Quantum Chemical Studies of Aromatic Substitution Reactions

In this thesis, density functional theory (DFT) is used to investigate the mechanisms and reactivities of electrophilic and nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions (SEAr and SNAr respectively). For SEAr, the σ-complex intermediate is preceded by one (halogenation) or two (nitration) π-complex intermediates. Whereas the rate-determining transition state (TS) for nitration resembles the second π-complex, the corresponding chlorination TS is much closer to the σ-complex. The last step, the expulsion of the proton, is modeled with an explicit solvent molecule in combination with PCM and confirmed to be a nearly barrierless process for nitration/chlorination and involves a substantial energy barrier for iodination. It is also shown for nitration that the gas phase structures and energetics are very different from those in polar solvent. The potential energy surface for SNAr reactions differs greatly depending on leaving group; the σ-complex intermediate exist for F/HF, but for Cl/HCl or Br/HBr the calculations indicate a concerted mechanism. These mechanistic results form a basis for the investigations of predictive reactivity models for aromatic substitution reactions. For SEAr reactions, the free energy of the rate-determining TS reproduces both local (regioselectivity) and global reactivity (substrate selectivity) with good to excellent accuracy. For SNAr reactions good accuracies are obtained for Cl/HCl or Br/HBr as leaving group, using TS structures representing a one-step concerted mechanism. The σ-complex intermediate can be used as a reactivity indicator for the TS energy, and for SEAr the accuracy of this method varies in a way that can be rationalized with the Hammond postulate. It is more accurate the later the rate-determining TS, that is the more deactivated the reaction. For SNAr reactions with F/HF as leaving group, the same method gives excellent accuracy for both local and global reactivity irrespective of the degree of activation.