Highly Crosslinked Polybenzoxazines from Monobenzoxazines: The Effect of Meta-Substitution in the Phenol Ring.

It is possible to control the crosslink density of polymers derived from monobenzoxazines by switching the type of substituents in the phenolic ring and their relative position with respect to the phenol group. We prepared several substituted monobenzoxazines in the para and meta positions of the phenolic ring and studied how these substituents affected the polymerization temperature of monomers and the thermal stability of the final polymers and, more extensively, how they affected the crosslink network of the final polymers. Gel content and dynamic mechanical analysis confirm that ortho- and para-orienting substituents in the meta position generate highly crosslinked materials compared to para ones. This fact can lead to the design of materials with highly crosslinked networks based on monobenzoxazines, simpler and more versatile monomers than the commercial bisbenzoxazines currently in use.

Controlled living anionic polymerization of cyanoacrylates by frustrated Lewis pair based initiators.

A hydrogenated frustrated Lewis pair ([TMPH+][HB(C6F5)3 -]) promotes controlled living ionic polymerization of cyanoacrylates. Controlled growth of various homopolymeric CAs through sequential monomer addition has been achieved, in addition to CA block copolymers with controlled block sequences for the first time in the long history of these materials.

Photochemical activation of extremely weak nucleophiles: highly fluorinated urethanes and polyurethanes from polyfluoro alcohols.

An efficient and environmentally friendly photoreaction between phenyl isocyanate or pentafluorophenyl isocyanate and polyfluorinated alcohols and diols is described for the first time. New highly fluorinated urethanes and diurethanes, derived from aromatic isocyanates, are produced in good yields in a photoreaction that is apparently governed by the acidic properties of the polyfluoro alcohols and diols. The wettability properties of the new polyfluorinated diurethanes have been tested, some of them showing significantly high values of hydrophobicity and oleophobicity. This new photoreaction has also been tested in the production of a model polyfluorinated polyurethane, establishing the influence of the irradiation power in the outcome of the process, and directly achieving a molecular weight distribution corresponding to a number-average DP(n) = 12 and a highest DP(n) = 20 after 4 h of irradiation (DP(n): "number-average degree of polymerization").

A photocatalytic acid- and base-free Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley-type reduction using a [Ru(bpy)3]2+/viologen couple.

A photocatalytic system to effect the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction of carbonylic compounds to alcohols has been developed. The system comprises [Ru(bpy)3]2+ as a photosensitizer, triethanolamine as a sacrificial electron donor, viologen as an electron acceptor, and the carbonyl compound and iPrOH as Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reagents. The photocatalytic reaction can be performed in neat iPrOH or in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ionic liquid. Mass spectrometric detection of the viologen hydride derivative VH+ confirms that this species is the reducing agent responsible for the carbonyl compound reduction. The reaction intermediates involved in the photocatalytic system have also been characterized by laser flash photolysis.

Anionic organic guests incorporated in zeolites: adsorption and reactivity of a Meisenheimer complex in faujasites.

Zeolites are suitable microporous hosts for positively charged organic species, but it is believed that they cannot adsorb organic anions. Pure Meisenheimer complex, derived from reduction of 2,4-dinitroaniline with NaBH4, was adsorbed inside faujasite cavities. Evidence for the internal incorporation of this negatively charged reaction intermediate comes from 1) XPS elemental analysis as a function of the depth of penetration into the particle, 2) the remarkable blue shift in lambda(max) of the Meisenheimer complex adsorbed on zeolite (ca. 470 nm) as compared to that in acetonitrile (580 nm) and 3) from the lack of reactivity with size-excluded hydride-acceptor reagents. Evidence is provided in support of an adsorption mechanism in which a neutral ion pair (alkali metal ion + Meisenheimer anion) is the actual species being adsorbed. In fact it appears that there is remarkable increase in the association constant for the ion-pair complex within the zeolite cavities as compared to DMF solution. Although this mechanism of adsorption as an ion-pair complex has precedents in the adsorption of some inorganic salts, what is novel is the notable increase in the stability and persistence of the Meisenheimer anion (a anionic reaction intermediate) as a result of zeolite inclusion. Adsorbed Meisenheimer complex exhibits much lower reactivity towards electron acceptors, oxygen, and water. Cyclic voltammetry of zeolite-modified electrodes reveals for the Meisenheimer complex adsorbed on LiY a reversible redox peak that is not observed in solution and has been interpreted as arising from site isolation and stabilisation of the electrochemically generated species.

A fast radical chain mechanism in the polyfluoroalkoxylation of aromatics through NO2 group displacement. Mechanistic and theoretical studies.

Introduction of polyfluoroalkoxy and polyfluoroalkylthio substituents in aromatic rings can be achieved with mild conditions and short times thorough reaction of concentrated solutions of dinitrobenzenes in DMF with polyfluoro alcohols and polyfluoro thiols in moderate excess, in the presence of excess tetrabutylammonium fluoride as a base. Mechanistic studies suggest that under these conditions a fast radical chain mechanism operates. This mechanism is elicited by oxidation of a Meisenheimer complex and proceeds through a radical aromatic substitution with the polyfluoroalkoxy or the polyfluoroalkylthio radicals as key intermediates. At low concentrations, entrainment can be achieved with superoxide anion. A rationale for this effect is discussed. Answers to particular questions about the proposed mechanism are achieved through a theoretical study at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level. Specifically, the competition between the radical mechanism and the corresponding polar one (classical S(N)Ar reaction) is studied in that way, with the conclusion that the key steps of the radical mechanism in our reaction conditions (polar aprotic solvent) are at least as efficient as the ones of the polar one, thus justifying the observed kinetic advantage for the chain reaction in the conditions where an efficient initiation occurs.

