Theoretical elucidation on the functional role of pyrrolidine-type ionic liquids in inducing stereoselectivity of the Michael addition of cyclohexanone with trans-β-nitrostyrene.

Density functional theory calculations have been carried out to elucidate the stereoselectivity of the Michael addition of cyclohexanone with trans-β-nitrostyrene, induced by a chiral ionic liquid (CIL) pyrrolidine-imidazolium bromide. By comparison of the C-C bond forming processes in the absence and presence of Br(-) anion, we found that intermolecular H-bonds between the imidazolium cation and the nitro group of trans-β-nitrostyrene and the steric hindrance of the imidazolium cation moiety on the Si-face of enamine dominate the stereoselectivity of the Michael addition. The presence of Br(-) anion obviously reduces the barrier by increasing the polarity of the C4=C5 bond of enamine. The theoretical results rationalize well the early experimental finding, and reveal a valuable clue for the further CIL design with high catalytic efficiency.