Carbene Routes to Cyclopropatetrahedrane.

The formation of cyclopropatetrahedrane (tetracyclo[2.1.0.

Tricyclo[2.1.0.0]pent-3-ylidene: Stereoelectronic Control of Bridge-Flapping within a Nonclassical Nucleophilic Carbene.

Tricyclo[2.1.0.

Bent Singlet Cyclobutylcarbene: Computed Geometry, Properties, and Product Selectivity of a Nonclassical Carbene.

Ab initio computations of cyclobutylcarbene (-CHCH) were performed using the UMP4(fc)/6-311++G(2df,2p)//UMP2(full)/6-311++G(d,p) theoretical model. The carbene's most striking feature is its :CH-group. It is markedly toward the elongated C1'-C2' bond in the singlet ground-state but not in the triplet state, which is at least 1.

Competitive 1,2-C Atom Shifts in the Strained Carbene Spiro[3.3]hept-1-ylidene Explained by Distinct Ring-Puckered Conformers.

Spiro[3.3]hept-1-ylidene is a markedly strained carbene reaction intermediate that was generated by high-vacuum flash pyrolysis (HVFP) of the corresponding p-tosylhydrazone sodium salt. Five hydrocarbons were produced from the Bamford-Stevens reactant in 82% overall yield.

Intermolecular Reactions of a Foiled Carbene with Carbonyl Compounds: The Effects of Trishomocyclopropyl Stabilization.

endo-Tricyclo[3.2.1.

Bromination and accompanying rearrangement of the polycyclic oxetane 2,4-oxytwistane.

Bromination of the polycyclic oxetane 2,4-oxytwistane (rac-(1R,3S,4R,7S,9R,11S)-2-oxatetracyclo[5.3.1.

Probing the nature and extent of stabilization within foiled carbenes: homoallylic participation by a neighboring cyclopropane ring.

Oxadiazoline 6 was synthesized to generate endo-tricyclo[3.2.1.

Mild one-step synthesis of dibromo compounds from cyclic ethers.

A novel one-step method for mildly converting cyclic ethers into dibromo compounds is reported. Alcohols, oximes, aldehydes, and ketones are known to react under Appel or Corey-Fuchs reaction conditions, but apparently these have never been applied to oxetanes or larger cyclic ethers. Treatment of 3,3-dimethyloxetane (1) with tetrabromomethane and triphenylphosphine gave the corresponding dibromo compound 1,3-dibromo-2,2-dimethylpropane (2).

Cucurbituril adamantanediazirine complexes and consequential carbene chemistry.

Adamantanediazirines, precursors of adamantanylidenes, form 1:1 complexes (guest to host) with cucurbit[7]uril and cucurbit[8]uril and a 3:1 complex with a Pd nanocage in water. (1)H NMR spectra suggested that these complexes are stable in water on the NMR time scale. While photolysis of adamantanediazirines in water gave mainly adamantanone and adamantanol via adamantanylidene as intermediate, the 1:1 complexes of adamantanediazirine with cucurbiturils gave intramolecular C-H insertion products of adamantanylidene in >90% yield.

Conformations and reactions of bicyclo[3.2.1]oct-6-en-8-ylidene.

Bicyclo[3.2.1]oct-6-en-8-ylidene (1) can assume either the conformation of "classical" carbene 1a or that of foiled carbene 1b in which the divalent carbon bends toward the double bond.

Intra- and intermolecular reaction selectivities of γ-substituted adamantanylidenes.

A study of adamantanylidenes having a γ-substituent (R) was undertaken to gauge how inductive and steric effects of remotely positioned functional groups influence intra- and intermolecular product selectivity. 3H-Diazirines were thermolyzed or photolyzed to generate the corresponding carbenes. On rapid heating, the resulting carbenes isomerized to 2,4-didehydroadamantanes by intramolecular 1,3-CH insertions.

Photochemical generation and reactivity of carbenes within an organic cavitand and capsule: photochemistry of adamantanediazirines.

Chemical behavior of carbenes (adamantylidenes) generated by photolysis of adamantanediazirines has been investigated while they were incarcerated within an organic container in water and on silica surfaces. Confined carbenes behave differently from the free ones, and their behavior is dictated by the nature and the structure of the host-guest complexes. The substituent present on the adamantyl skeleton controls the stoichiometry (1:1 or 2:2) and the orientation of guest molecules within the host.

Quest for even higher stabilized foiled carbenes.

Foiled carbene structures comprising strong stabilizing interactions between the divalent carbon and the intramolecular double bond have been located by DFT calculations. These tetracyclic species bearing fused five-membered rings impeding intramolecular rearrangements are theoretically predicted to lie in a deep potential energy well. A suitable dibromocyclopropane precursor for this type of foiled carbene has been prepared in 12 steps.

Efforts toward distorted spiropentanes.