A theoretical study of the competitive homolytic/heterolytic aniomesolytic cleavages of C-O alkyl ether bonds.

Density functional theory electronic structure calculations of the homolytic/heterolytic aniomesolytic C-O fragmentations in the gas phase of a series of radical anions of substituted-phenyl benzyl ethers and substituted-benzyl phenyl ethers have been carried out. Along the series, the electron-withdrawing strength of the substituents increases. An intramolecular electron transfer from the pi system to the sigma molecular orbital of the scissile C-O bond is required to produce the fragmentation. As the electron-withdrawing strength of the substituents increases, the transition-state structures appear later with higher potential energy and Gibbs free energy barriers. The homolytic mesolytic cleavages are always thermodynamically favored versus the corresponding heterolytic mesolytic ones. The heterolytic mesolytic fragmentations in radical anions containing only weak electron-withdrawing groups are faster than the corresponding homolytic mesolytic ones. Conversely, in radical anions supporting strong electron-withdrawing groups the homolytic mesolytic fragmentations are faster in terms of potential energy barriers. However, the entropic contribution makes it comparable the homolytic and the heterolytic Gibbs free energy barriers in this case. The main factors that determine the relative rates of those kind of aniomesolytic cleavages are discussed.

Alkylation of nitroaromatics with tetraalkylborate ion via electrochemical oxidation.

Aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction (S(N)Ar) is one of the most thoroughly studied reactions. Alkylation of nitroaromatics with Grignard reagents via chemical oxidation of the sigma(H)-complexes is the most general method to introduce an alkyl group into a nitroaromatic compound. This approach has considerable drawbacks, especially when more than one nitro group are present in the aromatic ring. In this article, we present an electrochemical approach, which offers a new very selective methodology for obtaining alkyl polynitroaromatic compounds. Different strategies based on the use of tetralkylborate anion as nucleophiles are used so as to increase efficiency and to reduce the drawbacks associated with this reaction. A wide list of dinitro- and trinitro-aromatic compounds are studied, the range of yields obtained being from fair (40%) to excellent (85%). The key to improvement in the process is the use of electrochemical techniques for the oxidation of the mixture sigma(H)-complexes/tetrabutylborate ion. The electroactive character of the nucleophile, which can be oxidized to an alkyl radical, means that the S(N)Ar of the hydrogen polar mechanism is not the only mechanism operating during the electroxidation process, since the hydrogen radical S(N)Ar mechanism is running at the same time. Electrochemical mechanistic studies allow the participation of each mechanism in the global product yield obtained to be quantified.

Electrochemical synthesis of alkyl nitroaromatic compounds.

Alkyl nitroaromatic compounds were readily prepared via nucleophilic aromatic substitution for hydrogen or a heteroatom by electrochemical oxidation of the sigma-complex. Butyllithium and butylmagnesium chloride were used as nucleophiles, and several nitrocompounds were tested to explore the possibilities of the NASH and NASX reactions promoted electrochemically.

Thermodynamics, kinetics, and dynamics of the two alternative aniomesolytic fragmentations of C-O bonds: an electrochemical and theoretical study.

Fragmentation reactions of radical anions (mesolytic cleavages) of cyanobenzyl alkyl ethers (intramolecular dissociative electron transfer, heterolytic cleavages) have been studied electrochemically. The intrinsic barriers for the processes have been established from the experimental thermodynamic and kinetic parameters. These values are more than 3 kcal/mol lower as an average than the related homolytic mesolytic fragmentations of radical anions of 4-cyanophenyl ethers. In the particular case of isomers 4-cyanobenzyl phenyl ether and 4-cyanophenyl benzyl ether, the difference in intrinsic barriers amounts to 5.5 kcal/mol, and this produces an energetic crossing where the thermodynamically more favorable process (homolytic) is the kinetically slower one. The fundamental reasons for this behavior have been established by means of theoretical calculations within the density functional theory framework, showing that, in this case, the factors that determine the kinetics are clearly different (mainly present in the transition state) from those that determine the thermodynamics and they are not related to the regioconservation of the spin density ("spin regioconservation principle"). Our theoretical results reproduce quite well the experimental energetic difference of barriers and demonstrate the main structural origin of the difference.

Nucleophilic aromatic substitution for heteroatoms: an oxidative electrochemical approach.

The nucleophilic aromatic substitution for heteroatom through electrochemical oxidation of the intermediate sigma-complexes (Meisenheimer complexes) in simple nitroaromatic compounds is reported for the first time (NASX process). The studies have been carried out with hydride, cyanide, fluoride, methoxy, and ethanethiolate anions and n-butylamine as a nucleophile, at the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and preparative electrolysis level. The cyclic voltammetry experiments allow for detection and characterization of the sigma-complexes and they have led us to a proposal for the mechanism of the oxidation step. Furthermore, the power of the CV technique in the analysis of the reaction mixture throughout the whole chemical and electrochemical process is described.

Cathodically activated nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydrogen: a novel electrochemical mechanism.

Cathodically activated nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydrogen (SNArH) is reported for the first time; the 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene radical anion reacts with the nucleophile N-methylformamide leading to high yields of the sigma H-complex radical anion; this intermediate can be easily oxidised electrochemically by means of a three-electron mechanism giving rise to the nucleophilic aromatic substitution product (NASH product) in good yield.