Transition State For Isomerization Research Articles

Triosephosphate Isomerase: The Crippling Effect of the P168A/I172A Substitution at the Heart of an Enzyme Active Site.

The P168 and I172 side chains sit at the heart of the active site of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) and play important roles in the catalysis of the isomerization reaction. The phosphodianion of substrate glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP) drives a conformational change at the TIM that creates a steric interaction with the P168 side chain that is relieved by the movement of P168 that carries the basic E167 side chain into a clamp that consists of the hydrophobic I172 and L232 side chains. The P168A/I172A substitution at TIM from Trypanosoma brucei brucei (TbbTIM) causes a large 120,000-fold decrease in kcat for isomerization of GAP that eliminates most of the difference in the reactivity of TIM compared to the small amine base quinuclidinone for deprotonation of catalyst-bound GAP. The I172A substitution causes a > 2-unit decrease in the pKa of the E167 carboxylic acid in a complex to the intermediate analog PGA, but the P168A substitution at the I172A variant has no further effect on this pKa. The P168A/I172A substitutions cause a 5-fold decrease in Km for the isomerization of GAP from a 0.9 kcal/mol stabilization of the substrate Michaelis complexes. The results show that the P168 and I172 side chains play a dual role in destabilizing the ground-state Michaelis complex to GAP and in promoting stabilization of the transition state for substrate isomerization. This is consistent with an important role for these side chains in an induced fit reaction mechanism [Richard, J. P. (2022) Enabling Role of Ligand-Driven Conformational Changes in Enzyme Evolution. Biochemistry 61, 1533-1542].

An Organogermanium Compound Enhances the Initial Reaction Rate of Alkaline Isomerization of an Aldose into a Ketose through Enediol Complex Formation.

We previously demonstrated that the organogermanium compound 3-(trihydroxygermyl)propanoic acid (THGP) enhances the enzymatic and alkaline isomerization of an aldose to a ketose through cis-diol complex formation by multiple mechanisms. Its higher affinity for the ketose than the aldose protects the ketose complex from alkaline decomposition. Furthermore, it has been reported that the aldose-ketose alkaline isomerization pathway includes 1,2-enediol. Therefore, we speculated that the complex-forming ability of THGP could also be applied to enediol, a transient intermediate of alkaline isomerization. To test this prediction, we analyzed the initial rates of glucose or lactose isomerization in a region where there was no substantial difference in pH with and without THGP addition. The results showed that THGP enhanced the rate of fructose or lactulose formation per unit time by approximately 2-fold compared to the control. This finding indicated that THGP could form a complex with the transition state of aldose-ketose alkaline isomerization.

Residue-Specific Kinetic Insights into the Transition State in Slow Polypeptide Topological Isomerization by NMR Exchange Spectroscopy.

The characterization of the transition state is a central issue in biophysical studies of protein folding. NMR is a multiprobe measurement technique that provides residue-specific information. Here, we used exchange spectroscopy to characterize the transition state of the two-state slow topological isomerization of a 27-residue lantibiotic peptide. The exchange kinetic rates varied on a per-residue basis, indicating the reduced kinetic cooperativity of the two-state exchange, as well as the previously observed reduced thermodynamic cooperativity. Furthermore, temperature-dependent measurements revealed large variations in the activation enthalpy and entropy terms among residues. Interestingly, we found a linear relationship between the logarithm of the equilibrium constants and that of the exchange rates. Because the data points are derived from amino acid residues in one polypeptide chain, we refer to the linear relationship as the residue-based linear free energy relationship (rbLFER). The rbLFER offers information about the transition state of the two-state exchange.

Experimental and first-principles study of a new hydrazine derivative for DSSC applications

Hydrazine derivatives have a wide variety of applications in organic synthesis, material science, medical treatments, as well as the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). In this work, the molecular structure, electronic spectra and first principles investigation for the exo-endo isomerization in (1E,2E)-bis[1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethylidene]hydrazine were studied. The structural interactions and synthon formations have been determined experimentally via Hirshfeld surface analysis (HSA) and two-dimensional fingerprint plots (2D-FP). Furthermore, the solid-state XRD/HSA interactions have been used to explain the physical behavior of the compound. The transition state for the exo-endo isomerization was located using density functional theory (DFT). The activation barrier is estimated to be 110.5 kJ/mol (in vacuo). The endo isomer was found to be slightly more stable than the exo one. The UV-Vis spectra of the two isomers were obtained using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and compared to the experimental spectra in vacuo, water, and methanol. To explore the potential of the new compound as a DSSC sensitizer, the emission spectrum was also constructed by optimizing the singlet electronic excited state.

