Mechanistic Study of 1,4-Benzodiazepine-2,5-diones from Diphenylamine and Diethyl 2-Phenylmalonate by Density Functional Theory

DFT investigation of the DDQ-catalytic mechanism for constructing C-O bonds

In this study, we investigated the photo-catalytic mechanisms for the construction of C-O bonds from arenes (benzene, 2',6'-dimethyl-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2-carboxylic acid, or 2,4-dichloro-1-fluorobenzene), catalyzed by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone (DDQ). All the structures for the Gibbs free surfaces were calculated at the M06-2X-D3/ma-def2-SVP level in the SMD solvent model. Also, TDDFT calculations of DDQ were performed at the PBE1PBE-D3/ma-def2-SVP level in the SMD solvent model. The computational results indicated that DDQ, serving as a photo-catalyst, would be excited under visible light of 450 nm, aligning well with experimental observations as reflected in the UV-vis spectrum. Gibbs free energy surface analyses of the three reactions suggested that the path involving 3DDQ* activating the reactant (-COOH, H2O, or CH3OH) is favorable. Additionally, the role of O2 was investigated, revealing that it could facilitate the recycling of DDQ by lowering the energy barrier for the conversion of the DDQH˙ radical (not DDQH2) into DDQ. The use of ρhole and ρele can reveal the photo-catalytic reaction and charge transfer processes, while localized orbital locator isosurfaces and electron spin density isosurface graphs were employed to analyze structures and elucidate the single electron distribution. These computational results offer valuable insights into the studied interactions and related processes, shedding light on the mechanisms governing C-O bond formation from arenes catalyzed by DDQ.

Efficient Construction of 5H-1,4-Benzodiazepine Derivatives by a Catalyst-Free Direct Aerobic Oxidative Annulation Strategy

A catalyst-free direct aerobic oxidative annulation reaction of 2-aminobenzylic amines and α-hydroxy ketones efficiently afforded versatile 5H-1,4-benzodiazepine derivatives by employing air as economic and green oxidant under mild conditions. Interestingly, solvent was found to be crucial to the reaction, so that by using acetic acid as the best solvent an efficient and practical method could be achieved, requiring no catalysts or additives at all. This method tolerates a wide range of 2-aminobenzylic amines and α-hydroxy ketones and could be scaled up to multigram synthesis and directly applied in one-step synthesis of the pharmaceutically active N-desmethylmedazepam derivatives, revealing the potential of this new method in the synthesis of 5H-1,4-benzodiazepine skeleton-based pharmaceuticals and chemicals.