Oxidative Addition of Hydrogen Halides and Dihalogens to Pd. Trends in Reactivity and Relativistic Effects

Palladium-catalyzed activation of HnA–AHn bonds (AHn = CH3, NH2, OH, F)

We have quantum chemically studied activation of HnA–AHn bonds (AHn = CH3, NH2, OH, F) by PdLn catalysts with Ln = no ligand, PH3, (PH3)2, using relativistic density functional theory at ZORA-BLYP/TZ2P. The activation energy associated with the oxidative addition step decreases from H3C–CH3 to H2N–NH2 to HO–OH to F–F, where the activation of the F–F bond is barrierless. Activation strain and Kohn–Sham molecular orbital analyses reveal that the enhanced reactivity along this series of substrates originates from a combination of (i) reduced activation strain due to a weaker HnA–AHn bond; (ii) decreased Pauli repulsion as a result of a difference in steric shielding of the HnA–AHn bond; and (iii) enhanced backbonding interaction between the occupied 4d atomic orbitals of the palladium catalyst and σ* acceptor orbital of the substrate.

Catalytic Carbon-Halogen Bond Activation: Trends in Reactivity, Selectivity, and Solvation

We have theoretically studied the oxidative addition of all halomethanes CH3X (with X = F, Cl, Br, I, At) to Pd and PdCl(-), using both nonrelativistic and zeroth-order-regular-approximation-relativistic density functional theory at BLYP/QZ4P. Our study covers the gas phase as well as the condensed phase (water), where solvent effects are described with the conductor-like screening model. The activation of the C*-X bond may proceed via two stereochemically different pathways:  (i) direct oxidative insertion (OxIn) which goes with retention of the configuration at C* and (ii) an alternative SN2 pathway which goes with inversion of the configuration at C*. In the gas phase, for Pd, the OxIn pathway has the lowest reaction barrier for all CH3X's. Anion assistance, that is, going from Pd to PdCl(-), changes the preference for all CH3X's from OxIn to the SN2 pathway. Gas-phase reaction barriers for both pathways to C-X activation generally decrease as X descends in group 17. Two striking solvent effects are (i) the shift in reactivity of Pd + CH3X from OxIn to SN2 in the case of the smaller halogens, F and Cl, and (ii) the shift in reactivity of PdCl(-) + CH3X in the opposite direction, that is, from SN2 to OxIn, in the case of the heavier halogens, I and At. We use the activation strain model to arrive at a qualitative understanding of how the competition between OxIn and SN2 pathways is determined by the halogen atom in the activated C-X bond, by anion assistance, and by solvation.

The activation strain model and molecular orbital theory

The activation strain model is a powerful tool for understanding reactivity, or inertness, of molecular species. This is done by relating the relative energy of a molecular complex along the reaction energy profile to the structural rigidity of the reactants and the strength of their mutual interactions: ΔE(ζ) = ΔE_strain(ζ) + ΔE_int(ζ). We provide a detailed discussion of the model, and elaborate on its strong connection with molecular orbital theory. Using these approaches, a causal relationship is revealed between the properties of the reactants and their reactivity, e.g., reaction barriers and plausible reaction mechanisms. This methodology may reveal intriguing parallels between completely different types of chemical transformations. Thus, the activation strain model constitutes a unifying framework that furthers the development of cross-disciplinary concepts throughout various fields of chemistry. We illustrate the activation strain model in action with selected examples from literature. These examples demonstrate how the methodology is applied to different research questions, how results are interpreted, and how insights into one chemical phenomenon can lead to an improved understanding of another, seemingly completely different chemical process. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2015, 5:324-343. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1221.

Bond activation by group-11 transition-metal cations

We have computationally explored C–X bond activation by the group-11 transition-metal cations Cu+, Ag+, and Au+, and, for comparison, Pd, using relativistic density functional theory (DFT) at ZORA-BLYP/TZ2P. Oxidative insertion of the second-row transition-metal species Ag+ and Pd leads, for a given bond, to the highest overall reaction barriers. On the other hand, if we compare the different bonds oxidative insertion into the C–F bond is associated with (one of the) highest overall barriers whereas insertion into the C–Cl bond leads to the lowest overall barrier for any transition metal. The main trends in reactivity are rationalized using the activation strain model of chemical reactivity, which is an extension of the fragment approach to reaction profiles. In this model, the shape of the reaction profile ΔE(ζ) and the height of the overall reaction barrier ΔE≠ = ΔE(ζ=ζTS) are interpreted in terms of the strain energy ΔEstrain(ζ) associated with deforming the reactants along the reaction coordinate ζ plus the interaction energy ΔEint(ζ) between these deformed reactants: ΔE(ζ) = ΔEstrain(ζ) + ΔEint(ζ).

Transition-State Energy and Position along the Reaction Coordinate in an Extended Activation Strain Model

We investigate palladium-induced activation of the C-H, C-C, C-F, and C-Cl bonds in methane, ethane, cyclopropane, fluoromethane, and chloromethane, using relativistic density functional theory (DFT) at ZORA-BLYP/TZ2P. Our purpose is to arrive at a qualitative understanding, based on accurate calculations, of the trends in activation barriers and transition state (TS) geometries (e.g. early or late along the reaction coordinate) in terms of the reactants' properties. To this end, we extend the activation strain model (in which the activation energy Delta E(not equal) is decomposed into the activation strain Delta E(not equal)(strain) of the reactants and the stabilizing TS interaction Delta E(not equal)(int) between the reactants) from a single-point analysis of the TS to an analysis along the reaction coordinate zeta, that is, Delta E(zeta)=Delta E(strain)(zeta)+Delta E(int)(zeta). This extension enables us to understand qualitatively, trends in the position of the TS along zeta and, therefore, the values of the activation strain Delta E(not equal)(strain)=Delta E(strain)(zeta(TS)) and TS interaction Delta E(not equal)(int)=Delta E(int)(zeta(TS)) and trends therein. An interesting insight that emerges is that the much higher barrier of metal-mediated C-C versus C-H activation originates from steric shielding of the C-C bond in ethane by C-H bonds. Thus, before a favorable stabilizing interaction with the C-C bond can occur, the C-H bonds must be bent away, which causes the metal-substrate interaction Delta E(int)(zeta) in C-C activation to lag behind. Such steric shielding is not present in the metal-mediated activation of the C-H bond, which is always accessible from the hydrogen side. Other phenomena that are addressed are anion assistance, competition between direct oxidative insertion (OxIn) versus the alternative S(N)2 pathway, and the effect of ring strain.

Stereospecific palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of (E)- and (Z)-alkenylsilanolates with aryl chlorides

The cross-coupling of geometrically defined (E)- and (Z)-alkenyl- and styrylsilanolates with a wide variety of aromatic and heteroaromatic chlorides has been achieved. Under catalysis by bulky, biphenyl-derived phosphines and allylpalladium chloride, the (preformed, stable) potassium salts of di-, tri- and tetrasubstituted alkenyldimethylsilanols undergo high yielding and highly stereospecific coupling to aryl chlorides in THF or dioxane. A variety of functional groups are compatible with these reaction conditions including nitro, ester, ketone, and nitrile. Both (E)- and (Z)-alkenylsilanolates coupled with nearly identical rate and efficiency.