F. De Proft

Influence of solvation and dynamics on the mechanism and kinetics of nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions in liquid ammonia

S.L. Moors, B. Brigou, D. Hertsen, P. Balazs, P. Geerlings, V. Van Speybroeck, S. Catak, F. De Proft
Journal of Organic Chemistry
81 (4), 1635-1644
2016
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Abstract 

The role of the solvent and the influence of dynamics on the kinetics and mechanism of the SNAr reaction of several halonitrobenzenes in liquid ammonia, using both static calculations and dynamic ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, are investigated. A combination of metadynamics and committor analysis methods reveals how this reaction can change from a concerted, one-step mechanism in gas phase to a stepwise pathway, involving a metastable Meisenheimer complex, in liquid ammonia. This clearly establishes, among others, the important role of the solvent and highlights the fact that accurately treating solvation is of crucial importance to correctly unravel the reaction mechanism. It is indeed shown that H-bond formation of the reacting NH3 with the solvent drastically reduces the barrier of NH3 addition. The halide elimination step, however, is greatly facilitated by proton transfer from the reacting NH3 to the solvent. Furthermore, the free energy surface strongly depends on the halide substituent and the number of electron-withdrawing nitro substituents.

On the convergence of atomic charges with the size of the enzymatic environment

D.E.P. Vanpoucke, J. Olah, F. De Proft, V. Van Speybroeck, G. Roos
Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling (JCIM)
Volume 55 Issue 3 page 564–571
2015
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Abstract 

Atomic charges are a key concept to give more insight into the electronic structure and chemical reactivity. The Hirshfeld-I partitioning scheme applied to the model protein human 2-cysteine peroxiredoxin thioredoxin peroxidase B is used to investigate how large a protein fragment needs to be in order to achieve convergence of the atomic charge of both, neutral and negatively charged residues. Convergence in atomic charges is rapidly reached for neutral residues, but not for negatively charged ones. This study pinpoints difficulties on the road towards accurate modeling of negatively charged residues of large biomolecular systems in a multiscale approach.

Cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-propyl-2-oxazolines: Understanding structural effects on polymerization behavior based on molecular modeling

H. Goossens, S. Catak, M. Glassner, V. De La Rosa, B. Monnery, F. De Proft, V. Van Speybroeck, R. Hoogenboom
ACS Macro Letters
2, 651-654
2013
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Abstract 

The surprising difference in the cationic ring-opening polymerization rate of 2-cyclopropyl-2-oxazoline versus 2-n-propyl-2-oxazoline and 2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline was investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The polymerization kinetics of all three oxazolines were experimentally measured in acetonitrile at 140 °C, and the polymerization rate constant (kp) was found to decrease in the order c-PropOx > n-PropOx > i-PropOx. Theoretical free energy calculations confirmed the trend for kp, and a set of DFT-based reactivity descriptors, electrostatics, and frontier molecular orbitals were studied to detect the factors controlling this peculiar behavior. Our results show that the observed reactivity is dictated by electrostatic effects. More in particular, the charge on the nitrogen atom of the monomer, used to measure its nucleophilicity, was the most negative for c-PropOx. Furthermore, the electrophilicity of the cations does not change substantially, and thus, the nucleophilicity of the monomers is the driving factor for kp.

Trans Effect and Trans Influence: Repulsion, rather than Competition for Donation

B. Pinter, V. Van Speybroeck, M. Waroquier, P. Geerlings, F. De Proft
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP)
15 (40), 17354-17365
2013
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Abstract 

