Natural Bond Orbital Research Articles

Gold(I)‐Catalyzed Regioselective Cycloisomerization of Bis(indol‐3‐yl)‐ynamides to Access Five‐membered Ring Linked Bisindole Derivatives

A gold(I)‐catalyzed regioselective cycloisomerization of bis(indol‐3‐yl)‐ynamides for the rapid construction of five‐membered ring linked bisindole derivatives has been reported, affording the desired products in the range of 72% ‐ 94% yields under mild conditions along with broad substrate scope. Moreover, DFT calculation of the NBO (natural bond orbital) charge supports the origin of its regioselectivity.

Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization techniques of aromatic iminoaniline derived compound, along with the evaluation of its LNO properties using quantum chemistry

In this research work, we synthesized a Schiff base derivative, N,N-dimethyl-4-{[(4-nitrophenyl)imino]-methyl}aniline, denoted as (n1). The molecule (n1) was characterized using spectroscopic analyses, including FT-IR, NMR 1H, and 13C. Our compound (n1) is an unsaturated molecule, consisting of two benzylic rings connected by a methylimine bridge. The resulting system comprises seven alternating π bonds. At both ends of (n1) and in the para position, there are the N(CH3)2 group with a strong electron-donating effect and the NO2 group with a strong electron-accepting effect. The molecular structure of our compound prompted us to evaluate and study its properties in the field of NLO. The assessment of NLO properties is conducted by determining the Egap and employing density functional theory (DFT) quantum chemistry studies. The optical gap of (n1), measured using the Tauc method, is found to be 2.7 eV, serving as a reference value for the choice of the DFT functional in theoretical calculations. Quantum chemistry studies were carried out using Gaussian09 software, and the results were visualized with GaussView05. CAM-B3lyp functional was chosen for theoretical calculations due to its close agreement with experimental values. The studies confirm that (n1) exhibits significant NLO properties. Additionally, NBO (Natural Bond Orbital) analyses provide insight into the mechanism and trajectory of intramolecular charge transfer in (n1).

Structurally Innovative Benzimidazole‐fused Ionic Organoselenium Compounds: Prevalence of Se···N/Se Chalcogen Bonds with the Selenocyanate Receptor

The non‐covalent interactions in molecules play important roles towards their applications in various aspects such as molecular recognition, catalysis, supramolecular chemistry, structural biology, pharmacology etc. Interestingly, among various non‐bonding interactions, chalcogen bonding (ChB) has been extensively studied in different facets of crystal engineering over the last several years. The present study demonstrates the presence of Se···N or Se···Se ChB in the benzimidazole‐fused cyclic selenazonium selenocyanates (6‐8), cyclic selenazinium selenocyanates (9‐10) and the acyclic benzimidazolium analogs having two different types of selenocyanate units (11‐12). The final organoselenium compounds were synthesized from benzimidazole in several steps in reasonably good yields. The single crystal X‐ray structures of the compounds revealed that both the N atom and Se atom of the negatively charged SeCN unit act as ChB acceptors in building the Se···N or Se···Se ChB interactions along with the additional hydrogen bonding (HB) interactions. Moreover, the structural optimization and natural bond orbital (NBO) analyses were carried out using density functional theory (DFT) to calculate the natural charges on different Se centers and the strength of second‐order perturbation energy (E2) for the ChB interactions. Finally, electrostatic potential surface (SEP) of the compounds was developed to visualize the formation of σ‐holes.

Stereoselective Ring-Opening Reaction of α-Fluorinated Oxetanes: A Practical and Theoretical Investigation.

The ring-opening reaction of fluorinated oxetanes by halides, including alkylidene oxetanes and spirocyclic oxetanes, was highly stereoselective and directed by the presence of a fluorine atom. This reaction allowed a stereoselective preparation of tetrasubstituted alkenes and substituted pyrrolidines containing all-carbon quaternary centers. Theoretical calculations were performed to shed light on experimentally observed regioselectivity in the opening of oxetane derivatives. Transition state calculations were carried out to compare the energy of transition states responsible for forming different diastereoisomers. These calculations were performed using several DFT functionals and benchmarked to DLPNO-CCSD(T)/def2-TZVP calculations. Intrinsic reaction coordinated (IRC) calculations were run to confirm if the found transition states connect reactants and products. The IRC paths were then decomposed into the electrostatic, steric hyperconjugative contributions to reaction barriers by using the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The destabilizing Fδ-···Br- electrostatic interaction directs the reaction pathway.

