Controlled Evolution of the Cope Rearrangement: Transition from Concerted to Interrupted and Aborted Pericyclic Reactions Regulated by a Switch Built from an Intramolecular Frustrated Lewis Pair

Toward Efficient and Stereoselective Aromatic and Dearomative Cope Rearrangements: Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of α-Allyl-α'-Aromatic γ-Lactone Derivatives

The aromatic Cope rearrangement is an elusive transformation that has been the subject of a limited number of investigations compared to those seemingly close analogues, namely the Cope and aromatic Claisen rearrangement. Herein we report our investigations inspired by moderate success observed in the course of pioneering works. By careful experimental and theoretical investigations, we demonstrate that key substitutions on 1,5-hexadiene scaffold allow fruitful transformations. Especially, efficient functionalisation of the heteroaromatic rings results from the aromatic Cope rearrangement, while highly stereoselective interrupted aromatic Cope rearrangements highlight the formation of chiral compounds through a dearomative process.

Mechanistic duality of indolyl 1,3-heteroatom transposition

A novel mechanistic duality has been revealed from the indolyl 1,3-heteroatom transposition (IHT) of N-hydroxyindole derivatives. A series of in-depth mechanistic investigations suggests that two separate mechanisms are operating simultaneously. Moreover, the relative contribution of each mechanistic pathway, the energy barrier for each pathway, and the identity of the primary pathway were shown to be the functions of the electronic properties of the substrate system. Based on the mechanistic understanding obtained, a mechanism-driven strategy for the general and efficient introduction of a heteroatom at the 3-position of indole has been developed. The reaction developed exhibits a broad substrate scope to provide the products in various forms of the functionalised indole. Moreover, the method is applicable to the introduction of both oxygen- and nitrogen-based functional groups.

Zwitterionic Bergman cyclization triggered polymerization gives access to metal-graphene nanoribbons using a boron metal couple

With the rapid growth in artificial intelligence, designing high-speed and low-power semiconducting materials is of utmost importance. This investigation provides a theoretical basis to access covalently bonded transition metal-graphene nanoribbon (TM-GNR) hybrid semiconductors whose DFT-computed bandgaps were much narrower than the commonly used pentacene. Systematic optimization of substrates containing remotely placed boryl groups and the transition metals produced the zwitterions via ionic Bergman cyclization (i-BC) and unlocked the polymerization of metal-substituted polyenynes. Aside from i-BC, the subsequent steps were barrierless, which involved structureless transition regions. Multivariate analysis revealed the strong dependence of activation energy and the cyclization mode on the electronic nature of boron and Au(I). Consequently, three regions corresponding to radical Bergman (r-BC), ionic Bergman (i-BC), and ionic Schreiner-Pascal (i-SP) cyclizations were identified. The boundaries between these regions corresponded to the mechanistic shift induced by the three-center-three-electron (3c-3e) hydrogen bond, three-center-four-electron (3c-4e) hydrogen bond, and vacant p-orbital on boron. The ideal combination for cascade polymerization was observed near the boundary between i-BC and i-SP.

External Electric Fields Interrupt the Concerted Cope Rearrangement of Semibullvalene

The topic of this paper is whether the mechanism of the degenerate Cope rearrangement of semibullvalene can be affected by the presence of electrostatic fields. Herein, we report that the shape of the energy surface, as demonstrated by an "interrupted" (stepwise) mechanism, is altered in the presence of a copper cation, Cu⁺. Natural bond-orbital and block-localized wave-function energy decomposition analyses suggest that orbital and electrostatic interactions play a major role in altering the shape of the energy surface. Applying additional external electric fields (EEFs) induces a significant change to the energy surface with Cu⁺ present but negligible effects in the absence of Cu⁺. These findings are consistent with recent studies that demonstrate that EEFs more readily stabilize/destabilize systems with larger, more polarizable, dipole moments.

Mechanism of an Organocatalytic Cope Rearrangement Involving Iminium Intermediates: Elucidating the Role of Catalyst Ring Size

The mechanism of the organocatalytic Cope rearrangement is elucidated through a combined computational and experimental approach. As reported previously, hydrazides catalyze the Cope rearrangement of 1,5-hexadiene-2-carboxaldehydes via iminium ion formation, and seven- and eight-membered ring catalysts are more active than smaller ring sizes. In the present work, quantum mechanical computations and kinetic isotope effect experiments demonstrate that the Cope rearrangement step, rather than iminium formation, is rate-limiting. The computations further explain how the hydrazide catalyst lowers the free-energy barrier of the Cope rearrangement via an associative transition state that is stabilized by enehydrazine character. The computations also explain the catalyst ring size effect, as larger hydrazide rings are able to accommodate optimal transition-state geometries that minimize the unfavorable lone-pair repulsion between neighboring nitrogen atoms and maximize the favorable hyperconjugative donation from each nitrogen atom into neighboring electron-poor sigma bonds, with the seven-membered catalyst achieving a nearly ideal transition-state geometry that is comparable to that of an unconstrained acyclic catalyst. Experimental kinetics studies support the computations, showing that the seven-membered and acyclic hydrazide catalysts react 10 times faster than the six-membered catalyst. Unraveling the mechanism of this reaction is an important step in understanding other reactions catalyzed by hydrazides, and explaining the ring size effect is critical because cyclic catalysts provide a constrained scaffold, enabling the development of asymmetric variants of these reactions.