The trans effect and trans influence were investigated and rationalized in the aminolysis, a typical nucleophilic substitution reaction, of trans-TPtCl2NH3 complexes (T = NH3, PH3, CO and C2H4) using energy decomposition analysis, both along the reaction paths and on the stationary points, and Natural Orbital for Chemical Valence analysis. In order to scrutinize the underlying principles and the origin of the kinetic trans effect, plausible structural constraints were introduced in the decomposition analysis, which allowed eliminating the distance dependence of the interaction energy components. It was established that the trans effect can be rationalized with the interaction of the TPtCl2 and NH3 fragments in the reactant state and TPtCl2 and (NH3)2 fragments in the transition state. It was evinced quantitatively that the σ-donor ability of T indeed controls the stability of the reactant, whereas in the case of π-acids, backdonation stabilizes the transition state, for which conceptually two mechanisms are available: intrinsic and induced π-backdonation. In the destabilization of the reactant and also in the labilization of the leaving group (trans influence) repulsion plays a more important role than orbital sharing effects, which are the cornerstones of the widely accepted interpretations of the trans influence, such as competition for donation or limitation of the donation of the leaving group by the trans ligand T. This repulsive interaction was rationalized both in terms of donated electron density and also in the molecular orbital framework. NOCV orbitals indeed clearly show that the σ-trans effect can be envisioned as a donation from the trans ligand not only to the metal but also to the σ* orbital of the metal-leaving group bond, which manifests as a repulsion between the metal and the leaving group.

Reversibility from DFT-Based Reactivity Indices: Intramolecular Side Reactions in the Polymerization of Poly(vinyl chloride)

F. De Vleeschouwer, A. Toro-Labbe, S. Gutierrez-Oliva, V. Van Speybroeck, M. Waroquier, P. Geerlings, F. De Proft
Journal of Physical Chemistry A
113 (27), 7899-7908
2009
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Abstract 

A detailed investigation of the kinetic irreversibility−reversibility concept is presented on the basis of the analysis of four side reactions occurring in the polymerization of poly(vinyl chloride), the intramolecular 1,5- and 1,6-backbiting and 1,2- and 2,3-Cl shift side reactions. Density functional theory-based reactivity indices combined with an analysis of the reaction force are invoked to probe this concept. The reaction force analysis is used to partition the activation and reaction energy and characterize the behavior of reactivity indices along the three reaction regions that are defined within this approach. It has been observed that in the reactant and product regions mainly geometric rearrangements take place, whereas in the transition state region changes in the electronic bonding pattern occur; here most changes of the electronic properties are observed. The kinetic irreversibility−reversibility of the reactions is confirmed and linked to the differences in the Fukui function and dual descriptor of the radical centers associated with the initial and final species.

An Intrinsic Radical Stability Scale from the Perspective of Bond Dissociation Enthalpies: A Companion to Radical Electrophilicities

F. De Vleeschouwer, V. Van Speybroeck, M. Waroquier, P. Geerlings, F. De Proft
Journal of Organic Chemistry
73 (22) 9109-9120
2008
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Abstract 

Bond dissociation enthalpies (BDEs) of a large series of molecules of the type A−B, where a series of radicals A ranging from strongly electrophilic to strongly nucleophilic are coupled with a series of 8 radicals (CH2OH, CH3, NF2, H, OCH3, OH, SH, and F) also ranging from electrophilic to nucleophilic, are computed and analyzed using chemical concepts emerging from density functional theory, more specifically the electrophilicities of the individual radical fragments A and B. It is shown that, when introducing the concept of relative radical electrophilicity, an (approximately) intrinsic radical stability scale can be developed, which is in good agreement with previously proposed stability scales. For 47 radicals, the intrinsic stability was estimated from computed BDEs of their combinations with the strongly nucleophilic hydroxymethyl radical, the neutral hydrogen atom, and the strongly electrophilic fluorine atom. Finally, the introduction of an extra term containing enhanced Pauling electronegativities in the model improves the agreement between the computed BDEs and the ones estimated from the model, resulting in a mean absolute deviation of 16.4 kJ mol−1. This final model was also tested against 82 experimental values. In this case, a mean absolute deviation of 15.3 kJ mol−1 was found. The obtained sequences for the radical stabilities are rationalized using computed spin densities for the radical systems.

