The Versatile and Strategic O-Carbamate Directed Metalation Group in the Synthesis of Aromatic Molecules: An Update.

The aryl O-carbamate (ArOAm) group is among the strongest of the directed metalation groups (DMGs) in directed ortho metalation (DoM) chemistry, especially in the form Ar-OCONEt2. Since the last comprehensive review of metalation chemistry involving ArOAms (published more than 30 years ago), the field has expanded significantly. For example, it now encompasses new substrates, solvent systems, and metalating agents, while conditions have been developed enabling metalation of ArOAm to be conducted in a green and sustainable manner. The ArOAm group has also proven to be effective in the anionic ortho-Fries (AoF) rearrangement, Directed remote metalation (DreM), iterative DoM sequences, and DoM-halogen dance (HalD) synthetic strategies and has been transformed into a diverse range of functionalities and coupled with various groups through a range of cross-coupling (CC) strategies. Of ultimate value, the ArOAm group has demonstrated utility in the synthesis of a diverse range of bioactive and polycyclic aromatic compounds for various applications.

3-Nitro-benzo-nitrile.

The crystal structure of 3-nitrobenzonitrile, C7H4N2O2, was elucidated by low-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the Sohncke space group P21 and features two mol-ecules in the unit cell. Aromatic π-π stacking leads to stacks of mol-ecules in the [100] direction. The absolute structure was established from anomalous dispersion.

Tri-methyl-phosphine oxide dihydrate.

The title hydrate, Me3PO·2H2O, crystallizes in the ortho-rhom-bic space group Pbca with eight formula units per unit cell. The extended structure displays O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding, with Me3PO mol-ecules as acceptors and water mol-ecules acting as donors and acceptors of hydrogen bonds, forming hydrogen-bonded layers, which propagate in the ac plane.

Inversion Theory Leveling as a New Methodological Approach to Antioxidant Thermodynamics: A Case Study on Phenol.

Antioxidants are various types of compounds that represent a link between biology and chemistry. With the development of theoretical and computational methods, antioxidants are now being studied theoretically. Here, a novel method is presented that aims to reduce the estimated wall times for DFT calculations that result in the same or higher degree of accuracy in the second derivatives over energy than is the case with the regular computational route (i.e., optimizing the reaction system at a lower model and then recalculating the energies at a higher level of theory) by applying the inversion of theory level to the universal chemical scavenger model, i.e., phenol. The resulting accuracy and wall time obtained with such a methodological setup strongly suggest that this methodology could be generally applied to antioxidant thermodynamics for some costly DFT methods with relative absolute deviation.

An analysis of electrophilic aromatic substitution: a "complex approach".

Electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS) is one of the most widely researched transforms in synthetic organic chemistry. Numerous studies have been carried out to provide an understanding of the nature of its reactivity pattern. There is now a need for a concise and general, but detailed and up-to-date, overview. The basic principles behind EAS are essential to our understanding of what the mechanisms underlying EAS are. To date, textbook overviews of EAS have provided little information about the mechanistic pathways and chemical species involved. In this review, the aim is to gather and present the up-to-date information relating to reactivity in EAS, with the implication that some of the key concepts will be discussed in a scientifically concise manner. In addition, the information presented herein suggests certain new possibilities to advance EAS theory, with particular emphasis on the role of modern instrumental and theoretical techniques in EAS reactivity monitoring.

Basic Hydrolysis of Fullerene-based Esters: A Tiny Step Away from Nucleophilic Addition to Fullerene.

Direct nucleophilic addition of -OH groups on the C(60) skeleton in the basic hydrolysis of ethyl ester of T(h)-symmetric fullerenehexamalonic acid (T(h)-FHMA), leading to the formation of a hybrid with features of T(h)-FHMA and fullerenol, has been observed as an important side reaction. The hydroxylation takes place at considerably milder conditions as those usually used in the synthesis of C(60) fullerenols. UV/Vis and IR spectroscopy were successfully used as a fast monitoring tool which might be of help also in other investigations where additions on C(60) skeleton of molecules with distinct absorption spectra take place.

A Simple and Efficient Preparation of High-Purity Hydrogen Trioxide (HOOOH).

A simple and efficient method allows the synthesis of solutions of high-purity hydrogen trioxide (HOOOH), released in the low-temperature methytrioxorhenium(VII) (MTO)-catalyzed transformation of the ozonized polystyrene-supported dimethylphenylsilane. High-purity hydrogen trioxide solutions in diethyl ether, separated from the polymer and free of any reactants and by-products, can be stored at -20 °C for weeks. By removing the solvent in vacuo, HOOOH could be isolated in highly pure form or transferred to other solvents, thus significantly extending the research perspectives of HOOOH for novel applications.

