Toward an understanding of the catalytic role of hydrogen-bond donor solvents in the hetero-Diels-Alder reaction between acetone and butadiene derivative.

A detailed theoretical investigation of the catalytic role of hydrogen-bond- (HB-) donor molecules (water, methanol, chloroform, dichloromethane, and chloromethane) in the hetero-Diels-Alder reaction between acetone and N,N-dimethyl-1-amino-3-methoxy-1,3-butadiene is presented. This work extends a previous study (Domingo, L. R.; Andres, J. J. Org. Chem. 2003, 68, 8662) in which the importance of weak HB-donor solvents to catalyze more effectively than solvents with a higher dielectric constant but no HB-donor capability was analyzed. Now, based on density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-31+G(d) level calculations, different techniques for analyzing the nature of HB interaction, namely, natural bond orbital (NBO) theory, topological analysis of the electron density (atoms in molecules, AIM, theory), and the electron localization function (ELF) and decomposition of the interaction energy between monomers (energy decomposition analysis, EDA), have been applied to understand why only some HB-donor solvents are able to catalyze the reaction. The catalytic effect of the solvent arises from the improved HB-acceptor capability of the oxygen atom at the transition structure (TS) due to the strong polarization of the carbonyl group. The HB acceptor presents three lone pairs (NBO analysis), and the ELF shows an increment of the electronic charge of the lone pairs of 0.50e with respect to the reactant. All solvent molecules form stronger HB interactions at the TS, but only those presenting larger charge-transfer interactions (water, methanol, chloroform) benefit more from the polarization of the carbonyl group than other solvents (dichloromethane, chloromethane) with less "covalent" character.