Local Electronic Correlation in Multicomponent Møller-Plesset Perturbation Theory.

We present in this contribution the first application of local correlation in the context of multicomponent methods. Multicomponent approaches allow for the targeted simulation of electrons together with other Fermions (most commonly protons) as quantum particles. These methods have become increasingly popular over the last years, particularly for the description of nuclear quantum effects (in strong hydrogen bonds, proton tunneling, and many more). However, most implementations are still based on canonical formulations of wave function theory, which we know for decades to be computationally inefficient for capturing dynamical correlation effects. Local correlation approaches, particularly with the use of pair natural orbitals (PNOs), enable asymptotically linear scaling of computational costs with very little impact on the overall accuracy. In this context, the efficient use of density fitting approximations in the integral calculation proves essential. We start by discussing our implementation of density-fitted NEO-MP2 and NEO-PNO-LMP2, upgrading the electronic correlation treatment up to PNO local coupled cluster level of theory. Several challenging examples are provided to benchmark the method in terms of accuracy as well as computational cost scaling. Following appropriate protocols, anharmonic corrections to localized X-H stretches can be applied routinely with little computational overhead.

Electrical and work function-based chemical gas sensors utilizing NC3 and graphene combination

Research has been conducted on the potential practical uses of heterostructures made of graphene and carbon nitride (NC3) following their successful synthesis. The remarkable gas sensing properties of these 2D nanosheets have captured significant interest, attributed to distinctive electronic characteristics and exceptional surface-to-volume ratio that are resulted from combination of NC3 and graphene. In this study, we present a detailed analysis of electronic and structural features of pristine NC3 and graphene (PG), and their in-plane heterostructures using first-principles density functional theory. Our investigation utilizes the B3LYP and dispersion-corrected van der Waals (vdW) functional WB97XD, along with 6-311G (d, p) basis set. Our findings indicate that the nanosheets we anticipated exhibit robust structural stability, characterized by a desirable cohesive energy. Furthermore, we observed a gradual increase in the bandgap as the concentration of N–C in the nanosheets increases. Additionally, we investigated the adsorption characteristics of these heterostructures towards toxic gas molecules such as SO2 and CO. Among the studied heterostructures, GNC3I demonstrated higher adsorption energy (Eads), with values of approximately −0.283 and −0.491 eV when exposed to SO2 and carbon monoxide gas molecules respectively. Electronic characteristics, including LUMO and HOMO energy values, energy gap (Eg) between HOMO and LUMO, work function, Fermi level, and conductivity, underwent notable modifications upon SO2 gas adsorption over nanosheets, except for PG. However, these parameters remained relatively unchanged following carbon monoxide adsorption. Natural bond orbital (NBO) and Mulliken charge analysis demonstrates that there is a transfer of charge from gas molecules to nanosheets. Although nanosheets exhibit slightly higher adsorption energy (Eads) values for CO gas compared to SO2 gas, various assessments, including molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) mapping, electronic properties, and charge transfer (CT) analysis, suggest that these nanosheets are superior sensors for detecting SO2 gas rather than carbon monoxide gas molecules.

Aluminum Fluorides as Noncovalent Lewis Acids in Proteins: The Case of Phosphoryl Transfer Enzymes.

The Protein Data Bank (PDB) was scrutinized for the presence of noncovalent O ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Al Triel Bonding (TrB) interactions, involving protein residues (e. g. GLU and GLN), adenosine/guanine diphosphate moieties (ADP and GDP), water molecules and two aluminum fluorides (AlF3 and AlF4 -). The results were statistically analyzed, revealing a vast number of O ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Al contacts in the active sites of phosphoryl transfer enzymes, with a marked directionality towards the Al σ-/π-hole. The physical nature of the TrBs studied herein was analyzed using Molecular Electrostatic Potential (MEP) maps, the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM), the Non Covalent Interaction plot (NCIplot) visual index and Natural Bonding Orbital (NBO) studies. As far as our knowledge extends, it is the first time that O ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Al TrBs are analyzed within a biological context, participating in protein trapping mechanisms related to phosphoryl transfer enzymes. Moreover, since they are involved in the stabilization of aluminum fluorides inside the protein's active site, we believe the results reported herein will be valuable for those scientists working in supramolecular chemistry, catalysis and rational drug design.

