title: Stepwise cope rearrangement of cyclo-biphenalenyl via an unusual multicenter covalent pi-bonded intermediate.
abstract: Multicenter covalent pi-bonding between pi-conjugated radicals has been recently recognized as a novel and important bonding interaction. The Cope rearrangement of cyclo-biphenalenyl 9 is studied by exploring its potential energy surface with density functional theory (DFT), and it is found that pi-bonding plays a critical role in the rearrangement process. Affected by this, the rearrangement of 9 takes place by a stepwise mechanism through an unusual pi-intermediate 10, of C2h symmetry, which can be characterized as a 2 x 13pi + 2 x 2pi system. The pi-intermediate has a long inter-phenalenyl distance of R approximately 2.8 angstroms, which is shorter than the sum of the van der Waals radii displaying multicenter covalent pi-bonding between the two phenalenyl units. The energy of the pi-intermediate 10 is higher than that of the sigma-bonded reactant 9 by approximately 2 kcal/mol according to the employed spin-restricted DFT. NMR chemical shift calculations support the sigma-bonded 9 as the global minimum. The calculated activation barrier of approximately 6 kcal/mol for the Cope rearrangement is consistent with the stepwise mechanism. A covalent pi-bonding effect in the pi-intermediate 10 is demonstrated indirectly by the shortening of inter-naphthalene distance of the dianion and dication of the cyclophane 14 compared to that of its neutral counterpart. The unusual pi-bonded structure with a long inter-phenalenyl distance becomes the most stable structure for the ethano-bridged derivative 13, which should have observable paramagnetism according to the calculated paramagnetic susceptibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Georgetown University, 37th and O Street, Washington, DC 20057-1227, USA.
authors.forename: Jingsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Miklos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kertesz