The search for protonated dihydrogen trioxide (HOOOH): insights from theory and experiment.

Protonated dihydrogen trioxide (HOOOH) has been postulated in various forms for many years. Protonation can occur at either the terminal (HOOO(H)H(+)) or central (HOOH(OH)(+)) oxygen atom. However, to date there has been no definitive evidence provided for either of these species. In the current work we have employed ab initio methods, CCSD(T) and MP2, with a large basis set (6-311++G(3df,3pd)) to determine the relative stabilities of these species. It is shown that the terminally protonated species is strongly favored relative to the centrally protonated species (DeltaE = 15.8 kcal/mol, CCSD(T)//MP2). The mechanism of formation of HOOO(H)H(+) was determined to occur with a low barrier with the H(3)O(+) occurring in a thermoneutral reaction (DeltaE = -0.3 kcal/mol, CCSD(T)//MP2). Although HOOO(H)H(+) exists as a stable intermediate, it is extremely short-lived and rapidly decomposes (DeltaE* = 8.6 kcal/mol, MP2) to H(3)O(+) and O(2)((1)Delta(g)). The decomposition reaction is stabilized by solvent water molecules. The short-lived nature of the intermediate implies that the intermediate species can not be observed in (17)O NMR spectra, which has been demonstrated experimentally.

Strong intermolecular association between short poly(ethacrylic acid) chains in aqueous solutions.

The behavior of poly(alpha-ethylacrylic acid), PEA, was studied in aqueous solutions at 25 degrees C and at a polymer concentration 0.01 mol carboxyl groups/L by conductometric, potentiometric, calorimetric, and fluorescence measurements. PEA chains were characterized for molar mass, eventual crystallinity, and tacticity. The complete thermodynamic characterization of the transition of PEA chains from a contracted to an expanded form is reported. The results show that short PEA chains are strongly associated in water. Intermolecular association is effective in the whole range of degrees of ionization of carboxyl groups and was ascribed to the formation of hydrogen bonds between un-ionized groups with a favorable contribution of the hydrophobic ethyl side groups. Molecular modeling was performed on short PEA chains, either purely isotactic or syndiotactic ones. The optimized models resulted in a "bent" or "curved" conformation for both stereoisomers and confirmed the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between predominately isotactic chains.

Hydrotrioxides rather than cyclic tetraoxides (tetraoxolanes) as the primary reaction intermediates in the low-temperature ozonation of aldehydes. The case of benzaldehyde.

We demonstrate in this work by theory and experiment that benzaldehyde hydrotrioxide (PhC(O)OOOH), the intermediate most likely formed in the low-temperature ozonation of benzaldehyde, is too unstable to be detected by NMR (1H, 13C, and 17O) spectroscopy in various organic solvents at temperatures > or = -80 degrees C and that its previous detection must have been erroneous. Several plausible mechanisms for the formation of this polyoxide were explored by using density functional theory. We found that the formation of the hydrotrioxide involves the facile 1,3-dipolar insertion of ozone into the C-H bond (deltaH(double dagger) = 11.1 kcal/mol) in a strongly exothermic process (deltaH(R) = -57.0 kcal/mol). The hydrotrioxide then quickly decomposes in a second concerted, exothermic reaction involving an intramolecular H transfer to form benzoic acid and singlet oxygen (O2(1delta(g))) (deltaH(double dagger) = 5.6 kcal/mol), deltaH(R) = -14.0 kcal/mol). The equilibrium is thus expected to be shifted toward the products; therefore, this intermediate cannot be observed experimentally. Peroxybenzoic acid, still another major reaction product formed in the ozonation reaction, is formed as a result of the surprising instability of the RC(O)O-OOH bond (deltaH(R) = 23.5 kcal/mol), generating HOO* and benzoyloxyl radicals. Both of these radicals can then initiate the chain autoxidation reaction sequence--the abstraction of a H atom from benzaldehyde to form either a benzoyl radical and HOOH or a benzoyl radical and benzoic acid. Because only very small amounts of HOOH were detected in the decomposition mixtures, the recombination of the benzoyl radical with the HOO* radical (deltaH(R) = -80.7 kcal/mol) appears to be the major source of peroxybenzoic acid. A theoretical investigation of the mechanistic possibility of the involvement of still another intermediate, a cyclic tetraoxide (tetraoxolane) formed as a primary product in the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of ozone to the carbonyl group of the aldehyde, revealed that the tetraoxide is a "real" molecular entity with the five-membered ring adopting an envelope conformation. The tetraoxide is destabilized by 7.0 kcal/mol relative to the reactant complex, and the transition state for its formation is 17.4 kcal/mol above the reactant complex, which, although accessible under the reaction conditions, is not expected to be competitive with the reaction generating the hydrotrioxide.

