Thermal and Photochemical Isomerization of cis-3,4-Dimethylcyclobutene

Substituent Effects in Mechanochemical Allowed and Forbidden Cyclobutene Ring-Opening Reactions

Woodward and Hoffman once jested that a very powerful Maxwell demon could seize a molecule of cyclobutene at its methylene groups and tear it open in a disrotatory fashion to obtain butadiene (Woodward, R. B.; Hoffmann, R. The Conservation of Orbital Symmetry. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 1969, 8, 781-853). Nearly 40 years later, that demon was discovered, and the field of covalent polymer mechanochemistry was born. In the decade since our demon was befriended, many fundamental investigations have been undertaken to build up our understanding of force-modified pathways for electrocyclic ring-opening reactions. Here, we seek to extend that fundamental understanding by exploring substituent effects in allowed and forbidden ring-opening reactions of cyclobutene (CBE) and benzocyclobutene (BCB) using a combination of single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) and computation. We show that, while the forbidden ring-opening of cis-BCB occurs at a lower force than the allowed ring-opening of trans-BCB on the time scale of the SMFS experiment, the opposite is true for cis- and trans-CBE. Such a reactivity flip is explained through computational analysis and discussion of the so-called allowed/forbidden gap.

Studies on the thermal ring-opening reactions of cis-3,4-bis(organosilyl)cyclobutenes

Three cis-3,4-bis(organosilyl)cyclobutenes were synthesized, and their thermal ring-opening reactions were studied. The ring-opening reaction of cis-3,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)cyclobutene proceeded remarkably faster than that of cis-3,4-dimethylcyclobutene. The significant rate acceleration was explained by assuming (i) stabilization of the transition state by electron delocalization from the cyclobutene HOMO to the Si-CH3 sigma* orbital, (ii) destabilization of the ground state by intramolecular interaction between the C-Si sigma orbitals and the pi orbital of cyclobutene, and (iii) through-space steric repulsion of the two bulky trimethylsilyl groups in a cis arrangement. The ring-opening reaction of unsymmetrical cis-3,4-bis(arylsilyl)cyclobutenes having electronically different arylsilyl groups was also examined. The inward preference increased in the order, p-CH3OC6H4-Si, C6H5-Si, p-CF3C6H4-Si, supporting the interpretation of the origin of the inward preference of silyl substituents on the basis of a stabilizing interaction between the cyclobutene HOMO and the Si-C sigma* orbital at the transition state.