Universitätsbibliothek

Background: Cyclic aminals are core features of natural products, drug molecules and important synthetic intermediates. Despite their relevance, systematic investigations into their stability towards hydrolysis depending on the pH value are lacking. Results: A set of cyclic aminals was synthesized and their stability quantified by kinetic measurements. Steric and electronic effects were investigated by choosing appropriate groups. Both molecular mechanics (MM) and density functional theory (DFT) based studies were applied to support and explain the results obtained. Rapid decomposition is observed in acidic aqueous media for all cyclic aminals which occurs as a reversible reaction. Electronic effects do not seem relevant with regard to stability, but the magnitude of the conformational energy of the ring system and pK a values of the N-3 nitrogen atom. Conclusion: Cyclic aminals are stable compounds when not exposed to acidic media and their stability is mainly dependent on the conformational energy of the ring system. Therefore, for the preparation and work-up of these valuable synthetic intermediates and natural products, appropriate conditions have to be chosen and for application as drug molecules their sensitivity towards hydrolysis has to be taken into account.

Molecules containing multiple bonds between atoms—most often in the form of olefins—are ubiquitous in nature, commerce, and science, and as such have a huge impact on everyday life. Given their prominence, over the last few decades, frequent attempts have been made to perturb the structure and reactivity of multiply-bound species through bending and twisting. However, only modest success has been achieved in the quest to completely twist double bonds in order to homolytically cleave the associated π bond. Here, we present the isolation of double-bond-containing species based on boron, as well as their fully twisted diradical congeners, by the incorporation of attached groups with different electronic properties. The compounds comprise a structurally authenticated set of diamagnetic multiply-bound and diradical singly-bound congeners of the same class of compound.

Reliable prediction of the isotropic hyperfine coupling constant A\(_{iso}\) is still a difficult task for ab initio calculations. Strang dependence on the method employed for its ca1culation has been found. Within a CI ansatz A\(_{iso}\) is considerably affected by the excitation classes taken into account within the CI calculation. In the present work the influence of various excitation classes on A\(_{iso}\) is examined. Calculations including all single, double, triple and a large part of the quadruple excitations are performed and the individual effects of the excitation classes are studied. It is found that the surprisingly good agreement found for S-CI treatments is due to large error cancellations. The importance of higher than double excitations arises from their indirect influence on the single excitations.

The hyperfine coupling constants for the \(^3\)Σ\(-\) ground state of the NH molecule are determined by configuration interaction calculations whereby the infl.uence of polarization functions as weil as of the configuration space on the spin polarization mechanism is analysed. The dipolar part Au(N) and Au(H) can be obtained very reliably without much computational effort (A .. (N) == -45·3 MHz and A"(H) = -62·3 MHz). The value for the isotropic contribution a1.., in the best AO basis and MRD-CI treatment is - 64·5 MHz for H and 16·6 MHz for nitrogen compared to the corresponding experimental quantities of -66 MHz and 19 MHz respectively. Their determination depends on a subtle balance of the lu, 2u and 3u shell correlation description, whereby the dominant contribution to a1..,(H) results from the 2u shell. It is shown that the often good agreement of a110 values with experiment in a small basis singledouble configuration interaction treatment results from a cancellation of two errors.

Large-scale multireference configuration interaction calculations in a double·t·type AO basis including polarization functions are carried out for the potential surface of the ClC\(_2\)H\(_4\9 system. The charge distribution for various extreme points of the surface is discussed. The absolute minimum is found for an asymmetric ClC2H4 structure. The symmetrical bridged nuclear conformation is also found to be stable with respect to dissociation into Cl + C\(_2\)H\(_4\)• The activation energy for rotation about the C-C axis is calculated tobe around 18 kJ/mol, which is comparable tothat for the 1,2 migration {around 26 kJ/mol). The stereochemistry is governed by the fact that addition of CI to C\(_2\)H\(_4\) (or dissociation) is a two-step reaction proceeding through a symmetrica1 intermediate. The direct addition pathway possesses a small barrier of about 8 kJ jmol.