Abstract

Intramolecular γ-hydrogen abstraction reactions were examined in pentane-2-one and 2-methyl-1-pentene in their lowest triplet states using the AMI semi-empirical molecular orbital method with the complete geometry optimization in the unrestricted Hartree—Fock frame. The results reveal that the oxygen atom of the carbonyl group and the end carbon atom of the olefinic bond acquire high free valence and spin density indices in their respective lowest triplet states, leading to abstraction of hydrogen from the γ-position relative to the carbonyl and olefinic bonds. The theoretical energy profiles fit with a polynomial and the probability of tunneling of hydrogen was estimated by the WKB (Wentzel, Kramer and Brillouin) method. The results, after thermal averaging of the rate constants, reveal that tunneling of hydrogen is significant at room temperature.

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