On the regio- and stereoselective synthesis of aminocyclitols from cyclitol epoxides: the effect of Li as a chelating agent.

Experimental and theoretical studies on the influence of Li ions on the regio- and the stereoselectivity of the reaction of cyclitol epoxides with nitrogen nucleophiles have been carried out. Model studies with NaN3 as a nucleophile in the absence of Li ions predict a mixture of C1 and C2 regioadducts. The inclusion of two Li ions as a chelating agent favours the operation of a low populated "all-axial" conformation leading ultimately to the C1 adducts. In all cases, the results can be rationalised by geometric and energetic considerations of the corresponding transition states. Predictions of the theoretical calculations are in good agreement with the experimental results using primary and secondary amines as nucleophiles, and thus confirm the validity of this study.

Organometallic derivatives of fullerenes: a DFT study of (eta2-Cx)[Pt(PH3)2]n (x = 60, 70, 84; n = 1-6).

To determine the relationship among curvature, patch type, and reactivity of the C-C site, a series of density functional calculations were performed on several substituted fullerenes. [6:6] pyracylene-type sites are the most reactive sites in all analyzed cages: C(60), C(70), and C(84). The binding energy between the Pt(PH(3))(2) unit and fullerene is almost independent of the size of the cage and of the number of metals coordinated on the fullerene surface. Contrarily, curvature and type of carbon-carbon bond are determinant for the coordination strength. The use of relatively large basis sets is necessary to have consistent energies.

DFT studies of uranyl acetate, carbonate, and malonate, complexes in solution.

The aim of this work is to demonstrate that theoretical chemistry can be used as a complementary tool in determining geometric parameters of a number of uranyl complexes in solution, which are not observable by experimental methods. In addition, we propose plausible structures with partial geometric data from experimental results. A gradient corrected DFT methodology with relativistic effects is used employing a COSMO solvation model. The theoretical calculations show good agreement with experimental X-ray and EXAFS data for the triacetato-dioxo-uranium(VI) and tricarbonato-dioxo-uranium(VI) complexes and are used to assign possible geometries for dicalcium-tricarbonato-dioxo-uranium(VI) and malonato-dioxo-uranium(VI) complexes. The results of this exercise indicate that carbonate bonding in these complexes is mainly bidentate and that hydroxo bridging plays a critical role in the stabilization of the polynuclear uranyl complexes.

(Eta3-phenylallyl)(phosphanyloxazoline)palladium complexes: X-ray crystallographic studies, NMR investigations, and Ab initio/DFT calculations.

All possible (eta(3)-allyl)palladium complexes (1-4) of the ligand (4S)-[2-(2'-diphenylphosphanyl)phenyl]-4,5-dihydro-4-(2-propyl)-oxazole (L 1) and eta(3)-allyl ligands with one to three phenyl substituents at the terminal allylic centers were synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystal structure analysis and, with respect to allylic isomers, by NMR investigations. Equilibrium geometries, electronic structures, and relative energies of isomeric complexes were computed by restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations; experimentally determined isomer ratios could be reproduced. The results allowed important conclusions to be drawn regarding the mechanism of Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitutions.

Camphor-Derived, Chelating Auxiliaries for the Highly Diastereoselective Intermolecular Pauson-Khand Reaction: Experimental and Computational Studies.

A family of enantiomerically pure (2R)-10-(alkylthio)isoborneols [methylthio (1), neopentylthio (2), phenylthio (3)], specifically designed as chiral auxiliaries suitable for chirality transfer to cobalt in Pauson-Khand reactions, has been synthesized. The dicobalt hexacarbonyl complexes of the alkoxyacetylenes derived from these alcohols (10a-12a) can be converted to the rather stable, internally chelated, pentacarbonyl complexes 10b-12b by treatment with NMO. The intermolecular Pauson-Khand reactions of 10b-12b with strained olefins take place with synthetically useful rates at low temperatures (down to -20 degrees C), with high yields and diastereoselectivities: norbornene (77%; 92:8), norbornadiene (82%; 96:4), bicyclo[3.2.0]hept-6-ene (91%; 93:7). The major diastereomer of the adduct of 10b with norbornadiene, 14, has been used as the starting point for a synthesis of (S)-(-)-4-alkyl-2-cyclopentenones through a sequence consisting of completely diastereoselective conjugate addition, reductive cleavage with recovery (>95%) of the chiral auxiliary, and retro Diels-Alder reaction. The stereochemical course of the reaction of 10b with norbornadiene has been analyzed and rationalized by theoretical means by using a combined semiempirical [PM3(tm)]/density functional theory [VWN-Perdew-Wang 91] approach.