Structure, reactions, and electronic spectra of the rare gas cyanohydrides and isocyanohydrides, HRgCN and HRgNC (Rg = Xe or Rn)

The low-energy electronic excitations of HRgCN and HRgNC (Rg = Xe, Rn) were computed at the TDDFT level of theory, both in the gas phase and in xenon cluster. It was found that the most prominent peak in the spectra was due to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) transition (∼6 eV for HRgCN and ∼4.5 eV for HRgNC). Cluster confinement brought about bathochromic shifts in the spectra and better agreement with experiment for HXeCN. The effects of spin–orbit coupling (SOC) in the heavier Rn systems were investigated: for HRnCN, SOC red-shifted the HOMO–LUMO peak, while it blue-shifted the HOMO–LUMO peak for HRnNC. Geometry optimizations were carried out for the HRgCN and HRgNC systems to locate minima and transition states for dissociation and isomerization. Effects of isotopic substitution on reaction rates were predicted. A new model core potentials basis set was introduced and effectiveness of several pseudopotential basis sets was studied.

Performance of Localized Coupled Cluster Methods in a Moderately Strong Correlation Regime: Hückel-Möbius Interconversions in Expanded Porphyrins.

Localized orbital coupled cluster theory has recently emerged as a nonempirical alternative to DFT for large systems. Intuitively, one might expect such methods to perform less well for highly delocalized systems. In the present work, we apply both canonical CCSD(T) approximations and a variety of localized approximations to a set of flexible expanded porphyrins—macrocycles that can switch between Hückel, figure-eight, and Möbius topologies under external stimuli. Both minima and isomerization transition states are considered. We find that Möbius(-like) structures have much stronger static correlation character than the remaining structures, and that this causes significant errors in DLPNO-CCSD(T) and even DLPNO-CCSD(T1) approaches, unless TightPNO cutoffs are employed. If sub-kcal mol–1 accuracy with respect to canonical relative energies is required even for Möbius-type systems (or other systems plagued by strong static correlation), then Nagy and Kallay’s LNO-CCSD(T) method with “tight” settings is the suitable localized approach. We propose the present POLYPYR21 data set as a benchmark for localized orbital methods or, more broadly, for the ability of lower-level methods to handle energetics with strongly varying degrees of static correlation.

Substituent Effect on the Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Carbyne Complex [(η5-C5H5)(CO)(COMe)Re≡CC6H4X] Isomerization to Carbene Complex [(η5-C5H5)(CO)2Re=C(Me)(para-C6H4X]: A Theoretical Study

This study investigates the effect of different substituents on the isomerization reaction of the [(η5‑C5H5)(CO)(Me)Re≡CC6H5] carbyne complex to the [(η5-C5H5)(CO)2Re=C(Me)(C6H5)] carbene complex using MPW1PW91-based quantum mechanical calculations. In this respect, the study evaluates the influence of electron withdrawing groups (EWGs) and electron donating groups (EDGs) groups on the relative energies, thermodynamics parameters and the rate constant of this reaction and correlates the calculated parameters with the Hammett and Brown’s constants for the para-substituted functional groups (σp and $$\sigma _{{\text{p}}}^{ + }$$, respectively). Also, the calculated Wiberg indices of the Re–C bond values were used to illustrate the cleavage and formation of π-bonds along with the Re–C bonds in the isomerization transition state. The rate constants of the isomerization reaction were computed from 300 to 1200 K, in gas phase.

Calculation of Transition State Energies in the HCN-HNC Isomerization with an Algebraic Model.

Recent works have shown that the spectroscopic access to highly excited states provides enough information to characterize transition states in isomerization reactions. Here, we show that information about the transition state of the bond-breaking HCN-HNC isomerization reaction can also be achieved with the two-dimensional limit of the algebraic vibron model. We describe the system's bending vibration with the algebraic Hamiltonian and use its classical limit to characterize the transition state. Using either the coherent state formalism or a recently proposed approach by Baraban [ Science 2015 , 350 , 1338 - 1342 ], we obtain an accurate description of the isomerization transition state. In addition, we show that the energy-level dynamics and the transition state wave function structure indicate that the spectrum in the vicinity of the isomerization saddle point can be understood in terms of the formalism for excited-state quantum phase transitions.