Theoretical investigation of Diels–Alder reaction mechanism and regioselectivity with functionalized fullerene derivatives

AbstractDensity functional theory (DFT) was used to study the mechanism of Diels–Alder (DA) reaction between 2‐Methyl‐ 1,3 Butadiene (MBD) with B12N12, B6N6C12 and B6C12N6 fullerens in the gas phase. In this mechanism, B‐N bonds of four‐membered and six‐membered rings of nanocages were chosen to react with MBD. Due to the existence of two types of B‐N bonds, two competitive pathways (a and b) were investigated. The effect of the substitution of carbon atoms instead of boron and nitrogen atoms on the stability of the structures and the regioselectivity of the DA reaction was examined. The potential energy of all structures and the activation barrier for all reaction pathways was evaluated. The chemical reactivity of fullerens using the molecular quantum descriptors was assessed. To evaluate the global electron density transfer in transition states (TS) structures, the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis was performed.

A theoretical investigation into the impact of solvents (alkanolic and non-alkanolic), structural and spectroscopic properties, donor-acceptor insights, Hirshfeld surface, and molecular docking of the anti-tumor compound (2E)-3-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-1-(3-nitrophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one

In this study, computational methods were employed to analyze the molecular structure of (2E)-3-[4-(Dimethylamino)phenyl]-1-(3-nitrophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (DMAPNP), investigating its structural and spectroscopic properties along with its biological activity. In particular, the Frontier Molecular Orbital (FMO) and Molecular Electrostatic Potential (MEP) surfaces in alkanolic solvents (ethanediol, ethanol, and methanol) and non-alkanolic solvents (DMSO, toluene, and water) were generated to analyze the solvent-solute interactions. The H→L transition shows low oscillator strengths (0.0002 in toluene to 0.0013 in ethanediol, DMSO, and water), indicating limited significance in the absorption spectrum. In contrast, the H→L+1 transition has much higher oscillator strengths, around 0.9412 for ethanediol and 0.9385 for DMSO and toluene, suggesting a greater likelihood of absorption at these wavelengths. The simulated vibrational wavenumbers revealed the presence of CH, NO2, CN, CC, CH3, and C=O groups in DMAPNP. The calculated chemical shifts confirmed the molecular structure of DMAPNP and aligned with standard values. In Hirshfeld surface analysis, the crystal packing of DMAPNP was primarily stabilized by H…H interactions, contributing 41.3%, followed by O…H / H…O interactions at 30.9%. In Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis, the interaction between C20-H38 and C15-H33 shows a stabilization energy of 1102.89 kJ/mol, highlighting σ-σ* transitions. In contrast, the C12-C16 and C15-H33 interactions exhibit a stabilization energy of 2542.16 kJ/mol, indicating substantial π-σ* contributions. In the Mulliken charge distribution, the carbon atoms C18 (-1.33704e) and C13 (1.776064e), located in the para and meta positions concerning the nitro group (NO2), exhibit the highest positive and negative potentials, respectively. Molecular docking assessed DMAPNP as a potential anti-tumor agent by inhibiting the key regulatory enzyme fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase, with a binding energy of -8.13 kcal/mol.

A comparative study of X-ray structural analysis, supramolecular investigation by Hirshfeld surface analysis and DFT computations for tricyclic 1,4-benzodiazepines

The tricyclic 1,4-benzodiazepines - seven-membered heterocyclic compounds were synthesized derived from the three-component reaction involving o-phenylenediamine, 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione and various aromatic aldehydes under the influence of HCl. The crystal structure of 11-(3-nitrophenyl)-3,3-dimethyl-2,3,4,5,10,11-hexahydro-1H-dibenzo[b,e][1,4]diazepin-1-one (NDDD) and 11-(2-chlorophenyl)-3,3-dimethyl-2,3,4,5,10,11-hexahydro-1H-dibenzo[b,e][1,4]diazepin-1-one (CDDD) corroborated through single crystal X-ray diffraction method. The Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates crystal packing along with role of intermolecular forces in stabilizing supramolecular assembly of NDDD and CDDD. 2D fingerprint analysis is carried out to envisage to the elemental interactions in the assumption of a single crystal containing molecular fragments. DFT investigations have been carried out to understand the reactivity of NDDD and CDDD at the m062x/def2tzvp method. The obtained geometric parameters from theoretical study are well consistent with experimentally reported XRD analysis. Bonding analysis and charge transfer were examined by performing quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and natural bonding orbital (NBO) analysis. The synthesized NDDD and CDDD exhibit excellent electronic and nonlinear optical properties. The NLO response is justified through computed hyperpolarizability values.

