A stunning example for a spontaneous reaction with a complex mechanism: the vinylidene–acetylene cycloaddition reaction

Abstract

The chelotropic addition reaction (1): singlet vinylidene + acetylene → methylenecyclopropene (MCP), was investigated using different levels of theory (B3LYP, CASSCF, CCSD(T), G2M) and different basis sets (6-31G(d,p), 6-311G(d,p), 6-311++G(3df,3pd), cc-pVTZ). The concerted reaction is spontaneous at room temperature (activation enthalpy of 3 kcal mol−1) and strongly exothermic (ΔE = −64 kcal mol−1; ΔH(298) = −59 kcal mol−1). Analysis of the reaction mechanism with the help of the Unified Reaction Valley approach reveals a complicated sequence of structural and electronic changes, which can be best described by partitioning the mechanism into seven phases: (1) van der Waals, (2) electrophilic attack, (3) biradical, (4) allene, (5) carbene, (6) ring closure, and (7) MCP formation phase. In the transient regions from one phase to the next, structures are located that possess properties of hidden transition states (TSs) or hidden intermediates, i.e. by variation of the electronic nature or the environment of the reaction complex, real TSs and/or real intermediates can be generated. There is indication that a given sequence of reaction phases is fixed for a wide variation in the electronic nature of the reaction complex and that other than just orbital symmetry principles play a decisive role for the reaction mechanism.