An efficient methyltrioxorhenium(VII)-catalyzed transformation of hydrotrioxides (ROOOH) into dihydrogen trioxide (HOOOH).

Dihydrogen trioxide (HOOOH) is formed nearly quantitatively in the low-temperature (-70 degrees C) methyltrioxorhenium(VII) (MTO)-catalyzed transformation of silyl hydrotrioxides (R3SiOOOH), and some acetal hydrotrioxides, in various solvents, as confirmed by 1H, and 17O NMR spectroscopy. The calculated energetics (B3LYP) for the catalytic cycle, using H3SiOOOH as a model system, is consistent with the experimentally observed activation energy (9.5 +/- 2.0 kcal/mol) and a small kinetic solvent isotope effect (kH2O/kD2O = 1.1 +/- 0.1), indicating an initial concerted reaction between the silyl hydrotrioxide and MTO in the rate-determining step. With the addition of water in the next step, the intermediate undergoes a sigma-bond metathesis reaction to break the Re-OOOH bond and form HOOOH, together with the second dihydroxy intermediate. The final step in the catalytic cycle involves a second, catalytic water that lowers the barrier to form H3SiOH and MTO.

Dihydrogen trioxide clusters, (HOOOH)n (n = 2-4), and the hydrogen-bonded complexes of HOOOH with acetone and dimethyl ether: implications for the decomposition of HOOOH.

Hydrogen-bonded gas-phase molecular clusters of dihydrogen trioxide (HOOOH) have been investigated using DFT (B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3pd)) and MP2/6-311++G(3df,3pd) methods. The binding energies, vibrational frequencies, and dipole moments for the various dimer, trimer, and tetramer structures, in which HOOOH acts as a proton donor as well as an acceptor, are reported. The stronger binding interaction in the HOOOH dimer, as compared to that in the analogous cyclic structure of the HOOH dimer, indicates that dihydrogen trioxide is a stronger acid than hydrogen peroxide. A new decomposition pathway for HOOOH was explored. Decomposition occurs via an eight-membered ring transition state for the intermolecular (slightly asynchronous) transfer of two protons between the HOOOH molecules, which form a cyclic dimer, to produce water and singlet oxygen (Delta (1)O 2). This autocatalytic decomposition appears to explain a relatively fast decomposition (Delta H a(298K) = 19.9 kcal/mol, B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)) of HOOOH in nonpolar (inert) solvents, which might even compete with the water-assisted decomposition of this simplest of polyoxides (Delta H a(298K) = 18.8 kcal/mol for (H 2O) 2-assisted decomposition) in more polar solvents. The formation of relatively strongly hydrogen-bonded complexes between HOOOH and organic oxygen bases, HOOOH-B (B = acetone and dimethyl ether), strongly retards the decomposition in these bases as solvents, most likely by preventing such a proton transfer.

Analysis of sample of highly water-soluble Th-symmetric fullerenehexamalonic acid C66(COOH)12 by ion-chromatography and capillary electrophoresis.

Ion chromatography (IC) was used to establish isomer purity of the highly water-soluble sample of fullerenehexamalonic acid, Th-symmetric hexakis-adduct C66(COOH)12. Sharp and symmetric peaks were obtained by IC using 1.0 M potassium hydroxide as eluent and applying gradient elution program. The identity of the two largest peaks in the chromatogram was assigned to Th-C66(COOH)12 and C66H(COOH)11. The developed IC procedure can be used for the semi-quantitative determination of the extent of the partial decarboxylation of the sample. As an alternative analytical technique, a CE procedure was introduced and its performance against IC was compared for this particular case.

The ozonation of silanes and germanes: an experimental and theoretical investigation.

Ozonation of various silanes and germanes produced the corresponding hydrotrioxides, R3SiOOOH and R3GeOOOH, which were characterized by 1H, 13C, 17O, and 29Si NMR, and by infrared spectroscopy in a two-pronged approach based on measured and calculated data. Ozone reacts with the E-H (E = Si, Ge) bond via a concerted 1,3-dipolar insertion mechanism, where, depending on the substituents and the environment (e.g., acetone-d6 solution), the H atom transfer precedes more and more E-O bond formation. The hydrotrioxides decompose in various solvents into the corresponding silanols/germanols, disiloxanes/digermoxanes, singlet oxygen (O2(1delta(g))), and dihydrogen trioxide (HOOOH), where catalytic amounts of water play an important role as is indicated by quantum chemical calculations. The formation of HOOOH as a decomposition product of organometallic hydrotrioxides in acetone-d6 represents a new and convenient method for the preparation of this simple, biochemically important polyoxide. By solvent variation, singlet oxygen (O2(1delta(g))) can be generated in high yield.

