The term bispericyclic reaction was famously coined by Caramella et a l in 2002[cite]10.1021/ja016622h[/cite] to describe the unusual features of the apparently innocuous dimerisation of cyclopentadiene. It shows features of two paths for different pericyclic reactions, comprising a 2+4 cycloaddition in the early stages, but evolving into a (degenerate) pair of [3,3] sigmatropic reactions in the latter stages.

In previously asking what the largest angle subtended at four-coordinate carbon might be, I noted that as the angle increases beyond 180°, the carbon becomes inverted, or hemispherical (all four ligands in one hemisphere). So what does a search for this situation reveal in the CSD?

Four-coordinate carbon normally adopts a tetrahedral shape, where the four angles at the carbon are all 109.47°. But how large can that angle get, and can it even get to be 180°? A search of the CSD (crystal structure database) reveals a spiropentane as having the largest such angle, VAJHAP with 164°[cite]10.1021/ja00186a058[/cite] Because crystal structures might have artefacts such as disorder etc, it is always good to check this with a

The recently reported synthesis[cite]10.1126/science.abq0516[/cite] of octafluorocubane established a sublimation point as 168.1–177.1°C (a melting point was not observed). In contrast, the heavier perfluoro-octane has an m.p. of -25°C. Why the difference?

Derek Lowe reports the story[cite]10.1126/science.abq0516[/cite] that the recently synthesized octafluorocubane can absorb one electron to form a radical anion – an electron in a cube . So I thought it would be fun to compute exactly where that electron sits!

A previous post was triggered by Peter alerting me that interactive electronic supporting information ( IESI ) we had submitted to a journal in 2005[cite]10.1021/ic0519988[/cite] appeared to be strangely missing from the article landing page. This set me off recollecting our journey, which had started around 1998, and to explore what the current state of these ancient IESI s were in 2022.

Previously, I looked at autocatalytic mechanisms where the carboxyl group of an oxetane-carboxylic acid could catalyse its transformation to a lactone, finding that a chain of two such groups were required to achieve the result. Here I look at an alternative mode where the oxetane-carboxylate itself acts as the transfer chain, via a H-bonded dimer shown below.

Having established a viable model for the unexpected isomerism of oxetane carboxylic acids to lactones[cite]10.1021/acs.orglett.2c01402[/cite], and taken a look at a variation in the proton transfer catalyst needed to accomplish the transformation, I now investigate the substrate itself.

Previously, a mechanism with a reasonable predicted energy was modelled for the isomerisation of an oxetane carboxylic acid to a lactone by using two further molecules of acid to transfer the proton and in the process encouraging an Sn2 reaction with inversion to open the oxetane ring. We are now ready to explore variations to this mechanism to see what happens.

In 2006[cite]10.1021/ic0519988[/cite] we published an article illustrating various types of pseudorotations in small molecules. It’s been cited 20 times since then, so reasonable interest! We described rotations known as Lever and Turnstile as well as the better known Berry mode. Because the differences between these rotations are quite subtle, we included an interactive electronic supporting information to illustrate them.

In the previous post, I looked at the intramolecular rearrangement of the oxetane carboxylic acid to a lactone, finding the barrier to the Sn2 reaction with retention was unfeasibly high. Here I explore alternatives. This first attempt uses a second molecule of a carboxylic acid (modelled as formic acid for simplicity) to see if it can catalyse the reaction.