Elucidating the E‐Cadherin⋯ADTC5 Interactions: A Theoretical Examination of Amino Acid Active Site Binding on the Electronic Level via Density Functional Theory

AbstractThe presence of E‐cadherin⋯E‐cadherin interactions in the intercellular space (paracellular pathway) poses a notable limitation in drug delivery across the blood‐brain barrier (BBB). ADTC5 peptide has shown promising results in improving drug delivery across the BBB by modulating E‐cadherin⋯E‐cadherin interactions. However, the study of E‐cadherin⋯ADTC5 amino acid interactions using quantum mechanics approach has not been observed clearly. Herein, we observed the interaction between E‐cadherin⋯ADTC5 amino acids using density functional theory (DFT). Natural bond orbital (NBO), quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), and reduced density gradient (RDG) analysis are performed to study the non‐covalent interaction in detail. The Arg55⋯Asp2 shows the strongest interaction between E‐cadherin⋯ADTC5 modulation, indicated by the highest stabilization energy (E(2)), and hydrogen bonding energy (EHB) about 22.04 and −6.90 kcal/mol, respectively. This interaction is dominated by hydrogen bonding. Such advancements could lead to significant improvements in therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases, where effective drug delivery across the BBB remains a major challenge.

The Gauche‐Effect in 1,2‐Bis(arylsulfonate)ethanes

AbstractWith an aim of obtaining a fundamental understanding of C−C bond conformation theory, the molecular structure of an ethane with electron‐withdrawing groups, 1,2‐bis(4‐methoxybenzene‐sulfonate)ethane, was elucidated. According to the general conformation rule for alkanes, which states that molecules adopt a stabilized structure to avoid steric repulsion, ethanes typically adopt anti‐conformation. However, the title compound exhibited gauche‐conformation, as revealed by a single crystal diffraction study. Theoretical studies also support this behavior. Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis suggests that the orbital interaction between the σ*CO orbital, attributable to the sulfonate groups, and the adjacent σCH orbital stabilizes the gauche‐conformation. The authors conclude that the sulfonate group acts as a gauche‐effect synthon, which is widely applicable in organic chemistry.

Quantum Chemical Analysis of the Molecular and Fragment Ion Formation of Butyrophenone by High-Electric Field Tunnel Ionization at Atmospheric Pressure.

The molecular ion M+· was observed when the liquid sample of butyrophenone was supplied using atmospheric pressure corona discharge (APCD). In contrast, the vapor supply resulted in the formation of the protonated molecule [M+H]+. The mass spectrum obtained with the liquid supply showed two distinctive fragment ions at m/z 105 and 120, resulting from α-cleavage and McLafferty rearrangement (McLR), respectively. The APCD spectrum showed peaks of M+· and the characteristic two fragment ions that were the same as the field ionization mass spectra of butyrophenone as reported by Chait et al. and Beckey et al. The formation of the molecular and fragment ions strongly indicated that high-electric field tunnel ionization (HEFTI) occurs by the HEF strength exceeding 108 V/m at the tip of the corona needle in APCD. The charge and spin density distributions of the molecular and fragment ions were analyzed by quantum chemical calculations using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis.

Pd6C32: A pentagonal icositetrahedron molecule

A stable pentagonal icositetrahedron Pd6C32 with O symmetry has been predicted using ab initio calculations. Stabilities and electronic properties of the Pd6C32 cage were determined. The calculated vibrational frequencies of Pd6C32 range from 81.6 cm−1 to 1386.7 cm−1, with no imaginary frequency components, indicating its dynamic stability. When the molecular dynamics simulation temperature reaches 1300 K, the Pd6C32 molecule can maintain the initial topological structure. The comprehensive examination of the natural bond orbital (NBO) indicates that the C-Pd bond can be characterized as a σ bond formed by two-center two-electron (2c-2e), while the Pd atoms exhibit characteristics associated with d orbitals. The hollow cavity within Pd6C32 can serve as a suitable host for accommodating various atoms or molecules, thereby highlighting the advantages of investigating embedded fullerenes.

