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Theoretical investigation of the regioselective ring opening of 2-methylaziridine. Lewis acid effect

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Abstract

The formation of substituted 1,2-diamines via the regiospecific nucleophilic ring opening of 2-methylaziridine with methylamine was performed by nucleophilic attack at aziridine carbon atoms. A detailed theoretical study was investigated by density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP level and second order Moller Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) by using the 6-311G(d,p) basis set. The third Grimme correction term (D3) was used to take into account weak interactions. Solvent effects were computed in methanol and dimethylsulfoxide using the polarizable continuum model (PCM). Emphasis was placed on the ring opening mechanisms of neutral aziridines and aziridinium ions obtained through N-complexation with the BF3 Lewis acid. Moreover, the effect of substituent groups on the regioselectivity of the ring opening was investigated. The nucleophilic attack was carried out via two pathways (frontside attack M1 and backside attack M2) where activation barriers proved the preference for ring opening through the backside attack at the C3 aziridine carbon atom. The obtained results showed that the frontside attack with methylamine takes place along a concerted mechanism that leads to formation of products through one transition state. However, the backside attack is carried via a stepwise process in which the methylamine attack takes place in an SN2 fashion where the leaving group is the ring nitrogen. It first conduces a ring opening considered as the rate-determining step followed by formation of a zwitterionic intermediate. This latter undergoes a rotation to allow the proton transfer step and finally leads to formation of the thermodynamic products.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and would like to thank Professor Bahoueddine Tangour for valuable insights and recommendations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Tunis El Manar, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire Farhat Hached d’El Manar – B.P. 94 Cité Rommana, 1068, Tunis, Tunisie

    Emna Cherni

  2. Université de Carthage, LR11ES22, Laboratoire Matériaux Molécules et Applications (LMMA), IPEST, BP51, La Marsa, 2070, Tunisie

    Emna Cherni, Manef Abderrabba & Sameh Ayadi

  3. Université de Tunis El Manar, Unité de Recherche en Sciences Fondamentales et Didactiques- Equipe de chimie théorique et réactivité, (UR14ES10) IPEI El Manar, Tunis, Tunisie

    Khaled Essalah

  4. Laboratoire Matériaux Composites et Minéraux Argileux - Groupe de Chimie Organique Verte et Appliquée (LMCMA), Centre National de Recherches en Sciences des Matériaux, Technopole Borj Cédria, Soliman, 8027, Tunisie

    Néji Besbes

  5. Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (INSTM), Laboratoire Milieu Marin, Centre la Goulette, La Goulette, Tunisie

    Sameh Ayadi

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  1. Emna Cherni
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  2. Khaled Essalah
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Correspondence to Emna Cherni.

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Cherni, E., Essalah, K., Besbes, N. et al. Theoretical investigation of the regioselective ring opening of 2-methylaziridine. Lewis acid effect. J Mol Model 24, 309 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00894-018-3833-2

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