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Updated: Nov 2, 2025

Continuous Flow Chemistry: Reaction of Diphenyldiazomethane with p-Nitrobenzoic Acid
Published on: November 15, 2017
Competition between N and O: use of diazine N-oxides as a test case for the Marcus theory rationale for ambident
Kevin J Sheehy1, Lorraine M Bateman1,2,3, Niko T Flosbach4
1School of Chemistry, Analytical and Biological Chemistry Research Facility, University College Cork College Road Cork Ireland peter.byrne@ucc.ie.
Abstract:
The preferred site of alkylation of diazine N-oxides by representative hard and soft alkylating agents was established conclusively using the 1H-15N HMBC NMR technique in combination with other NMR spectroscopic methods. Alkylation of pyrazine N-oxides (1 and 2) occurs preferentially on nitrogen regardless of the alkylating agent employed, while O-methylation of pyrimidine N-oxide (3) is favoured in its reaction with MeOTf. As these outcomes cannot be explained in the context of the hard/soft acid/base (HSAB) principle, we have instead turned to Marcus theory to rationalise these results. Marcus intrinsic barriers (ΔG ‡ 0) and Δr G° values were calculated at the DLPNO-CCSD(T)/def2-TZVPPD/SMD//M06-2X-D3/6-311+G(d,p)/SMD level of theory for methylation reactions of 1 and 3 by MeI and MeOTf, and used to derive Gibbs energies of activation (ΔG ‡) for the processes of N- and O-methylation, respectively. These values, as well as those derived directly from the DFT calculations, closely reproduce the observed experimental N- vs. O-alkylation selectivities for methylation reactions of 1 and 3, indicating that Marcus theory can be used in a semi-quantitative manner to understand how the activation barriers for these reactions are constructed. It was found that N-alkylation of 1 is favoured due to the dominant contribution of Δr G° to the activation barrier in this case, while O-alkylation of 3 is favoured due to the dominant contribution of the intrinsic barrier (ΔG ‡ 0) for this process. These results are of profound significance in understanding the outcomes of reactions of ambident reactants in general.
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