Effects of Ethynyl Substitution on Cyclobutadiene

Carbon Condensation via [4 + 2] Cycloaddition of Highly Unsaturated Carbon Chains

We present computational studies of reaction pathways for alkyne/polyyne dimerization that represent plausible early steps in mechanisms for carbon condensation. A previous computational study of the ring coalescence and annealing model of C₆₀ formation revealed that a 1,4-didehydrobenzocyclobutadiene intermediate (p-benzyne derivative) has little to no barrier to undergoing an unproductive retro-Bergman cyclization, which brings into question the relevance of that reaction pathway. The current study investigates an alternative model, which proceeds through an initial [4 + 2] cycloaddition instead of a [2 + 2] cycloaddition. In this pathway, the problematic intermediate is avoided, with the reaction proceeding via a (potentially) more kinetically stable tetradehydronaphthalene derivative. The computational studies of the [2 + 2] and [4 + 2] model systems, with increasing alkyne substitutions, reveal that the para-benzyne diradical of the [4 + 2] pathway has a significantly greater barrier to ring opening than the analogous intermediates of the [2 + 2] pathway and that alkyne substitution has little effect on this important barrier. These studies employ spin-flip, time-dependent density functional theory (SF-TDDFT) to provide suitable treatment of open-shell diradical intermediates.

NMR and experimental reinvestigation of the condensation reaction between γ-methylene-α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and propargyl aldehydes

An experimental and computational study of the reaction between γ-methylene enals and propargyl aldehydes uncovered a deconjugative aldol condensation.

Thermal Isomerizations of Diethynyl Cyclobutadienes and Implications for Fullerene Formation

The mechanism by which carbon condenses to form PAHs or fullerenes is a problem that has garnered considerable theoretical and experimental attention. The ring-coalescence and annealing model for the formation of C(60) involves a [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of a cyclopolyyne to form a tetraalkynyl cyclobuta-1,3-diene intermediate, followed by a Bergman cycloaromatization reaction of the enediyne moiety. Intramolecular trapping of the incipient p-benzyne diradical across a diyne moiety of the macrocyclic ring affords an aromatic ring that must undergo further intramolecular reactions via polyradical intermediates to produce a condensed graphitic structure or fullerene. Computational studies of a model system for the intriguing tetraalkynylcyclobuta-1,3-diene intermediate, however, reveal that the corresponding p-benzyne diradical lies in a shallow minimum with a very low barrier to ring opening to cyclooctadienediyne. This pathway has not been previously considered in the mechanism for carbon condensation.

Tetragermacyclobutadiene: energetically disfavored with respect to its structural isomers

Germanium has been a central feature in the renaissance of main-group inorganic chemistry. Herein, we present the stationary-point geometries of tetragermacyclobutadiene and its related isomers on the singlet potential energy surface at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ level of theory. Three of these 12 structures are reported for the first time and one of them is predicted to lie only 0.4 kcal mol(-1) above the previously reported global minimum. Focal-point analyses has provided electronic energies at the CCSD(T) level of theory, which are extrapolated to the complete basis-set limit and demonstrate the convergence behavior of the electronic energies with improving levels of theory and increasing basis-set size. The lowest-energy structure is the bicyclic structure, which lies 35 kcal mol(-1) below the "all-Ge" cyclobutadiene structure. The reaction energies for the association of known Ge hydrides (e.g., digermene) to form Ge4H4 indicate that Ge4H4 could be observed experimentally. We investigate the bonding patterns by examining the frontier molecular orbitals. Our results demonstrate that: 1) the cyclic isomers of (GeH)4 distort to maximize the mixing of the p orbitals that are involved in the π system of tetragermacyclobutadiene and 2) the lowest-energy isomers exhibit unusual bonding arrangements (e.g., bridging H bonds) that maximize the nonbonding electron density at the Ge centers.