Hemiortho esters and hydrotrioxides as the primary products in the low-temperature ozonation of cyclic acetals: an experimental and theoretical investigation.

Low-temperature ozonation (-78 degrees C) of 1,3-dioxolanes 1a-1f and 1,3-dioxanes 1g and h in acetone-d6, methyl acetate, and tert-butyl methyl ether produced both the corresponding hemiortho esters (2a-h, ROH) and acetal hydrotrioxides (3a-h, ROOOH) in molar ratios ROH/ROOOH ranging from 0.5 to 23. Both types of intermediates were fully characterized by 1H, 13C, and 17O NMR spectroscopy. DFT calculations suggest that ozone abstracts a hydride ion from 1 to form an ion pair, R+ -OOOH, which subsequently collapses to either the corresponding hemiortho ester (ROH) or the acetal hydrotrioxide (ROOOH). Hemiortho esters decomposed quantitatively into the corresponding hydroxy esters. Experimentally obtained activation parameters for the decomposition of 2a (E(a) = 13.5 +/- 1.0 kcal/mol, log A = 8.3 +/- 1.0) are in accord with a highly oriented transition state involving, according to B3LYP calculations (deltaH(a)(298) = 13.2 kcal/mol), two molecules of water as a bifunctional catalyst. This mechanism is also supported by the magnitude of the solvent isotope effect for the decomposition of 2e, i.e., k(H2O)/k(D2O) = 4.6 +/- 1.2. Besides the hydroxy esters and oxygen (3O2/1O2), dihydrogen trioxide (HOOOH) was formed in the decomposition of most of the acetal hydrotrioxides (ROOOH) investigated. The activation parameters for the decomposition of the hydrotrioxides 3a-e in various solvents were E(a) = 20 +/- 2 kcal/mol, log A = 13.5 +/- 1.5. Several mechanistic possibilities for the decomposition of ROOOH were tested by experiment and theory. The formation of the hydroxy esters and oxygen could be explained by the intramolecular transfer of the proton to form the hydroxy ester. The assistance of water in the decomposition of ROOOH to form the hydroxy esters, either directly or via hemiortho esters, was also investigated. According to DFT calculations, the formation of a hydroxy ester via hemiortho ester is energetically more favorable (deltaH(a)(298) = 14.5 kcal/mol), again due to the catalytic effect of two water molecules. HOOOH generation requires the involvement of water in the decomposition of ROOOH where the direct formation out of ROOOH is energetically preferred. The energy for a reaction between two molecules of water and singlet oxygen (delta1O2) is too high to occur in solution.

endo/exo isomerism in norcarane and 2-norcaranol hydrotrioxides (ROOOH).

Ozonation of norcarane (1) yielded endo and exo norcarane hydrotrioxides (2a, 2b), as characterized by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. Further ozonation of the primary decomposition products of these hydrotrioxides, i.e., 2-norcaranols (3), produced the corresponding isomeric 2-norcaranol hydrotrioxides (4a, 4b), and hydrogen trioxide (HOOOH).

Mechanism of formation of hydrogen trioxide (HOOOH) in the ozonation of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine and 1,2-dimethylhydrazine: an experimental and theoretical investigation.

