Thermochemistry, bond energies and internal rotor barriers of methyl sulfinic acid, methyl sulfinic acid ester and their radicals

Oxidation of Methanesulfinate by Hexachloroiridate(IV) and the Standard Electrode Potential of the Aqueous Methanesulfonyl Radical

The aqueous reaction of [IrCl6]2- with CH3SO2- is biphasic and yields a 1:1 mixture of [IrCl6]3- and [IrCl5(H2O)]2- and CH3SO2Cl in the initial rapid phase. The next slow phase corresponds to the hydrolysis of CH3SO2Cl to yield CH3SO3- and Cl-. The initial phase shows kinetic inhibition by [IrCl6]3- that can be minimized by the addition of the radical scavenger propiolic acid. A detailed analysis of the kinetics indicates a mechanism with reversible outer-sphere electron transfer from CH3SO2- to [IrCl6]2- as the first step, followed by the irreversible inner-sphere oxidation of CH3SO2• by [IrCl6]2- to yield [IrCl5(H2O)]2- and CH3SO2Cl. Analysis of the inhibition by [IrCl6]3- and the kinetic effects of propiolic acid enable the determination of the equilibrium constant for the first electron-transfer step. This equilibrium constant then yields E° (CH3SO2•/CH3SO2-) = 1.01 V vs NHE at 25 °C. This is the first report of a standard potential for an alkanesulfonyl radical.

The hydrogen atom transfer reactivity of sulfinic acids

Sulfinic acids (RSO2H) have a reputation for being difficult reagents due to their facile autoxidation. Nevertheless, they have recently been employed as key reagents in a variety of useful radical chain reactions. To account for this paradox and enable further development of radical reactions employing sulfinic acids, we have characterized the thermodynamics and kinetics of their H-atom transfer reactions for the first time. The O-H bond dissociation enthalpy (BDE) of sulfinic acids was determined by radical equilibration to be ∼78 kcal mol-1; roughly halfway between the RS-H BDE in thiols (∼87 kcal mol-1) and RSO-H BDE in sulfenic acids (∼70 kcal mol-1). Regardless, RSH, RSOH and RSO2H have relatively similar inherent H-atom transfer reactivity to alkyl radicals (∼106 M-1 s-1). Counter-intuitively, the trend in rate constants with more reactive alkoxyl radicals follows the reaction energetics: ∼108 M-1 s-1 for RSO2H, midway between thiols (∼107 M-1 s-1) and sulfenic acids (∼109 M-1 s-1). Importantly, since sulfinic and sulfenic acids are very strong H-bond donors (αH2 ∼ 0.63 and 0.55, respectively), their reactivity is greatly attenuated in H-bond accepting solvents, whereas the reactivity of thiols is largely solvent-independent. Efforts to measure rate constants for the reactions of sulfinic acids with alkylperoxyl radicals were unsuccessful. Computations predict these reactions to be surprisingly slow; ∼1000-times slower than for thiols and ∼10 000 000-times slower than for sulfenic acids. On the other hand, the reaction of sulfinic acids with sulfonylperoxyl radicals - which propagate sulfinic acid autoxidation - is predicted to be almost diffusion-controlled. In fact, the rate-determining step in sulfinic acid autoxidation, and the reason they can be used for productive chemistry, is the relatively slow reaction of propagating sulfonyl radicals with O2 (∼106 M-1 s-1).

Extensive Theoretical Study of the Thermochemical Properties of Unsaturated Hydrocarbons and Allylic and Super-Allylic Radicals: The Development and Optimization of Group Additivity Values

In this study, the thermochemistry of C₂-C₇ unsaturated hydrocarbons (22 alkene and 6 diene molecules) and 16 allylic and 5 super-allylic radicals is determined using high-accuracy quantum chemistry calculations. In addition, the group additivity values (GAVs) of a total of 19 relevant groups are systematically optimized on the basis of the calculated thermochemistry of species clusters. The M06-2X method using the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set is used for the geometry optimizations, vibrational frequency calculations, and internal rotation scans for lower-frequency modes. The composite compound methods, CBS-APNO, G3, and G4, are utilized to derive the average atomization formation enthalpies. The entropy and temperature-dependent heat capacity values of all species are calculated using statistical thermodynamics in MultiWell. These results are in good agreement with literature data. A GAVs optimization is performed on the basis of a statistical analysis: a Bland-Altman plot, which is employed to visualize the agreement between the results from the quantum chemical calculations and the GA method. It is found that the 298 K entropies of the CD/C2, C/CD2/H2, C/C/CD2/H, and C/CD3/H groups disagree by more than 5 cal K^-1 mol^-1 compared to existing values, while the values for the ALLYLS and ALLYLT radical groups also differ by ∼2.4 and 4.1 cal K^-1 mol^-1, respectively. The 298 K formation enthalpies of the C/CD2/H2, C/C/CD2/H, C/CD3/H, and ALLYLT groups are modified by more than 1 kcal mol^-1, compared to existing values. The updated GAVs can be used with increased confidence to estimate the thermochemical properties of combustion-relevant unsaturated hydrocarbon molecules and their radicals which are critical for the development of accurate chemical kinetic models describing the pyrolysis and oxidation of hydrocarbon and oxygenated hydrocarbon fuels.

Accurate predictions of C–SO2R bond dissociation enthalpies using density functional theory methods

M06-2X/6-31G(d) was found to be accurate in calculating C–S BDEs, and preliminary mechanistic studies were performed using it.