A Computational Investigation of the Stability of Cyclopropyl Carbenes

Abstract

The conformations of dicyclopropyl, isopropyl cyclopropyl, and diisopropylcarbenes were optimized using density functional theory (B3LYP/6-31G(d)). We showed that the optimized geometries of carbenes with cyclopropyl groups are fully in accord with those expected for bisected W-shaped conformations, in which the effective hyperconjugation of a cyclopropyl group with singlet carbene can occur. The stabilization energies were evaluated at the B3LYP/6-311+G(3df, 2p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) + ZPE level using an isodesmic equation. The relative stability of carbenes is in the order (c-Pr)2C: > (i-Pr)(c-Pr)C: > (i-Pr)2C:, and a cyclopropyl group stabilizes carbene more than an isopropyl group by nearly 9 kcal/mol. Energies for the decomposition of diazo compounds to carbenes increase in the order (c-Pr)2 < (i-Pr)(c-Pr)