Electrophilicity and nucleophilicity index for radicals

F. De Vleeschouwer, V. Van Speybroeck, M. Waroquier, P. Geerlings, F. De Proft
Organic Letters
9 (14), 2721-2724
2007
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Abstract 

Radicals can be regarded as electrophilic/nucleophilic, depending on their tendency to attack sites of relatively higher/lower electron density. In this paper, an electrophilicity scale, global as well as local, and a nucleophilicity scale for 35 radicals is reported. The global electrophilicity scale correlates well with the nucleophilicity scale, suggesting that these concepts are inversely related.

Spin-Polarized Conceptual Density Functional Theory Study of the Regioselectivity in Ring Closures of Radicals

B. Pinter, F. De Proft, V. Van Speybroeck, K. Hemelsoet, M. Waroquier, E. Chamorro, T. Veszpremi, P. Geerlings
Journal of Organic Chemistry
72 (2), 348-356
2007
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Abstract 

The regioselectivity of ring-forming radical reactions is investigated within the framework of the so-called spin-polarized conceptual density functional theory. Two different types of cyclizations were studied. First, a series of model reactions of alkyl- and acyl-substituted radicals were investigated. Next, attention was focused on the radical cascade cyclizations of N-alkenyl-2-aziridinylmethyl radicals (a three-step mechanism). In both of these reactions, the approaching radical (carbon or nitrogen centered) adds to a carbon−carbon double bond within the same molecule to form a radical ring compound. In this process, the number of electrons is changing from a local point of view (a charge transfer occurs from one part of the molecule to another one) at constant global spin number Ns (both the reactant and the product ring compound are in the doublet state). It is shown that the experimentally observed regioselectivities for these ring-closure steps can be predicted using the spin-polarized Fukui functions for radical attack, (r).

Density functional theory as a tool for the structure determination of radiation-induced bioradicals

F. De Proft, E. Pauwels, P. Lahorte, V. Van Speybroeck, M. Waroquier, P. Geerlings
Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry
42 (Sp. Iss. S1), S3-S19
2004
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Abstract 

The use of density functional methods for the elucidation of the structure of radiation-induced bio-radicals by comparison of computed and experimental EPR properties is discussed. Three case studies, radiation induced radicals of the amino acid alanine, steroid hormones and β-d-fructose, with increasing degree of uncertainty about the proposed radical structures, are investigated. Next to the analysis of the isotropic and anisotropic components of the hyperfine tensor, also the direction cosines of the principal axes of this tensor were investigated in greater detail in the case of the β-d-fructose radicals. Since all radicals considered in this contribution are formed in a solid matrix, also the question as to how to incorporate the effect of the molecular environment is addressed. It is concluded that the methodology outlined represents a powerful tool to aid experimentalists in the assignment of the contributions of various radicals contributing to the observed EPR spectra. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Open Access version available at UGent repository

Reactivity Indices for Radical Reactions Involving Polyaromatics

K. Hemelsoet, V. Van Speybroeck, G.B. Marin, F. De Proft, P. Geerlings, M. Waroquier
Journal of Physical Chemistry A
108 (35) , 7281-7290
2004
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Abstract 

The reactivity of polyaromatics involved in various radical reactions is studied. The reactions under study are hydrogen abstractions by a methyl radical and additions to double bonds both intra- and intermolecular. The chemical reactivity of the involved molecules is described through different properties, which are calculated within the density functional theory (DFT) framework. The softness reactivity index is tested on its usefulness and reliability to provide information about the reactivity of the global molecule or about chemical selectivity. The applicability of the hard and soft acids and bases (HSAB) principle for bimolecular radical reactions is illustrated by comparing the results of the softness-matching criterion with kinetic and thermodynamic data. For large polyaromatic molecules several magnetic indices, in particular, magnetic susceptibilities, chemical shifts, and nucleus independent chemical shifts (NICS), are computed to quantify the aromatic character of the involved species. The applicability of these magnetic indices in the case of radical reactions is validated by comparing with kinetic results obtained from transition state theory.

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