Barriers to rotation adjacent to double bonds. 4. Effect of basis set on structures, and of electron correlation on relative energies

Photodecarbonylation of 1,3-Dithiophenyl Propanone: Using Nanocrystals to Overcome the Filtering Effect of Highly Absorbing Trace Impurities

Irradiation of crystalline 2,4-dimethyl-2,4-di(thiophen-3-yl)pentan-3-one (1) resulted in photodecarbonylation and radical combination to give 2 with >99% selectivity. However, extended irradiation led to no more than ca. 8% conversion due to highly absorbing unidentified trace impurities that act as filters. We report here a simple procedure to improve the reaction efficiency by taking advantage of nanocrystalline suspensions prepared by the reprecipitation method, which leads to shorter reaction times and quantitative yields.

Origin of the π-Facial Stereoselectivity in the Addition of Nucleophilic Reagents to Chiral Aliphatic Ketones as Evidenced by High-Level Ab Initio Molecular-Orbital Calculations

Ab initio molecular-orbital (MO) calculations were carried out, at the MP2/6-311++G(d,p)//MP2/6-31G(d) level, to investigate the conformational Gibbs energy of alkyl 1-cyclohexylethyl ketones, cyclo-C6H11CHCH3-CO-R (R = Me, Et, iPr, and tBu). In each case, one of the equatorial conformations was shown to be the most stable. Conformers with the axial CHCH3COR group were also shown to be present in an appreciable concentration. Short C-H...C=O and C-H...O=C distances were found in each stable conformation. The result was interpreted on the grounds of C-H...pi(C=O) and C-H...O hydrogen bonds, which stabilize the geometry of the molecule. The ratio of the diastereomeric secondary alcohols produced in the nucleophilic addition to cyclo-C6H11CHCH3-CO-R was estimated on the basis of the conformer distribution. The calculated result was consistent with the experimental data previously reported: the gradual increase in the product ratio (major/minor) along the series was followed by a drop at R = tBu. The energy of the diastereomeric transition states in the addition of LiH to cyclo-C6H11CHCH3-CO-R was also calculated for R = Me and tBu. The product ratio did not differ significantly in going from R = Me to tBu in the case of the aliphatic ketones. This is compatible with the above result calculated on the basis of the conformer distribution. Thus, the mechanism of the pi-facial selection can be explained in terms of the simple premise that the geometry of the transition state resembles the ground-state conformation of the substrates and that the nucleophilic reagent approaches from the less-hindered side of the carbonyl pi face.

Hammett Analysis of Photodecarbonylation in Crystalline 1,3-Diarylacetones

[reaction: see text] The relative quantum yields and chemical efficiencies of crystalline p,p'-disubstituted 1,3-diphenyl-2-propanones with 4-MeO, 4-Me, 4-F, 4-CF3, and 3,4-diMeO groups were determined by parallel irradiation of polycrystalline samples. Variations in quantum yields that span a factor of 4 are analyzed in terms of the effects of substituents on the stability of the benzylic radical. All solid-state reactions proceeded with 100% chemoselectivity and in >95% chemical yield.

Jet-Cooled Multiphoton Ionization Spectroscopy of the iso-Butanal 3s<--n Rydberg Transition

We report the results of a study on the vibrational structure in the (n, 3s) Rydberg state of iso-butanal, carried out via 2+1 multiphoton ionization spectroscopy in a supersonic expansion. Spectra were recorded for both the normal species, (CH(3))(2)CHCHO, and the deuterated isotopomer, (CH(3))(2)CDCHO. The spectra show a complicated vibrational pattern attributable to the gauche (C(1)) conformer which is known to be 250 cm(-1) lower in energy than the more symmetric trans (C(s)) conformer. The spectra are dominated by the low-frequency formyl torsion which appears in combination with the two methyl torsions (in-phase and out-of-phase) and with several skeletal modes. Vibrational assignments have been aided by ab initio calculations of the (n, 3s) Rydberg state. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.