Guerra C, Ayarde-Henríquez L, Duque-Noreña M, Chamorro E. Unraveling the Bonding Nature Along the Photochemically Activated Paterno-Büchi Reaction Mechanism.
Chemphyschem 2021;
22:2342-2351. [PMID:
34549490 DOI:
10.1002/cphc.202100594]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The photochemically activated Paterno-Büchi reaction mechanism following the singlet excited-state reaction path was analyzed based on a bonding evolution framework. The electronic rearrangements, which describe the mechanism of oxetane formation via carbon-oxygen attack (C-O), comprises of the electronic activation of formaldehyde and accumulation of pairing density on the O once the reaction system is approaching the conical intersection point. Our theoretical evidence based on the ELF topology shows that the C-O bond is formed in the ground-state surface (via C-O attack) returning from the S1 surface accompanied by 1,4-singlet diradical formation. Subsequently, the reaction center is fully activated near the transition state (TS), and the ring-closure (yielding oxetane) involves the C-C bond formation after the TS. For the carbon-carbon attack (C-C), both reactants (formaldehyde and ethylene) are activated, leading to C-C bond formation in the S1 excited state before reaching the conical intersection region. Finally, the C-O formation occurs in the ground-state surface, resulting from the pair density flowing primarily from the C to O atom.
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