Lai W, Li C, Chen H, Shaik S. Hydrogen-abstraction reactivity patterns from A to Y: the valence bond way.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2012;
51:5556-78. [PMID:
22566272 DOI:
10.1002/anie.201108398]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 212] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2011] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
"Give us insight, not numbers" was Coulson's admonition to theoretical chemists. This Review shows that the valence bond (VB)-model provides insights and some good numbers for one of the fundamental reactions in nature, the hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT). The VB model is applied to over 50 reactions from the simplest H + H(2) process, to P450 hydroxylations and H-transfers among closed-shell molecules; for each system the barriers are estimated from raw data. The model creates a bridge to the Marcus equation and shows that H-atom abstraction by a closed-shell molecule requires a higher barrier owing to the additional promotion energy needed to prepare the abstractor for H-abstraction. Under certain conditions, a closed-shell abstractor can bypass this penalty through a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism. The VB model links the HAT and PCET mechanisms conceptually and shows the consequences that this linking has for H-abstraction reactivity.
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