Cavity Ring-Down Absorption Spectroscopy: Optical Characterization of ICl Product in Photodissociation of CH2ICl at 248 nm.

Iodine monochloride (ICl) elimination from one-photon dissociation of CH2ICl at 248 nm is monitored by cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy (CRDS). The spectrum of ICl is acquired in the transition of B3Π0 ← X1Σ+ and is confirmed to result from a primary photodissociation, that is, CH2ICl + hν → CH2 + ICl. The vibrational population ratio is determined with the aid of spectral simulation to be 1:(0.36 ± 0.10):(0.11 ± 0.05) for the vibrational levels ν = 0, 1, and 2 in the ground electronic state, corresponding to a Boltzmann-like vibrational temperature of 535 ± 69 K. The quantum yield of the ICl molecular channel for the reaction is obtained to be 0.052 ± 0.026 using a relative method in which the scheme CH2Br2 → CH2 + Br2 is adopted as the reference reaction. The ICl product contributed by the secondary collisions is minimized such that its quantum yield obtained is not overestimated. With the aid of the CCSD(T)//B3LYP/MIDI! level of theory, the ICl elimination from CH2ICl is evaluated to follow three pathways via either (1) a three-center transition state or (2) two isomerization transition states. However, the three-center concerted mechanism is verified to be unfavorable.

Dominant Role of Entropy in Stabilizing Sugar Isomerization Transition States within Hydrophobic Zeolite Pores

Lewis acid sites in zeolites catalyze aqueous-phase sugar isomerization at higher turnover rates when confined within hydrophobic rather than within hydrophilic micropores; however, relative contributions of competitive water adsorption at active sites and preferential stabilization of isomerization transition states have remained unclear. Here, we employ a suite of experimental and theoretical techniques to elucidate the effects of coadsorbed water on glucose isomerization reaction coordinate free energy landscapes. Transmission IR spectra provide evidence that water forms extended hydrogen-bonding networks within hydrophilic but not hydrophobic micropores of Beta zeolites. Aqueous-phase glucose isomerization turnover rates measured on Ti-Beta zeolites transition from first-order to zero-order dependence on glucose thermodynamic activity, as Lewis acidic Ti sites transition from water-covered to glucose-covered, consistent with intermediates identified from modulation excitation spectroscopy during in situ attenuated total reflectance IR experiments. First-order and zero-order isomerization rate constants are systematically higher (by 3-12×, 368-383 K) when Ti sites are confined within hydrophobic micropores. Apparent activation enthalpies and entropies reveal that glucose and water competitive adsorption at Ti sites depend weakly on confining environment polarity, while Gibbs free energies of hydride-shift isomerization transition states are lower when confined within hydrophobic micropores. DFT calculations suggest that interactions between intraporous water and isomerization transition states increase effective transition state sizes through second-shell solvation spheres, reducing primary solvation sphere flexibility. These findings clarify the effects of hydrophobic pockets on the stability of coadsorbed water and isomerization transition states and suggest design strategies that modify micropore polarity to influence turnover rates in liquid water.

Accurate Explicit-Correlation-MRCI-Based DMBE Potential-Energy Surface for Ground-State CNO.

We report a new global double many-body expansion potential energy surface for the ground state of the CNO(2A') manifold, calculated by the explicit correlation multireference configuration interaction method. The functional form was accurately fitted to 3701 ab initio points with a root mean squared deviation of 0.99 kcal mol-1. All stationary points reported in previous forms are systematically described and improved, in addition to three new ones and a characterization of an isomerization transition state between the CNO and NCO minima. The novel proposed form gives a realistic description of both short-range and long-range interactions and hence is commended for dynamics studies.

First-principles theoretical assessment of catalysis by confinement: NO-O2 reactions within voids of molecular dimensions in siliceous crystalline frameworks.

