title: Experimental support for planar pseudopericyclic transition states in thermal cheletropic decarbonylations.
abstract: Low-temperature crystal structures of three pyrrolediones (3-5) and a furandione (9) were obtained and compared to structurally related compounds that cannot undergo decarbonylation. Systematic trends in bond lengths and angles are consistent with distortions along the reaction coordinate, in accord with the structure correlation principle of Dunitz. Since the pyrroledione and furandione rings in 3-5 and 9 are planar, these ground-state geometries prefigure the calculated planar, pseudopericyclic transition states.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79401-1061, USA.
authors.forename: Han-Xun
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Sihyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ham
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Birney