Low-temperature (-78 degrees C) ozonation of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine in various oxygen bases as solvents (acetone-d(6), methyl acetate, tert-butyl methyl ether) produced hydrogen trioxide (HOOOH), 1,2-diphenyldiazene, 1,2-diphenyldiazene-N-oxide, and hydrogen peroxide. Ozonation of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine produced besides HOOOH, 1,2-dimethyldiazene, 1,2-dimethyldiazene-N-oxide and hydrogen peroxide, also formic acid and nitromethane. Kinetic and activation parameters for the decomposition of the HOOOH produced in this way, and identified by (1)H, (2)H, and (17)O NMR spectroscopy, are in agreement with our previous proposal that water participates in this reaction as a bifunctional catalyst in a polar decomposition process to produce water and singlet oxygen (O(2), (1)delta(g)). The possibility that hydrogen peroxide is, besides water, also involved in the decomposition of hydrogen trioxide is also considered. The half-life of HOOOH at room temperature (20 degrees C) is 16 +/- 1 min in all solvents investigated. Using a variety of DFT methods (restricted, broken-symmetry unrestricted, self-interaction corrected) in connection with the B3LYP functional, a stepwise mechanism involving the hydrotrioxyl (HOOO(*)) radical is proposed for the ozonation of hydrazines (RNHNHR, R = H, Ph, Me) that involves the abstraction of the N-hydrogen atom by ozone to form a radical pair, RNNHR(*) (*)OOOH. The hydrotrioxyl radical can then either abstract the remaining N(H) hydrogen atom from the RNNHR(*) radical to form the corresponding diazene (RN=NR), or recombines with RNNHR(*) in a solvent cage to form the hydrotrioxide, RN(OOOH)NHR. The decomposition of these very labile hydrotrioxides involves the homolytic scission of the RO-OOH bond with subsequent "in cage" formation of the diazene-N-oxide and hydrogen peroxide. Although 1,2-diphenyldiazene is unreactive toward ozone under conditions investigated, 1,2-dimethyldiazene reacts with relative ease to yield 1,2-dimethyldiazene-N-oxide and singlet oxygen (O(2), (1)delta(g)). The subsequent reaction sequence between these two components to yield nitromethane as the final product is discussed. The formation of formic acid and nitromethane in the ozonolysis of 1,2-dimethylhydrazine is explained as being due to the abstraction of a methyl H atom of the CH(3)NNHCH(3)(*) radical by HOOO(*) in the solvent cage. The possible mechanism of the reaction of the initially formed formaldehyde methylhydrazone (and HOOOH) with ozone/oxygen mixtures to produce formic acid and nitromethane is also discussed.

Evidence for the HOOO(-) anion in the ozonation of 1,3-dioxolanes: hemiortho esters as the primary products.

Low-temperature ozonation (-78 degrees C) of 2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane (1a) in acetone-d6, methyl acetate, and tert-butyl methyl ether produced both the corresponding acetal hydrotrioxide (3a, ROOOH) and the hemiortho ester (2a, ROH) in molar ratio 1:5. Both intermediates were fully characterized by 1H, 13C, and 17O NMR spectroscopy, and they both decomposed to the corresponding hydroxy ester at higher temperatures. The mechanism involving the HOOO- anion formed by the abstraction of the hydride ion by ozone to form an ion pair, R+ -OOOH, with its subsequent collapse to either the corresponding hemiortho ester (ROH) or the acetal hydrotrioxide (ROOOH) was proposed. This mechanism is supported by the PISA/B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3pd) calculations.

Evidence for HOOO radicals in the formation of alkyl hydrotrioxides (ROOOH) and hydrogen trioxide (HOOOH) in the ozonation of C-H bonds in hydrocarbons.

Low-temperature ozonation of cumene (1a) in acetone, methyl acetate, and tert-butyl methyl ether at -70 degrees C produced the corresponding hydrotrioxide, C(6)H(5)C(CH(3))(2)OOOH (2a), along with hydrogen trioxide, HOOOH. Ozonation of triphenylmethane (1b), however, produced only triphenylmethyl hydrotrioxide, (C(6)H(5))(3)COOOH (2b). These observations, together with the previously reported experimental evidence, seem to support the "radical" mechanism for the first step of the ozonation of the C-H bonds in hydrocarbons, i.e., the formation of the caged radical pair (R(**)OOOH), which allows both (a) collapse of the radical pair to ROOOH and (b) the abstraction of the hydrogen atom from alkyl radical R(*) by HOOO(*) to form HOOOH. The B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) (ZPE) calculations revealed that HOOO radicals are considerably stabilized by forming intermolecularly hydrogen-bonded complexes with acetone (BE = 8.55 kcal/mol) and dimethyl ether (7.04 kcal/mol). This type of interaction appears to be crucial for the relatively fast reactions (and the formation of the polyoxides in relatively high yields) in these solvents, as compared to the ozonations run in nonbasic solvents. However, HOOO radicals appear to be not stable enough to abstract hydrogen atoms outside the solvent cage, as indicated by the absence of HOOOH among the products in the ozonolysis of triphenylmethane. The decomposition of alkyl hydrotrioxides 2a and 2b involves a homolytic cleavage of the RO-OOH bond with subsequent "in cage" reactions of the corresponding radicals, while the decomposition of HOOOH is most likely predominantly a "pericyclic" process involving one or more molecules of water acting as a bifunctional catalyst to produce water and singlet oxygen (Delta(1)O(2)).