COMPARISON OF THE REACTIVITY OF THIOPHENE, THIOPHENE 1-OXIDE, AND THIOPHENE 1,1-DIOXIDE AS DIENE FOR DIELS-ALDER REACTIONS - AN AM1 SEMIEMPIRICAL STUDY

A semiempirical AM1 theoretical study was carried out to examine the very low reactivity of thiophene; for example, the high reactivity of thiophene 1-oxide as a diene in the Diels Alder reactions. The reactivities of cyclopentadiene, thiophene, thiophene 1-oxide, and thiophene 1,1-dioxide were studied as dienes in the reaction with ethylene, cyclopropene, and benzoquinone. Ethylene was chosen as a standard, while cyclapropene, with its high strain energy was released in the course of a reaction making it relatively reactive. The benzoquinone has a lower LUMO energy, making it a very reactive dienophile for the Diels-Alder reaction. Frontier molecular orbital energy gap between the reactants was considered, and the disadvantage of this approach in studying the reactivity was demonstrated. For all combinations, the corresponding transition structures are generated and the activation energies are estimated. The estimated activation barrier for sulfur dioxide elimination from the adduct was used to explain the failure to accumulate the cycloadduct in the reaction mixture. The obtained results are compared with experimental data when available. An excellent agreement of theory and experiment was obtained.