Herein we report the employment of the quintuply bonded dichromium amidinates [Cr{κ -HC(N-2,6- Pr C H )(N-2,6-R C H )}] (R=iPr (1), Me (7)) as catalysts to mediate the [2+2+2] cyclotrimerization of terminal alkynes giving 1,3,5-trisubstituted benzenes. During the catalysis, the ultrashort Cr-Cr quintuple bond underwent reversible cleavage/formation, corroborated by the characterization of two inverted arene sandwich dichromium complexes (μ-η :η -1,3,5-(Me Si) C H )[Cr{κ -HC(N-2,6- Pr C H )(N-2,6-R C H )}] (R= Pr (5), Me (8)). In the presence of σ donors, such as THF and 2,4,6-Me C H CN, the bridging arene 1,3,5-(Me Si) C H in 5 and 8 was extruded and 1 and 7 were regenerated. Theoretical calculations were employed to disclose the reaction pathways of these highly regioselective [2+2+2] cylcotrimerization reactions of terminal alkynes.

NHC can catalyze benzoin condensation via the key Breslow intermediate. EPR spectroscopy recently confirmed the existence of the radical species, but its catalytic role is still unclear. Herein, we use density functional approaches to study the radical-associated pathway in comparison with the nonradical mechanism reported previously. Theoretical investigations show that the nonradical path (ΔG ⧧ = 18.7 kcal/mol) is more kinetically favorable than the radical route (ΔG ⧧ = 27.6 kcal/mol), which is initialized by the hydrogen abstraction from the Breslow intermediate by benzaldehyde, leading to a radical pair. The product formation is thus dominated by the nonradical pathway. In addition, the Breslow intermediate is less stable than its keto form, which blocks the benzoin condensation, and the radical species could play an important role in assisting the tautomerization and promoting the catalytic reaction.

The model system of the diamidinate Cr I −Cr I complex is investigated by wave function theory (WFT) and Kohn−Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT). The multireference perturbation theory (RASPT2) estimates a stabilization energy of ca. 20 kcal mol −1 for the δ bonding. The multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory (MC-PDFT) with the ftPBE functional well predicts the singlet energy curve comparable to the RASPT2 level. For the KS-DFT scheme based on a single determinant, seven functionals including BP86, BLYP, PBE, B3LYP, M06-L, M06, and ωB97X-D are assessed: two types of functionals are classified according to the nature of the restricted and broken symmetry potential energy curves. The broken symmetry scheme with the type I functionals can give good results for the energy curve in agreement with the multireference calculations. In regard to the metal−metal bonding, the restricted KS-DFT calculations performed by all of the seven functionals yield inferior description due to the lack of significant multiconfigurational character. The Mayer bond order, the electron localization function, and electron density predicted by the broken symmetry formalism with the type II functionals are consistent with those obtained with the multireference theory.

Breslow intermediates play crucial roles in both umpolung and redox reactions in N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis. Compared to the well-known nucleophilic character, the electronic structure of Breslow intermediates on the radical route is still unclear. We investigate the potential energy surfaces with highlevel ab initio methods for four typical Breslow intermediates in both of their enol and enolate forms. In the enol form, high energies of around 60 kcal/mol to the Rydberg-like states and those higher than 120 kcal/mol to remove an electron demonstrate that the enol Breslow intermediates tend not to generate radicals unless strong oxidants are present. The low-lying dipole-bound states and small electron detachment energies in the enolate form in contrast show that the enolate Breslow intermediates are possible precursors to radicals. More importantly, metastable dipole-bound states exist in the imidazole-and the triazole-based enolate Breslow intermediates. Energies to detach one electron of several enolate Breslow intermediates reveal that the bulky and electron-withdrawing groups stabilize the singlet ground states, which explains that the utilization of such substituents can lead to successful isolation for Breslow intermediates in experiments.