Tetravinylbenzene 4 was prepared in nearly quantitative yield from commercially available tetrabromobenzene; the improved, one-step procedure now employs Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling conditions. Intermolecular cyclopropanation of 4 with dibromocarbene gave a series of gem-dibromide adducts. Intramolecular cyclopropanation of monoadduct 5, putatively by its methyllithium-generated cyclopropylidene(oid), produced compound 11, which features a highly distorted spiropentane having a C-C-C bond angle of 163.

2H-Azirines from a concerted addition of alkylcarbenes to nitrile groups.

Photolysis of aziadamantanes in the presence of fumaronitrile (FN) unexpectedly afforded conjugated 2H-azirines resulting from addition of the carbene to the CN triple bond. This represents the first example of a direct azirine formation starting from an alkylcarbene for which a concerted pathway is postulated. The novel outcome of the reaction is favored by the prior formation of a carbene-alkene complex, a type of adduct that only recently has been described.

Structure-reactivity relationships: reactions of a 5-substituted aziadamantane in a resorcin[4]arene-based cavitand.

The complexation properties of two novel C5-substituted adamantanediazirines within the resorcin[4]arene-based cavitand 4 were investigated in DMSO-d(6), revealing that binding is up to 1.4 kcal/mol stronger for halogenated adamantanediazirines when compared with the unsubstituted species. The thermal behavior of 5-bromo-2-aziadamantane (3) was investigated by DSC analysis as the first representative of the adamantanediazirine family in the neat solid state, as well as encapsulated within the aromatic cavity of cavitand 4.

Controllable selective functionalization of a cavitand via solid state photolysis of an encapsulated phenyl azide.

Phenyl azide (1) has been encapsulated within cavitand 2 to form a 1:1 complex of 1@2 in the solid state. Subsequent irradiation affords two diastereomeric nitrene addition products 5 and 7. The ratio of 5 and 7 can be reversed by thermally induced valence isomerization to 1H-azepine 8 followed by photolysis.

1,2,4,5-Tetrakis(diazidomethyl)benzene.

The molecule of the title compound, C(10)H(6)N(24), lies on a crystallographic inversion centre located in the middle of the benzene ring. Steric overcrowding by the bulky N(3) groups is avoided by the tendency of four azide entities to be arranged parallel to the benzene ring and the other four azide groups to be arranged alternately above and below the benzene plane in a skeletal C(i) symmetry. The compound is of interest for high-energy research and as a precursor for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes, nanospheres or high-nitrogen carbon nitrides with great potential for biological and technological applications.

Carbene-alkene complexes between a nucleophilic carbene and electron-poor alkenes.

Spirooxadiazoline 5 is a clean thermal source of tricyclo[6.2.1.

Substituent effects on the ring-opening mechanism of lithium bromocyclopropylidenoids to allenes.

The ring-opening reactions of lithium bromocyclopropylidenoids to allenes have been investigated computationally at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. Formally, two pathways can be considered: the reaction may either proceed in a concerted fashion or stepwise with the intermediacy of a free cyclopropylidene. In both cases, the loss of the bromide ion determines the kinetic of the reaction.

Intermolecular reactions of foiled carbenes with N-H bonds: evidence for an ylidic pathway.

The chemistry of endo-tricyclo[6.2.1.

The carbene reactivity surface: a classification.

A new two-dimensional classification of singlet carbenes based on the difference in reactivity of their insertion reactions into the C-H bonds of acetonitrile and isobutane is presented. This classification combines the stability and the philicity of divalent species. Until now all of the experimentally based philicity scales are based on the addition to alkenes.

Molecular dynamics simulations of beta-cyclodextrin-aziadamantane complexes in water.

Force-field-based atomistic simulations of host-guest supramolecular complexes between beta-cyclodextrin and several aziadamantane derivatives have been analyzed with respect to relative orientation and interaction energies, explicitly considering solvent (water) molecules. For each case, the calculations revealed two stable orientations of the guest within the host that are different in interaction energy. Fluctuation of and correlation between characteristic properties were analyzed.

Toward selective reactions with C-H bonds: a rationale for the regio- and stereochemistry of dichlorocarbene insertions into cyclic hydrocarbons.

DFT calculations have been performed to study the course of dichlorocarbene insertion reactions into alkanes and to better understand the regio- and stereoselectivities observed. At the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory, the selectivity of dichlorocarbene insertions into a number of hydrocarbons agrees well with the obtained experimental results. The reactivity of a specific C-H bond is determined by the capacity of the remaining alkyl fragment to effectively delocalize the partial positive charge buildup during the reaction.

Dihalocarbene insertion reactions into C-H bonds of compounds containing small rings: mechanisms and regio- and stereoselectivities.

Novel insertion reactions of dichloro- and dibromocarbene into carbon-hydrogen bonds adjacent to cyclopropane rings are reported. It is found that the predominant isomers formed in the reactions with bicyclo[4.1.