Molecular Orbital Studies of Methoxy-1,3,5-cycloheptatriene Isomers: Results from Semiempirical, ab Initio, and Density Functional Theory Calculations

Abstract

The fully optimized structures and relative energies of all possible methoxy-1,3,5-cycloheptatriene (MCHT) isomers have been determined by semiempirical, ab initio, and density functional theory (DFT) molecular orbital calculations. All methods identify the boat conformation of 1-methoxy-1,3,5-cycloheptatriene as the most stable species in this group of compounds. In order to evaluate boat interconversion barriers, optimizations of the planar isomers were also performed. For comparison purposes, we applied the same computational methodologies to boat and planar conformations of 1,3,5-cycloheptatriene (CHT). Among the semiempirical methods, the SAM1 approximation was found to best reproduce the ab initio and DFT results. Examination of rotational energy profiles allowed for identification of the factors controlling the preferred orientations of the methoxy group in these compounds. The calculations predict that methoxy substitution has little influence on the preferred conformation of the seven-membered ri...