Mechanistic and Computational Studies of the Atom Transfer Radical Addition of CCl4 to Styrene Catalyzed by Copper Homoscorpionate Complexes

Atom Transfer Radical Addition to Styrenes with Thiosulfonates Enabled by Synergetic Copper/Photoredox Catalysis

A synergetic copper/photoredox catalyzed ATRA of styrenes and thiosulfonates is developed. Besides aryl ethylenes, the challenging α-substituted styrenes were employed to construct the benzylic quaternary carbon centers. Owing to the mild conditions as well as the high level of substrate compability, this ATRA could be applied to derivatize bioactive natural products in late stage, and to install fluorophores across alkenes. The mechanistic studies reveal sulfonyl radicals as the key intermediate in the transformation.

Group 11 tris(pyrazolyl)methane complexes: structural features and catalytic applications

Tris(pyrazolyl)methane ligands (Tpm^x) have been for years a step behind their highly popular boron-anionic analogues, the tris(pyrazolyl)borate ligands (Tp^x).

Expanding the Range of Force Fields Available for ONIOM Calculations: The SICTWO Interface

The ONIOM scheme is one of the most popular QM/MM approaches, but its extended application has been so far hindered by the limited availability of force fields in most practical implementations. This paper describes a simple software code to overcome this limitation, and its application to three representative chemical problems. The "Shell Interface for Combining Tinker With ONIOM" (SICTWO) program gives access to all force fields available in the Tinker molecular mechanics program from a Gaussian09 or Gaussian16 calculation. The first application presented is the geometry optimization of dithienobicyclo-[4.4.1]-undeca-3,8-diene-11-one ethylene glycol ketal. A variety of force fields were tested for the MM part, and the molecular structure using the ONIOM(B3LYP:OPLS-AA) method shows good agreement with the experimental results. The second problem is related with enantioselectivity of the vanadium-catalyzed asymmetric oxidation of 1,2-bis( tert-butyl)-disulfide. ONIOM(B3LYP:MM3) results, obtained with SICTWO, are consistent with those of a previous IMOMM(B3LYP:MM3) study. In the third application, we have combined AMOEBA09 polarizable force field with ONIOM to study a water molecule binding on water ice. Calculated ONIOM(ωB97X-D:AMOEBA09) binding energies are consistent with the ωB97X-D results. These studies show SICTWO as an easy-to-use tool that can further expand the use of the multiscale ONIOM method within computational chemistry and computational biology.

Ultrasensitive Ethene Detector Based on a Graphene-Copper(I) Hybrid Material

Ethene is a highly diffusive and relatively unreactive gas that induces aging responses in plants in concentrations as low as parts per billion. Monitoring concentrations of ethene is critically important for transport and storage of food crops, necessitating the development of a new generation of ultrasensitive detectors. Here we show that by functionalizing graphene with copper complexes biologically relevant concentrations of ethene and of the spoilage marker ethanol can be detected. Importantly, in addition these sensors provide us with important insights into the interactions between molecules, a key concept in chemistry. Chemically induced dipole fluctuations in molecules as they undergo a chemical reaction are harvested in an elegant way through subtle field effects in graphene. By exploiting changes in the dipole moments of molecules that occur upon a chemical reaction we are able to track the reaction and provide mechanistic insight that was, until now, out of reach.

Structural and Electronic Noninnocence of α-Diimine Ligands on Niobium for Reductive C-Cl Bond Activation and Catalytic Radical Addition Reactions

A d⁰ niobium(V) complex, NbCl₃(α-diimine) (1a), supported by a dianionic redox-active N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-1,4-diaza-2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene (α-diimine) ligand (ene-diamido ligand) served as a catalyst for radical addition reactions of CCl₄ to α-olefins and cyclic alkenes, selectively affording 1:1 radical addition products in a regioselective manner. During the catalytic reaction, the α-diimine ligand smoothly released and stored an electron to control the oxidation state of the niobium center by changing between an η⁴-(σ²,π) coordination mode with a folded MN₂C₂ metallacycle and a κ²-(N,N') coordination mode with a planar MN₂C₂ metallacycle. Kinetic studies of the catalytic reaction elucidated the reaction order in the catalytic cycle: the radical addition reaction rate obeyed first-order kinetics that were dependent on the concentrations of the catalyst, styrene, and CCl₄, while a saturation effect was observed at a high CCl₄ concentration. In the presence of excess amounts of styrene, styrene coordinated in an η²-olefinic manner to the niobium center to decrease the reaction rate. No observation of oligomers or polymers of styrene and high stereoselectivity for the radical addition reaction of CCl₄ to cyclopentene suggested that the C-C bond formation proceeded inside the coordination sphere of niobium, which was in good accordance with the negative entropy value of the radical addition reaction. Furthermore, reaction of 1a with (bromomethyl)cyclopropane confirmed that both the C-Br bond activation and formation proceeded on the α-diimine-coordinated niobium center during transformation of the cyclopropylmethyl radical to a homoallyl radical. With regard to the reaction mechanism, we detected and isolated NbCl₄(α-diimine) (6a) as a transient one-electron oxidized species of 1a during reductive cleavage of the C-X bonds; in addition, the monoanionic α-diimine ligand of 6a adopted a monoanionic canonical form with selective one-electron oxidation of the dianionic ene-diamido form of the ligand in 1a.

