Mechanistic and exploratory investigations into the synthesis of 1,3,5-triaroylbenzenes from 1-aryl-2-propyn-1-ones and 1,3,5-triacetylbenzene from 4-methoxy-3-buten-2-one by cyclotrimerization in hot water in the absence of added acid or base.

Neat 1-phenyl- and 1-(p-tolyl)-2-propyn-1-ones (1 and 1', respectively) were heated in water without any additive at 150 °C for 2 h to give 1,3,5-tribenzoyl- and 1,3,5-tri-(p-toluoyl)benzenes (2 and 2', respectively) in 74 and 52% yields, respectively. The crossed reactions of 1 with the enolate of p-toluoylacetaldehyde (3') and 1' with the enolate of benzoylacetaldehyde (3) were carried out to give unsymmetrically substituted 1-toluoyl-3,5-dibenzoylbenzene (Ph2Tol) and 1,3-ditoluoyl-5-benzoylbenzene (PhTol2), respectively, corroborating the previously proposed reaction mechanism in which 3 and 3' that are formed by rate-determining nucleophilic attack of HO(-) on 1 and 1' or its conjugate acids formed by subsequent protonation would serve as a common intermediate for the formation of 2, 2' and the acetophenone derivatives as byproducts. When 4-methoxy-3-buten-2-one (4) was heated in hot pure water without any additive at 150 °C for 30 min, 1,3,5-triacetylbenzene (5) was obtained in an isolated yield of 77% just by removing water by filtering the crystalline product from the cooled reaction mixture. The reaction did not take place in the absence of water. Slow decompositions of 5 in water set in at the temperature of 300 °C for 30 min.

One-pot synthesis of 1,3,5-tribenzoylbenzenes by three consecutive Michael addition reactions of 1-phenyl-2-propyn-1-ones in pressurized hot water in the absence of added catalysts.

Cyclotrimerization of 1-phenyl-2-propyn-1-one in pressurized hot water gave 1,3,5-tribenzoylbenzene in one pot in 65 % yield after 7 min at 200 °C, or in 74 % yield after 60 min at 150 °C. The reaction did not take place in the absence of water, and added base promoted the reaction at 250 °C, suggesting a mechanism of three-consecutive Michael addition reactions. The reaction rates increased with temperature, but the yield of 1,3,5-tribenzoylbenzene decreased at the expense of formation of acetophenone as a side product at higher temperatures. p-Methyl and p-chloro-substituents on the phenyl ring retarded and enhanced the reaction, respectively. A mechanism involving the enol of benzoylacetaldehyde at a branching point of the pathway leading to 1,3,5-tribenzoylbenzene and acetophenone was suggested.

Theoretical studies of magnetic interactions in Mn(II)(hfac)(2)[di(4-pyridyl)phenylcarbene] and Cu(II)(hfac)(2)[di(4-pyridyl)phenylcarbene].

Bis(hexafluoroacetylacetonato(hfac))manganese(II) coordinated with di(4-pyridyl)phenylcarbene, Mn(II)(hfac)(2)[di(4-pyridyl)phenylcarbene] (1a) and its copper analogue Cu(II)(hfac)(2)[di(4-pyridyl)phenylcarbene] (2a) have attracted great interest from the viewpoint of photoinduced magnetism. The complexes 1a and 2a are regarded as the new d-pi-p conjugated systems containing transition metal ion and carbene as spin sources. The magnetic measurements demonstrated antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic effective exchange interactions for 1a and 2a, respectively. Here, we have performed UHF and UHF plus DFT hybrid calculations (UB3LYP) to elucidate the nature of the through-bond effective exchange interaction between Mn(II) (or Cu(II)) ion and triplet carbene sites in 1a (or 2a) and their model complexes. The natural orbital analysis of the UHF and UB3LYP solutions and CASCI calculations for the simplest models of 1a and 2a are performed to elucidate relative contributions of spin polarization (SP) and spin delocalization (SD) (or superexchange (SE)) interactions for determination of the sign of J(ab) values. Mn(II) carbene complex 1a shows an antiferromagnetic interaction because of the pi-type antiferromagnetic SE effect and the pi-type SP effect, while the positive J(ab) value for Cu(II) carbene complex 2a can be explained by the fact that ferromagnetic SE and SP interactions due to orbital orthogonality are more effective than the sigma-type antiferromagnetic SE interaction. The ligand coordination effects of both 4-pyridylcarbene and hfac play crucial roles for determination of the J(ab) values, but the ligand coordination effect of hfac is more important for the active control of charge or spin density distributions than that of 4-pyridylcarbene. The spin alignment mechanisms of 1a and 2a are indeed consistent with SE plus SP rule, which is confirmed with the shape and symmetry of natural orbitals, together with charge and spin density distributions.