Synthesis, characterization, and Hirshfeld surface analysis of coordination compounds composed of two different aminopyridines, isothiocyanate ligand molecules, and two different transition metal atoms.

In this article, we describe the successful synthesis of three coordination compounds formed by the ligands 3-aminopyridine, 4-aminopyridine, and isothiocyanate ion with copper atoms and 4-aminopyridine and isothiocyanate ion with cadmium atoms, and their structural characterizations. The crystal structures of the compounds were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. According to that technique, the open formulae of these compounds are [Cu(3-aminopyridine)2(NCS)2] (1), [Cu(4-aminopyridine)3(NCS)2] (2), and [Cd(4-aminopyridine)2(NCS)Cl] (3). In addition, the suitability of the structures of the compounds was characterized by elemental analysis, thermal analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses of these coordination compounds showed that the first of these coordination compounds had a 1D crystal structure and the other two had a 3D crystal structure. N-H⋯S, N-H⋯N, N-H⋯Cl, N-H⋯π, and C-H⋯π bonds and their combinations were effective in the formation of the crystal structures of the said coordination compounds. The metal atoms [Cu(II), Cu(II), and Cd(II)] in these coordination compounds were surrounded by various ligand molecules in a square planar, square pyramidal, and octahedral arrangement, respectively. In order to investigate some chemical and structural properties of these coordination compounds, theoretical calculations were performed with the software package Gaussian 03. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), lowest occupied molecular orbital (LUMO), and natural bond orbital (NBO) values of the coordination compounds were used in these calculations. When the energy gap value between the HOMO and LUMO states of the compounds was examined, it was predicted that compound 3 may have lower kinetic stability, higher chemical activity, and lower semiconductor properties than all the other compounds. According to the Hirshfeld surface analysis of the compounds, C⋯H, S⋯H, H⋯H, and N⋯H interactions are generally seen in the crystal structures of all compounds. In addition, Cd⋯Cl, Cd⋯S, H⋯Cl, and Cl⋯Cl interactions also occur in compound 3.

Reduced Scaling Correlated Natural Transition Orbitals for Multilevel Coupled Cluster Calculations.

Multilevel coupled cluster theory offers reduced scaling computation of intensive properties in systems that are too large for standard coupled cluster calculations. A significant benefit of the multilevel coupled cluster framework is the possibility of calculating intensive properties that are not tightly localized if an appropriate set of active orbitals is used. Correlated natural transition orbitals (CNTOs) are tailored to describe excitation processes. For multilevel coupled cluster singles and doubles (MLCCSD) and singles and perturbative doubles (MLCC2) calculations, the construction of CNTOs generally becomes the computational bottleneck. Here, we demonstrate how CNTOs can be obtained with operations, eliminating the -scaling steps involved in the original approach. This reduction in scaling moves the bottleneck of MLCC2 and MLCCSD calculations from the active orbital space preparation to the MLCC2 and MLCCSD equations with -scaling.

Towards a complete description of the reaction mechanisms between nitrenium ions and water.

Nitrenium ions are intermediates in the metabolic routes producing the highly carcinogenic nitrosamines and binding to DNA molecules. The reaction mechanism of nitrenium molecules with explicit water molecules is sensibly dependent on the number of waters: when a second molecule is involved, it acts as a catalyst for the reaction, lowering intrinsic activation barriers regardless of the substituent. For all cases, the reaction force constants and reaction electron flux indicate highly synchronous reactions for . Conversely, for highly non-synchronous reactions are obtained, involving two separate proton transfers happening early and late in the reaction path. As a test case, for the simplest reactions, orbital interactions within the NBO paradigm, bond orders, and their derivatives indicate that each individual proton transfer is highly synchronous. Molecular geometries were optimized and characterized at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d, p) level. Intrinsic reaction coordinates were calculated. CCSD(T) single point energies with the same basis were computed on all stationary points. The reaction force, reaction force constant, and reaction electron flux are used to study the evolution of the reacting systems. Natural bond orbitals are used to understand the primitive changes driving the reaction.

