Shaping Polyyne Rods by Using an Electric Field.

When a homogenous electric field is applied to polyynes (C10 and C20) perpendicular to their long axis, they bend to form an arch. The height of the arch is proportional to the intensity of the electric field. The direction of the bend and its magnitude depend on the electronic nature (donor/acceptor) of the substituents at the termini of the polyyne.

Conjugation in polyyne rods: to what extent is charge delocalization coupled to geometrical changes?

Ab initio methods were used to calculate the geometry and the charge distribution (natural bond orbital) in end-protonated polyynes. The geometry obtained is practically identical to that of the corresponding anion and the neutral radical. Thus, the geometry is not much dependent on charge dispersal.

Strain energy release and intrinsic barriers in internal nucleophilic reactions.

This paper reports computational data for the energetics of internal attacks, both in ring-opening reactions (eq 3) where strain energy is released and in model, strain-free systems (eq 4). A comparison is drawn with the corresponding bimolecular processes. The exothermicity of three-membered ring-opening reactions is significantly larger than that of the four-membered ring systems.

Uncatalyzed Meerwein-Ponndorf-Oppenauer-Verley reduction of aldehydes and ketones under supercritical conditions.

When a solution of a carbonyl compound in alcohol (primary or secondary) is heated to ca. 300 degrees C, a disproportionation reaction, in which a carbonyl compound is reduced to the corresponding alcohol and the alcohol is oxidized to the corresponding ketone, takes place. This uncatalyzed variation of the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Oppenauer-Verley reaction gives, in certain cases, e.

Could ionic gamma-elimination be concerted: clocking the internal displacement across a cyclobutane ring.

Carbanion 1, obtained by a nucleophilic attack of PhSe- on 3-chlorobicyclobutane-carbonitrile in DME undergoes both protonation and elimination as shown in eq 1. Alcohols of increasing acidity in the following order: t-BuOH, i-PrOH, MeOH, trifluoroethanol (TFE), and hexafluoro2-propanol (HFIP) were used as proton donors. An Eigen-type plot of the log of the product ratio (protonation/elimination) vs the pK(a) of the alcohols, levels off for the two most acidic alcohols, TFE and HFIP which react at a diffusion-controlled rate.