Journal of Physical Chemistry A: Molecules, Spectroscopy, Kinetics, Environment and General Theory 2010-01-14

Solvation of dichlorocarbene: complexation with aryl ethers.

Robert A Moss, Lei Wang, Christina M Odorisio, Min Zhang, Karsten Krogh-Jespersen

Index: J. Phys. Chem. A 114(1) , 209-17, (2010)

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Abstract

Dichlorocarbene (CCl(2)), generated by laser flash photolysis of dichlorodiazirine, formed pi- and O-ylidic complexes with aromatic ethers such as anisole, 1,3-dimethoxybenzene, 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene, dibenzofuran, and dibenzo-18-crown-6 and with the aromatic ester phenyl acetate. These complexes were visualized by UV-vis spectroscopy, and they retarded the addition of CCl(2) to tetramethylethylene by factors of 18-152. Computational studies based on density functional theory provided structures and energetics for the transient species and rationalized their absorption spectra. Complexes were not observed between CCl(2) and simple, nonaromatic ethers such as THF, dioxane, or 18-crown-6, nor did these ethers much affect the addition rate of CCl(2) to tetramethylethylene. Computations also suggested that pi-complexes of CCl(2) and, e.g., mesitylene and durene, were energetically reasonable transients. Although these species were not detected spectroscopically, the aromatic compounds did slow the addition of CCl(2) to tetramethylethylene by factors of 15 and 31, respectively.