Density functional theory methods that include dispersive forces are used to show how voids of molecular dimensions enhance reaction rates by the mere confinement of transition states analogous to those involved in homogeneous routes and without requiring specific binding sites or structural defects within confining voids. These van der Waals interactions account for the observed large rate enhancements for NO oxidation in the presence of purely siliceous crystalline frameworks. The minimum free energy paths for NO oxidation within chabazite (CHA) and silicalite (SIL) frameworks involve intermediates similar in stoichiometry, geometry, and kinetic relevance to those involved in the homogeneous route. The termolecular transition state for the kinetically-relevant cis-NOO2NO isomerization to trans-NOO2NO is strongly stabilized by confinement within CHA (by 36.3 kJ mol-1 in enthalpy) and SIL (by 39.2 kJ mol-1); such enthalpic stabilization is compensated, in part, by concomitant entropy losses brought forth by confinement (CHA: 44.9; SIL: 45.3, J mol-1 K-1 at 298 K). These enthalpy and entropy changes upon confinement agree well with those measured and combine to significantly decrease activation free energies and are consistent with the rate enhancements that become larger as temperature decreases because of the more negative apparent activation energies in confined systems compared with homogeneous routes. Calculated free energies of confinement are in quantitative agreement with measured rate enhancements and with their temperature sensitivity. Such quantitative agreements reflect preeminent effects of geometry in determining the van der Waals contributions from contacts between the transition states (TS) and the confining walls and the weak effects of the level of theory on TS geometries. NO oxidation reactions are chosen here to illustrate these remarkable effects of confinement because detailed kinetic analysis of rate data are available, but also because of their critical role in the treatment of combustion effluents and in the synthesis of nitric acid and nitrates. Similar effects are evident from rate enhancements by confinement observed for Diels-Alder and alkyne oligomerization reactions. These reactions also occur in gaseous media at near ambient temperatures, for which enthalpic stabilization upon confinement of their homogeneous transition states becomes the preeminent component of activation free energies.

Full-dimensional quantum mechanics calculations for the spectroscopic characterization of the isomerization transition states of HOCO/DOCO systems.

Full-dimensional quantum mechanics calculations were performed to determine the vibrational energy levels of HOCO and DOCO based on an accurate potential energy surface. Almost all of the vibrational energy levels up to 3500 cm-1 from the vibrational ground state were assigned, and the calculated energy levels in this work are well in agreement with the reported results by Bowman. The corresponding full dimensional wavefunctions present some special features. When the energy level approaches the barrier height, the trans-HOCO and cis-HOCO states strongly couple through tunneling interactions, and the tunneling interaction and Fermi resonance were observed in the DOCO system. The energy level patterns of trans-HOCO, cis-HOCO and trans-DOCO provide a reasonable fitted barrier height using the fitting formula of Field et al., however, a discrepancy exists for the cis-DOCO species which is considered as a random event. Our full-dimensional calculations give positive evidence for the accuracy of the spectroscopic characterization model of the isomerization transition state reported by Field et al., which was developed from one-dimensional model systems. Furthermore, the special case of cis-DOCO in this work means that the isotopic substitution can solve the problem of the accidental failure of Field's spectroscopic characterization model.

Substituent Effect on the Stability and 14N NQR Parameters of Linkage Isomers of Nitriles in a Rhodium Half‐Sandwich Metallacycle: A Theoretical Study

In this work, using the MPW1PW91 method, the substituent effect on the stability and on the 14N NQR parameters of linkage isomers of nitriles in a rhodium half‐sandwich metallacycle is illustrated. After determination of the corresponding isomerization transition state (TS), the substituent effect on the barrier energy and on the activation thermodynamic parameters (ΔG‡ and ΔH‡) of isomerization is explored. The electric field gradient tensor, nuclear quadrupole coupling constant, asymmetry parameter, and nuclear quadrupole resonance frequencies of the studied isomers are calculated. Also, linear correlations between these parameters and Hammett constant of the substituent are explored.

Spin polarization and dispersion effects in emergence of roaming transition state for nitrobenzene isomerization**Project supported by the Science Challenging Program, China (Grant No. JCKY2016212A501) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11374004).

