The MEDT today
Dear
Colleagues,
Six
year ago, in 2016, I published two relevant manuscripts: (a) Molecular Electron
Density Theory (MEDT): A Modern View of Reactivity in Organic Chemistry (Molecules 2016, 21, 1319); and (b) Applications of the Conceptual
Density Functional Theory Indices to Organic Chemistry Reactivity (Molecules
2016, 21, 748).
In the first one, I proposed a new theory
of reactivity in Organic Chemistry, i.e. MEDT, in which the changes in electron
density along a chemical reaction, and not molecular orbital interactions as
proposed K. Fukui’s Frontier Molecular Orbital (FMO) Theory (Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 1981 R. with R. Hoffman), are responsible for the chemical reactivity
of organic molecules.
MEDT rejects all theories, models, and interpretations based on molecular orbital (MO) analyses such as Hoffmann’s symmetry rules, K. N. Houk’s distortion/interaction energy model, and F. M. Bickelhaupt’s activation strain model.
In the
second one, I presented a revision of the most relevant Conceptual DFT (CDFT)
reactivity indices used in the study of organic reactivity, including the
electrophilicity w index, the nucleophilicity N index, and the Parr functions. The
CDFT reactivity indices, which are a powerful tool for experimental organic
chemists, play an important role in MEDT studies.
Today,
MEDT has been cited in 273 manuscripts, while the review of CDFT indices has been
cited in 642 manuscripts.
If
people recognized that by using the CDFT reactivity indices they are working
within the MEDT and cite it, the Houk’s and Bickelhaupt’s models based on MO interactions would
be widely rejected in organic chemistry and would be used only by chemical
physicists.
Prof Luis R. Domingo, FRSC
Molecular Electron Density Theory
Molecules 2016, 21, 1319
download
Studies based on the MEDT make it possible to rule out outdated concepts developed within the Molecular Orbital theory such as:
______________________________________________________________________
Publications based on MEDT
12. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of the [3+2] Cycloaddition Reaction of Nitrones with Strained Allene. RSC Adv. 2017, 7, 26879-26887.
15. A Molecular Electron Density Theory study of [3+2] cycloaddition reactions of chiral azomethine ylides with ß-nitrostyrene. Theor. Chem. Acc. 2017, 136:104.
16. Understanding the Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reactions of N-Susbtituted N-allyl-furfurylamines. An MEDT Study. ChemistrySelect 2017, 2, 9736.
17. Understanding the mechanism of the decomposition reaction of nitroethyl benzoate through the Molecular Electron Density Theory. Theor. Chem. Acc. 2017, 136:129.
18. A Molecular Electron Density Theory study of the chemo- and regioselective [3+2] cycloaddition reactions between trifluoroacetonitrile N-oxide and thioketones
Chemical Physics 2018, 501, 128-137.
19. Experimental and Theoretical MEDT Study of the Thermal [3+2] Cycloaddition Reactions of Aryl Azides with Alkyne Derivatives. ChemistrySelect 2018, 3, 1215– 1223.
20. The Mysticism of Pericyclic Reactions. A Contemporary Rationalisation of Organic Reactivity Based on the Electron Density Analysis. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2018, 1107–1120.
21. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of the Reactivity and Selectivities in [3+2] Cycloaddition Reactions of C,N-Dialkyl Nitrones with Ethylene Derivatives. J. Org. Chem. 2018, 83, 2182−2197.
22. A Molecular Electron Density Theory study of the [3+2] cycloaddition reaction between an azomethine imine and electron deficient ethylenes. J. Phys. Org. Chem. 2017, 31:e3830.
23. Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of Fused Regioselectivity in the Intramolecular [3+2] Cycloaddition Reaction of Nitrones. ChemistrySelect 2018, 3, 5412–5420.
24. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of the Role of the Copper-Metallation of Azomethine Ylides in [3+2] Cycloaddition Reactions. J. Org. Chem. 2018, 83, 10959-10973.
25. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of the Competitiveness of Polar Diels-Alder and Polar Alder Ene Reactions. Molecules 2018, 23, 1913.
26. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of the Chemoselectivity, Regioselectivity and Diastereofacial Selectivity in the Synthesis of an Anti-Cancer Spiro-Isoxazoline derived from α-Santonin. Molecules 2019, 24, 832.
27. Understanding the Mechanism of Nitrobenzene Nitration with Nitronium Ion. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study. ChemistrySelect 2019, 4, 13313–13319
28. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of the Enhanced Reactivity of Aza Aromatic Compounds Participating in Diels-Alder Reactions. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2020, 18, 292 –304
29. A molecular electron density theory study of the Grignard reagent-mediated regioselective direct synthesis of 1,5-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles. J. Phys. Org. Chem. 2020, e4062
30. Unveiling the Different Chemical Reactivity of Diphenyl Nitrilimine and Phenyl Nitrile Oxide in [3+2] Cycloaddition Reactions with (R)-Carvone through the Molecular Electron Density Theory. Molecules 2020, 25, 1085.
31. A Molecular Electron Density Theory Study of the Reactivity of Tetrazines in Aza-Diels-Alder Reactions. RSC Adv. 2020, 10, 15394.
32. A molecular electron density theory study on an oxa-Diels-Alder reaction: exploration of different impacts of AlCl3 as a Lewis acid catalyst. ChemistrySelect 2020, 5, 5341.
33. Unveiling the Lewis Acid Catalysed Diels–Alder Reactions Through the Molecular Electron Density Theory. Molecules 2020, 25, 2535.
Review
Theoretical reactivity indices based on the conceptual Density
Functional Theory (DFT) have become a powerful tool for the semiquantitative
study of organic reactivity. A large number of reactivity indices have
been proposed in the literature. Herein, global quantities like the electronic chemical
potential m, the electrophilicity w, and the
nucleophilicity N indices, and local condensed indices
like the electrophilic and nucleophilic P(r) Parr functions, as the most relevant indices
for the study of organic reactivity, are discussed.
Understanding the high reactivity of carbonyl compounds towards nucleophilic carbenoid intermediates generated from carbene isocyanides
RSC Adv. 2015, 5, 84797-84809
Download the Open Access Article
Domingo has reached the following bibliometric rates:
Publications: 360
Citations: 14.400
Index h: 56
Thanks to those who have contributed to this vast work, and those who have read and cited the corresponding publications.
A New C-C Bond Formation Model Based on the Quantum Chemical Topology of Electron Density
ELF topological analyses of bonding changes in non-polar, polar and ionic organic reactions involving the participation of C=C(X) double bonds make it possible to establish a unified model for C-C bond formation. This model is characterised by a C-to-C coupling of two pseudoradical centers (J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 373) generated at the most significant atoms of the reacting molecules. The global electron density transfer (GEDT) process that takes place along polar and ionic reactions favours the creation of these pseudoradical centers at the most nucleophilic/electrophilic centers of the reacting molecules, decreasing activation energies. The proposed reactivity model based on the topological analysis of the changes in electron density along a reaction makes it possible to reject the frontier molecular orbital reactivity model based on the analysis of molecular orbitals.