Copper-catalyzed fluoroalkylation of alkynes, and alkynyl & vinyl carboxylic acids with fluoroalkyl halides

Copper-catalyzed fluoroalkylation of alkynes and alkynyl carboxylic acids has been achieved with high functional-group tolerance and excellent regio- and stereoselectivities.

Synthesis, Radical Reactivity, and Thermochemistry of Monomeric Cu(II) Alkoxide Complexes Relevant to Cu/Radical Alcohol Oxidation Catalysis

Two new monomeric Cu(II) alkoxide complexes were prepared and fully characterized as models for intermediates in copper/radical mediated alcohol oxidation catalysis: Tp(tBuR)Cu(II)OCH2CF3 with Tp(tBu) = hydro-tris(3-tert-butyl-pyrazol-1-yl)borate 1 or Tp(tBuMe) = hydro-tris(3-tert-butyl-5-methyl-pyrazol-1-yl)borate 2. These complexes were made as models for potential intermediates in enzymatic and synthetic catalytic cycles for alcohol oxidation. However, the alkoxide ligands are not readily oxidized by loss of H; instead, these complexes were found to be hydrogen atom acceptors. They oxidize the hydroxylamine TEMPOH, 2,4,6-tri-t-butylphenol, and 1,4-cyclohexadiene to the nitroxyl radical, phenoxyl radical, and benzene, with formation of HOCH2CF3 (TFE) and the Cu(I) complexes Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)-MeCN in dichloromethane/1% MeCN or 1/2 [Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2 in toluene. On the basis of thermodynamics and kinetics arguments, these reactions likely proceed through concerted proton-electron transfer mechanisms. Thermochemical analyses give lower limits for the "effective bond dissociation free energies (BDFE)" of the O-H bonds in 1/2[Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2 + TFE and upper limits for the free energies associated with alkoxide oxidations via hydrogen atom transfer (effective alkoxide α-C-H BDFEs). These values are summations of the free energies of multiple chemical steps, which include the energetically favorable formation of 1/2[Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2. The effective alkoxide α-C-H bonds are very weak, BDFE ≤ 38 ± 4 kcal mol(-1) for 1 and ≤44 ± 5 kcal mol(-1) for 2 (gas-phase estimates), because C-H homolysis is thermodynamically coupled to one electron transfer to Cu(II) as well as the favorable formation of the 1/2[Tp(tBuR)Cu(I)]2 dimer. Treating 1 with the H atom acceptor (t)Bu3ArO(•) did not result in the expected alkoxide oxidation to an aldehyde, but rather net 2,2,2-trifluoroethoxyl radical transfer occurred to generate an unusual 2-substituted dienone-ether product. Treating 2 with (t)Bu3ArO(•) gives no reaction, despite evidence that overall ligand oxidation and formation of 1/2[Tp(tBuMe)Cu(I)]2 is significantly exoergic. The origin of this lack of reactivity may be due to insufficient weakening of the alcohol α-C-H bond upon complexation to copper.

Crystal structure of ortho-rhom-bic {bis-[(pyridin-2-yl)meth-yl](3,5,5,5-tetra-chloro-pent-yl)amine-κ(3) N,N',N''}chlorido-copper(II) perchlorate

In the title compound, [CuCl(C17H19Cl4N3)]ClO4, the Cu(II) ion adopts a distorted square-planar geometry defined by one chloride ligand and the three nitro-gen atoms from the bis-[(pyridin-2-yl)meth-yl](3,5,5,5-tetra-chloro-pent-yl)amine ligand. The perchlorate counter-ion is disordered over three sets of sites with refined occupancies 0.0634 (17), 0.221 (16) and 0.145 (7). In addition, the hetero-scorpionate arm of the bis-[(pyridin-2-yl)meth-yl](3,5,5,5-tetra-chloro-pent-yl)amine ligand is disordered over two sets of sites with refined occupancies 0.839 (2) and 0.161 (2). In the crystal, weak Cu⋯Cl inter-actions between symmetry-related mol-ecules create a dimerization with a chloride occupying the apical position of the square-pyramidal geometry typical of many copper(II) chloride hetero-scorpionate complexes.