A Triphenylamine Derivative with Three p-(N-tert-Butyl-N-oxylamino)phenyl Radical Units and Yet a Doublet Ground State.

A superexchange interaction through the lone pair of electrons on the central nitrogen atom in 1 is invoked to explain the existence of a doublet ground state; two spins on the aminoxyl radical centers couple antiferromagnetically, and one spin remains intact. This proposal is supported by EPR spectroscopic and magnetic measurements.

Regiospecificity in the Exchange Coupling of the Spins of Copper(II) Ion Coordinated with the Ring Nitrogen Atoms and N-tert-Butylaminoxyl Radical Attached as a Substituent on the Pyridine and N-Phenylimidazole Rings.

Complexes of bis(hexafluoroacetylacetonato)copper(II) [Cu(hfac)(2)] ligated with 3- and 4-(N-oxyl-tert-butylamino)pyridines (3NOPy and 4NOPy) and N-{3- and 4-(N-oxyl-tert-butylamino)phenyl}imidazoles (3NOIm and 4NOIm) were prepared. The 1:2 complexes [Cu(hfac)(2)(3NOPy and 4NOPy)(2)] have hexacoordinated octahedral structures in which the two pyridyl nitrogen atoms are coordinated to the copper(II) ions in the trans configuration. The 1:1 complex [Cu(hfac)(2)(4NOPy)] has a distorted pentacoordinated pseudo-head-to-tail cyclic dimer structure in which the oxygen atom of the aminoxyl group of one complex is situated at a distance of 2.79 Å from the copper ion of the other complex. The magnetic properties of these and two other complexes, [Cu(hfac)(2)(3NOIm and 4NOIm)(2)], were investigated using a SQUID susceptometer. Temperature dependence studies of the chi(mol)Tvalues of [Cu(hfac)(2)(4NOPy)(2)] revealed that the two aminoxyl radicals interact ferromagnetically with the copper(II) ion (S = (1)/(2)) with an exchange parameter J/k(B) = 60.4 +/- 3.3 K to produce a quartet ground state (S = (3)/(2)). On the other hand, the chi(mol)T value of the isomeric [Cu(hfac)(2)(3NOPy)(2)] was nearly constant at 0.5 emu K mol(-)(1) in the temperature range 5-300 K. A rectangular four-spin model was fitted to the chi(mol)T vs T plot for complex [Cu(hfac)(2)(4NOPy)] to give J/k(B) = 58.6 and 58.5 K. Similarly, the J values for [Cu(hfac)(2)(3NOIm and 4NOIm)(2)] were negative and positive, respectively, but their absolute J values were too small to determine in both cases.

A Spin-Frustrated System Composed of Organic Radicals and Magnetic Metal Ions.

Despite antiferromagnetic coupling between any two neighboring spins, parallel alignment of the 3d spins of the MnII ions and the 2p spins of the organic ligand is observed for the (degenerate) ground state of [{Mn(hfac)2 }2 (bnn)] (shown on the right). The "butterfly"-shaped arrangement of the spins contributes to this noteworthy spin configuration. hfac=hexafluoroacetylacetonate, bnn=2,2'-bis(1-oxyl-3-oxide-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazolinyl).

Stabilization of p-Phenylenebis(N-tert-butylaminoxyl) Relative to p-Benzoquinonediimine N,N'-Dioxide.

Steric interactions between methoxy and tert-butyl groups are the reason that 2 only exists as p-phenylenebis(N-tert-butylaminoxyl) B. The p-phenylenebis(N-tert-butylaminoxyl) 1 has the p-quinonediimine N,N'-dioxide structure Q in solution as well as in the crystalline state.