Density Functional Theory Study of the Mechanisms of Iron-Catalyzed Aminohydroxylation Reactions

Iron-Catalyzed Reductive Coupling of Alkyl Iodides with Alkynes To Yield cis-Olefins: Mechanistic Insights from Computation

In a recent study, a new procedure for Z-selective olefin synthesis by reductive coupling of alkyl iodides with terminal alkynes in the presence of iron salts is described. This transformation is representative of many newly developed synthetic routes through the involvement of multiple species and phases, which makes mechanistic insight hard to obtain. Here, we report computational work aimed at exploring the possible reaction pathways. DFT calculations lead to two suggested routes, one involving C-I reduction by metallic zinc and radical addition to the alkyne and the other involving addition of two reduced iron species to the alkyne bond followed by reductive elimination. Comparison to experimental results as well as kinetic modeling is used to discuss the likelihood of these and related mechanisms.

Oxaziridine cleavage with a low-valent nickel complex: competing C–O and C–N fragmentation from oxazanickela(ii)cyclobutanes

Nickel(0) was found to oxidatively add to oxaziridines to form oxazanickelacyclobutanes which cleave to yield complicated mixtures, including nickel imido and aldehyde complexes.