An In-Depth Computational Study of Alkene Cyclopropanation Catalyzed by Fe(porphyrin)(OCH3) Complexes. The Environmental Effects on the Energy Barriers

Iron porphyrin methoxy complexes, of the general formula [Fe(porphyrin)(OCH3)], are able to catalyze the reaction of diazo compounds with alkenes to give cyclopropane products with very high efficiency and selectivity. The overall mechanism of these reactions was thoroughly investigated with the aid of a computational approach based on density functional theory calculations. The energy profile for the processes catalyzed by the oxidized [FeIII(Por)(OCH3)] (Por = porphine) as well as the reduced [FeII(Por)(OCH3)]- forms of the iron porphyrin was determined. The main reaction step is the same in both of the cases, that is, the one leading to the terminal-carbene intermediate [Fe(Por)(OCH3)(CHCO2Et)] with simultaneous dinitrogen loss; however, the reduced species performs much better than the oxidized one. Contrarily to the iron(III) profile in which the carbene intermediate is directly obtained from the starting reactant complex, the favored iron(II) process is more intricate. The initially formed reactant adduct between [FeII(Por)(OCH3)]- and ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) is converted into a closer reactant adduct, which is in turn converted into the terminal iron porphyrin carbene [Fe(Por)(OCH3)(CHCO2Et)]-. The two corresponding transition states are almost isoenergetic, thus raising the question of whether the rate-determining step corresponds to dinitrogen loss or to the previous structural and electronic rearrangement. The ethylene addition to the terminal carbene is a downhill process, which, on the open-shell singlet surface, presents a defined but probably short-living diradicaloid intermediate, though other spin-state surfaces do not show this intermediate allowing a direct access to the cyclopropane product. For the crucial stationary points, the more complex catalyst [Fe(2)(OCH3)], in which a sterically hindered chiral bulk is mounted onto the porphyrin, was investigated. The corresponding computational data disclose the very significant effect of the porphyrin skeleton on the reaction energy profile. Though the geometrical features around the reactive core of the system remain unchanged, the energy barriers become much lower, thus revealing the profound effects that can be exerted by the three-dimensional organic scaffold surrounding the reaction site.