Croix J. Laconsay

Oct 8, 2024 | pubs.rsc.org | Croix J. Laconsay |Judy Wu

Is aromaticity loss necessary for transition-metal promoted arene–alkene cycloadditions?† Computed gas-phase reaction profiles for Diels–Alder reactions, nucleus-independent chemical shifts, and bonding analyses for substituted and metal complexed, η2-, η4-, η6-coordinated arenes reveal that dearomatization is necessary for arenes to exhibit ene- and diene-like reactivity.

May 8, 2024 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | David Gutierrez |Garrett Toth-Williams |Croix J. Laconsay |Michael Yasuda

Sulfonimidamides (SIAs) are aza-substituted variants of the sulfonamide functional group and were initially discovered in 1930.1 The additional basic nitrogen of the SIA creates a stereogenic, configurationally stable, tetrahedral sulfur atom.1, 2, 3 Due to the SIA's three dimensional structure, they possess a directional vector with a basic nitrogen atom that can act as either a hydrogen bond donor or acceptor.

Apr 4, 2023 | dx.doi.org | Croix J. Laconsay |Dean J Tantillo

We describe the various escape channels available to dirhodium carbene intermediates from cycloheptatrienyl diazo compounds located with density functional theory. An intramolecular cyclopropanation would, in principle, provide a new route to semibullvalenes (SBVs). A detailed exploration of the potential energy surface reveals that methylating carbon-7 suppresses a competing β-hydride migration pathway to heptafulvene products, giving SBV formation a reasonable chance.