Generation and reactivity of simple chloro(aryl)carbenes within the cavities of nonacidic zeolites.

A number of para-substituted chloro(aryl)carbenes are generated within the cavities of a series of dry alkali metal cation-exchanged zeolites (LiY, NaY, KY, RbY, and CsY) upon laser flash photolysis of the corresponding diazirine precursor. The absolute reactivity of the chloro(aryl)carbene is found to be strongly dependent on both the nature of the electron-donating and -withdrawing properties of the aryl substituent and the nature of the zeolite charge-balancing cations. The results strongly suggest that two opposing mechanisms for capture of the carbene can occur depending on whether the zeolite framework behaves as a nucleophilic reagent or an electrophilic reagent in its reaction with the carbene center. Hammett relationships for the decay of the carbene as a function of aryl substituent and zeolite counterion versus the sigma+ substituent parameter support a change in mechanism as the carbene center toggles between being electron poor and electron rich. For the electron-poor chloro(4-nitrophenyl)carbene, a framework adduct is proposed upon reaction of the nucleophilic [Si-O-Al]- bridge with the carbene center, and for the electron-rich chloro(4-methoxyphenyl)carbene, an adduct with the tight Li+ cation is proposed.