Abstract
The dihydroxylation of a set of monosubstituted olefins [ethene (1), propene (2), styrene (3)] and 5-methylene-2(5H)-furanone [protoanemonin (4)] by osmium tetroxide have been studied by means of DFT (B3LYP) calculations. The effect on the reaction mechanism of the coordination of a base (NH3) to OsO4 (5) to form OsO4-NH3 (6) has been investigated. These calculations show that the activation barriers for the [3+2] concerted mechanisms are lowered by the presence of an amine coordinating the osmium tetroxide, in agreement with experiment. For the dihydroxylation of protoanemonin (an olefin having a stepwise diradical mechanism in the Diels-Alder reaction) both the concerted and the diradical mechanisms have been evaluated. These studies indicate that the dihydroxylation of olefins proceeds through a concerted mechanism, although in the dihydroxylation of protoanemonin the diradical mechanism may play a significant role. © Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 833-839 |
Journal | European Journal of Organic Chemistry |
Issue number | 5 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2003 |
Keywords
- Alkenes
- Catalysis
- Density functional calculations
- Hydroxylation
- Ligand effects