Since roaming was found as a new but common reaction path of isomerization, many of its properties, especially those of roaming transition state (TSR), have been studied on many systems. However, the mechanism of roaming is still not clear at an atomic level. In this work, we use first-principles calculations to illustrate the detailed structure of TSR in an internal isomerization process of nitrobenzene. The calculations distinctively show its nature of antiferromagnetic coupling between two roaming fragments. Moreover, the effect of dispersion is also revealed as an important issue for the stability of the TSR. Our work provides a new insight into the TSR from the view of electronic structure and contributes to the basic understanding of the roaming systems.

Fused 1,2,3-Thiaselenazoles Synthesized from 1,2,3-Dithiazoles through Selective Chalcogen Exchange.

A new approach to the synthesis of fused 1,2,3-thiaselenazoles-rare five-membered heterocycles that contain two different chalcogens-from the corresponding 1,2,3-dithiazoles and SeO2 was accomplished by selective exchange of S and Se atoms. The fused carbo- and heterocyclic units were indene, naphthalenone, cyclohexadienone, cyclopentadiene, benzoannulene, and benzoxazine. The molecular structures of two of the thiaselenadiazole products and one of the dithiazole precursors were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The reaction is highly solvent selective; it only takes place in solvents that contain a C=O group (e.g., DMF or tetramethylurea). According to DFT calculations, the reaction is thermodynamically favorable. Based on the DFT calculations and 77 Se NMR spectroscopy, two tentative mechanisms that feature isomeric transition states and intermediates are suggested for the reaction via ring-opening addition of SeO2 to the S-X dithiazole bond (X=N or S). The DFT-calculated first adiabatic electron affinities of the compounds were chalcogen independent and positive in all cases, which assumes formation of thermodynamically stable radical anions (RAs). These calculated RAs featured either normal or abnormal elongation of the S1-X2 (X=S or Se) bond relative to their neutral precursors and possessed π* or σ* SOMOs, respectively.

Catalytic diversity conferred by confinement of protons within porous aluminosilicates in Prins condensation reactions

The effects of confinement of transition states and bound intermediates are described here based on kinetic and theoretical studies for Prins condensation and oligomerization reactions of isobutanal-isobutene reactant mixtures catalyzed by Brønsted acid sites of similar strength but confined within diverse microporous (TON, BEA, MFI, FAU) and mesoporous (Al-MCM-41) aluminosilicate structures. Kinetic data and density functional theory (DFT) show that smaller voids lead to more stable bound monomers derived from isobutene and isobutanal and to protons nearly saturated with H-bonded isobutanal. Prins condensation forms 2,5-dimethyl-hexadiene regioisomers (2,5-DMH) with rate constants that reflect the different stability of the kinetically-relevant CC bond formation transition states and their H-bonded isobutanal precursors. Their differences in size lead to reactivities that depend sensitively on the size and shape of the confining voids in each aluminosilicate and even on the location of the Al-atoms (and the protons) within a given framework. Specifically, FAU leads to the highest turnover rates, because larger voids in Al-MCM-41 form less effective van der Waals contacts with the transition state, while the smaller voids within TON and BEA lead to enthalpic and entropic penalties brought forth by host-guest distortions. MFI cage-like intersections provide more effective stabilization than BEA cylindrical channels of similar size and lead to higher turnover rates and smaller DFT-derived activation free energies; these subtle effects of void shape on reactivity are neglected in descriptions of the confining frameworks based on spherical constructs. Reactivity descriptors require instead theoretical treatments that rigorously account for van der Waals interactions and for the entropy losses and host-guest distortions required for confinement, as reported here from confinement free energies ensemble-averaged over all crystallographic locations in each aluminosilicate structure. The ratios of rate constants for these parallel isobutene dimerization and Prins condensation reactions depend only weakly on the nature of the aluminosilicate framework, because of the similar size and shape of their respective transition states and bound precursors. Transition states for secondary skeletal isomerization and cyclization of 2,5-DMH condensation products, however, are stabilized more effectively (relative to condensation transition states) within voids of intermediate size (BEA, MFI), leading to higher selectivity to secondary products. MFI cage-like structures specifically catalyze the conversion of 2,5-DMH to cyclic 1,4-dimethyl-cyclohexene isomers, direct precursors to p-xylene, with unique specificity.

Radical Reactions Affecting Polar Groups in Threonine Peptide Ions.

