures, detailed theoretical analyses concerning frontier molecular orbital energy differences and Mulliken charge variations of the N atoms within the Co(II)N(6) sphere, and magnetism. Meanwhile, these kinds of supramolecular interactions are not found in complex 2, so it shows the ordinary magnetic behavior of the high-spin Co(II) ion. Our investigations highlight that for quantitative comprehension of spin-state energetic ordering in transition metal complexes, the supramolecular interactions must be taken into account in addition to classical ligand field theory. Moreover, we find that the [Co(II)(phen)(3)](2+) dication is sensitive to its surroundings in the solid state, which is beneficial for magnetic adjustment for the further synthesis of tunable molecular magnets and spin crossover systems.