Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.130, No.44, 14388-14388, 2008
N-Heterocyclic Superelectrophiles and Evidence for Single Electron Transfer Chemistry
In reactions with benzene and related substrates, an oxazole-based superrelectrophile is found to be significantly more reactive than a related monocationic species. Theoretical calculations estimate that the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) for the superelectrophile is about 4 eV lower in energy than the LUMOs of comparable monocations. When the oxazole-based superelectrophile is reacted with ferrocene, a dimeric product is formed in high yield. The dimerization occurs by a single electron transfer reaction between the dicationic superelectrophile and ferrocene, followed by coupling of the radical cations.