Peptide cation-radicals containing the threonine residue undergo radical-induced dissociations upon collisional activation and photon absorption in the 210-400 nm range. Peptide cation-radicals containing a radical defect at the N-terminal residue, [•Ala-Thr-Ala-Arg+H]+, were generated by electron transfer dissociation (ETD) of peptide dications and characterized by UV-vis photodissociation action spectroscopy combined with time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations of absorption spectra, including thermal vibronic band broadening. The action spectrum of [•Ala-Thr-Ala-Arg+H]+ ions was indicative of the canonical structure of an N-terminally deaminated radical whereas isomeric structures differing in the position of the radical defect and amide bond geometry were excluded. This indicated that exothermic electron transfer to threonine peptide ions did not induce radical isomerizations in the fragment cation-radicals. Several isomeric structures, ion-molecule complexes, and transition states for isomerizations and dissociations were generated and analyzed by DFT and Møller-Plesset perturbational ab initio calculations to aid interpretation of the major dissociations by loss of water, hydroxyl radical, C3H6NO•, C3H7NO, and backbone cleavages. Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) in combination with DFT gradient geometry optimizations and intrinsic reaction coordinate analysis were used to search for low-energy cation-radical conformers and transition states. BOMD was also employed to analyze the reaction trajectory for loss of water from ion-molecule complexes.

Pressure-dependent kinetics on the C4H7 potential energy surface and its effect on combustion model predictions

Butene (C4H8), the smallest alkene possessing both branched and straight-chain isomers, is usually an important intermediate with relatively high concentration in the combustion of hydrocarbons and oxygenated fuels. In the present study, the kinetics of thermal isomerization, decomposition and chemical activation reactions of three typical butenyl isomers, i.e. nC4H7 (CH2=CHCH2ĊH2), saxC4H7 (CH2=CHĊHCH3) and iC4H7 (CH2=C(CH3)ĊH2), were systematically investigated by theoretical calculations. High-level ab initio calculations coupled with the RRKM/master equation method were used to compute the temperature and pressure dependent rate coefficients. The results show that the existence of vinylic CC bond in iC4H7 largely impedes its decomposition rate. The transformation from iC4H7 to straight-chain C4H7 is kinetically unfavorable due to the high strain energy of the 3-membered ring structure of the isomerization transition state. Furthermore, the calculated rate coefficients were incorporated into USC Mech II and Aramco Mech 2.0 to examine the impact of our computed pressure-dependent kinetics on model predictions. Although the simulation results demonstrate limited improvement on ignition delay time and laminar flame speed of butene, substantial changes are observed for the mole fractions of important intermediate species, e.g., allene and 1,3-butediene, in butene pyrolysis. Modified Arrhenius representations of the calculated rate constants are given and should be used in combustion modeling.

Electrostatic Control of Regioselectivity in Au(I)-Catalyzed Hydroarylation.

Competing pathways in catalytic reactions often involve transition states with very different charge distributions, but this difference is rarely exploited to control selectivity. The proximity of a counterion to a charged catalyst in an ion paired complex gives rise to strong electrostatic interactions that could be used to energetically differentiate transition states. Here we investigate the effects of ion pairing on the regioselectivity of the hydroarylation of 3-substituted phenyl propargyl ethers catalyzed by cationic Au(I) complexes, which forms a mixture of 5- and 7-substituted 2H-chromenes. We show that changing the solvent dielectric to enforce ion pairing to a SbF6- counterion changes the regioselectivity by up to a factor of 12 depending on the substrate structure. Density functional theory (DFT) is used to calculate the energy difference between the putative product-determining isomeric transition states (ΔΔE‡) in both the presence and absence of the counterion. The change in ΔΔE‡ upon switching from the unpaired transition states in high solvent dielectric to ion paired transition states in low solvent dielectric (Δ(ΔΔE‡)) was found to be in good agreement with the experimentally observed selectivity changes across several substrates. Our calculations indicate that the origin of Δ(ΔΔE‡) lies in the preferential electrostatic stabilization of the transition state with greater charge separation by the counterion in the ion paired case. By performing calculations at multiple different values of the solvent dielectric, we show that the role of the solvent in changing selectivity is not solely to enforce ion pairing, but rather that interactions between the ion paired complex and the solvent also contribute to Δ(ΔΔE‡). Our results provide a foundation for exploiting electrostatic control of selectivity in other ion paired systems.