title: NO(2)(+) nitration mechanism of aromatic compounds: electrophilic vs charge-transfer process
abstract: The nitration of methylnaphthalenes with NO(2)BF(4) and NOBF(4) was examined in order to shed light on the controversial aromatic nitration mechanism, electrophilic vs charge-transfer process. The NO(2)(+) nitration of 1,8-dimethylnaphthalene showed a drastic regioselectivity change depending on the reaction temperature, where ortho-regioselectivity at -78 degrees C and para-regioselectivity at 0 degrees C were considered to reflect the electrophilic and the direct or alternative charge-transfer process, respectively, because the NO(+) nitration through the same reaction intermediates as in the NO(2)(+) nitration via a charge-transfer process resulted in para-regioselectivity regardless of the reaction temperature. The NO(2)(+) nitration of redox potential methylnaphthalenes higher than 1,8-dimethylnaphthalene gave a similar ortho-regioselectivity enhancement to 1,8-dimethylnaphthalene at lower temperature, thus reflecting the electrophilic process. On the other hand, the NO(2)(+) nitration of redox potential methylnaphthalenes lower than 1,8-dimethylnaphthalene showed para-regioselectivity similar to the NO(+) nitration, indicating the direct or alternative charge-transfer process. In the presence of strong acids where the direct charge-transfer process will be suppressed by protonation, the ortho-regioselectivity enhancement was observed in the NO(2)(+) nitration of 1,8-dimethylnaphthalene, suggesting that the direct charge-transfer process could be the main process to show para-regioselectivity. These experimental results imply that the NO(2)(+) nitration proceeds via not only electrophilic but also direct charge-transfer processes, which has been considered to be unlikely because of the high energy demanding process of a bond coordination change between NO(2)(+) and NO(2). Theoretical studies at the MP2/6-31G(d) level predicted ortho- and para-regioselectivity for the NO(2)(+) nitration via electrophilic and charge-transfer processes, respectively, and the preference of the direct charge-transfer process over the alternative one, which support the experimental conclusion
authors.affiliation: Osaka National Research Institute, AIST, 1-8-31, Midorigaoka, Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577, Japan, and Kansai Research Institute, Kyoto Research Park 17, Chudoji Minami-machi, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8813, Japan.
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Souma
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi