Germacrene D cyclization: An ab initio investigation

Abstract

Essential oils that contain large concentrations of germacrene D are typically accompanied by cadinane sesquiterpenoids. The acid-catalyzed cyclization of germacrene D to give cadinane and selinane sesquiterpenes has been computationally investigated using both density functional (B3LYP/6-31G*) and post Hartree-Fock (MP2/6-31G**) ab initio methods. The calculated energies are in general agreement with experimentally observed product distributions, both from acid-catalyzed cyclizations as well as distribution of the compounds in essential oils. © 2008 by MDPI.