Dual Sulfone-Bridged Triphenylamine Heteroaromatics for High-Performance Blue Organic Electroluminescence.

Polycyclic heteroaromatics (PHAs) are a highly versatile class of functional materials, especially applicable as efficient luminophores in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Those constructed by tethered phenyl surrounding the main group center attract extensive attention due to their excellent OLED device performance. However, the development of such a class of emitters is often limited to boron, nitrogen-doped π-conjugated heterocycles. Herein, we proposed a novel kind of blue emitter by constructing a donor-acceptor molecular configuration, utilizing a dual sulfone-bridged triphenylamine (BTPO) core and mono/di-diphenylamine (DPA) substituents. The twisted D-A molecular structures and appropriate donor strength facilitate the effective separation of natural transition orbitals, endowing the emitters with charge-transfer dominant hybridized local and charge-transfer characteristics for the excited states. Both BTPO-DPA and BTPO-2DPA own small S1-T1 splitting energy, thus demonstrating blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The more symmetrical structure and enhanced CT features brought by additional DPA moiety confer BTPO-2DPA with a shorter delayed fluorescence lifetime, a higher fluorescence quantum yield and narrower emission. Therefore, BTPO-2DPA based OLED devices exhibit superior blue electroluminescence performance, with external quantum efficiencies reaching 12.31 %.

DFT study of electronic and nonlinear optical properties of alkaline earth metals and superalkalis doped all-cis-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-hexafluorocyclohexane as an efficient excess electron system

Continual advancements are being pursued to discover innovative strategies for developing materials with remarkable nonlinear optical (NLO) response. Herein, electronic, geometric, thermodynamic and NLO properties of excess electron systems based on stacked Janus dimer, all-cis-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexafluorocyclohexane (C6H6F6)2 are thoroughly investigated. The excess electron systems are designed by doping alkaline earth metals (AEMs) on fluorine face and superalkalis on hydrogen face of Janus dimer. The higher values of vertical ionization energies (VIE) and interaction energies (Eint), confirm the electronic and thermodynamic stabilities of the designed complexes, respectively. Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis is performed, and the excess electron character of the complexes is confirmed through frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis by highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) iso-densities. FMO shows a significant decrease in energy gaps (Egap) of the complexes (i.e., Eg = 1.80–3.12 eV), compared to the stacked Janus dimer (i.e., Eg = 9.41 eV). The transparency of the complexes to UV region is confirmed through UV–vis analyses, revealing their maximum absorption in visible and near-IR regions. The higher NLO response of the designed excess electron systems is further proved by the greater values of first hyperpolarizability (β o ) i.e., up to 1.70 × 106 au. Moreover, the time dependent-density functional theory (TD-DFT) computations and two-level model are employed to investigate the controlling factors of hyperpolarizability, illustrating the contribution of transition energy (∆E3), change in dipole moment (∆μ) and oscillator strength (f o ) in controlling the β o . Ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation further confirm that the designed superalkalide complexes are kinetically and thermally stable. The thorough investigation of these excess electron systems proves them an appropriate candidate for NLO applications.

Skeletal Editing of Aromatic N-Heterocycles via Hydroborative Cleavage of C-N Bonds-Scope, Mechanism, and Property.

Skeletal editing of the core structure of heterocycles offers new opportunities for chemical construction and is a promising yet challenging research topic that has recently gained increasing interest. However, several limitations of the reported systems remain to be addressed. For example, the reagents employed are generally in high-energy, such as chlorocarbene precursors, nitrene species, and metal carbenes, which are also associated with low atomic efficiencies. Thus, the development of simple systems for the skeletal editing of heterocycles is still desired. Herein, a straightforward and facile BH3-mediated skeletal editing of readily available indoles, benzimidazoles, and several other aromatic heterocycles is reported. Structurally diverse products were readily obtained, including tetrahydrobenzo azaborinines, diazaboroles, O-anilinophenylethyl alcohols, benzene-1,2-diamines, and more. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis revealed a BH3-induced C-N bond cleavage reaction pathway. An exciting and counterintuitive indole hydroboration phenomenon of -BH2 shift from C3-position to C2-position was disclosed. Moreover, the photophysical properties of the synthesized diazaboroles were studied, and an interestingly and pronounced aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior was disclosed.