No abstract

Substituted phenylthioureas have been established as efficient organocatalysts and substituents containing electron withdrawing CF 3 groups have been shown to enhance catalytic efficiency. The effect of the CF 3 groups on binding of catalysts to substrates in solution has however remained elusive. Here, we report on the effect of CF 3 substituted diphenylthioureas on the association with the substrate 1,3-diphenyl-2propenone in solution by using a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. We use the ensemble-averaged chemical shift of the thiourea proton as function of substrate concentration to determine the association constants between catalyst and substrate. To experimentally discriminate between free and bound catalyst we use infrared absorption spectra, which show a red-shift of thiourea's N-H stretching vibration upon association with the substrate. With both methods, we find the association constant K to increase from ~1 L/mol to ~20 L/mol with increasing number of CF 3 substituents. This enhanced binding can explain the increased reaction rates observed for CF 3 substituted diphenylthiourea catalysts. For the efficient catalyst containing four CF 3groups (Schreiner's catalyst), the strongest association is observed in toluene as a solvent, while the binding strength is somewhat weaker in dichloromethane, and association to the substrate is not detectable in acetonitrile. Our results thus demonstrate that even weak association between the thiourea catalysts and the ketone can facilitate efficient catalytic conversion. However, the association with the ketone substrates is very susceptible to competing interactions with the solvent.

We investigated the N2 adsorption behavior of bimetallic rhodium–iron cluster cations [RhiFej(N2)m]+ by means of InfraRed MultiplePhotoDissociation (IR-MPD) spectroscopy in comparison with density functional theory (DFT) modeling. This approach allows us to refine our kinetic results [Ehrhard et al., J. Chem. Phys. (in press)] to enhance our conclusions. We focus on a selection of cluster adsorbate complexes within the ranges of i = j = 3–8 and m = 1–10. For i = j = 3, 4, DFT suggests alloy structures in the case of i = j = 4 of high (D2d) symmetry: Rh–Fe bonds are preferred instead of Fe–Fe bonds or Rh–Rh bonds. N2 adsorption and IR-MPD studies reveal strong evidence for preferential adsorption to Rh sites and mere secondary adsorption to Fe. In some cases, we observe adsorption isomers. With the help of modeling the cluster adsorbate complex [Rh3Fe3(N2)7]+, we find clear evidence that the position of IR bands allows for an element specific assignment of an adsorption site. We transfer these findings to the [Rh4Fe4(N2)m]+ cluster adsorbate complex where the first four N2 molecules are exclusively adsorbed to the Rh atoms. The spectra of the larger adsorbates reveal N2 adsorption onto the Fe atoms. Thus, the spectroscopic findings are well interpreted for the smaller clusters in terms of computed structures, and both compare well to those of our accompanying kinetic study [Ehrhard et al., J. Chem. Phys. (in press)]. In contrast to our previous studies of bare rhodium clusters, the present investigations do not provide any indication for a spin quench in [RhiFej(N2)m]+ upon stepwise N2 adsorption.

We report the N2 cryo adsorption kinetics of selected gas phase mixed rhodium–iron clusters [RhiFej]+ in the range of i = 3–8 and j = 3–8 in 26 K He buffer gas by the use of a cryo tandem RF-hexapole trap–Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer. From kinetic data and fits, we extract relative rate constants for each N2 adsorption step and possible desorption steps. We find significant trends in adsorption behavior, which reveal adsorption limits, intermittent adsorption limits, and equilibrium reactions. For those steps, which are in equilibrium, we determine the Gibbs free energies. We conclude on likely ligand shell reorganization and some weakly bound N2 ligands for clusters where multiple N2 adsorbates are in equilibrium. The relative rate constants are transferred to absolute rate constants, which are slightly smaller than the collision rate constants calculated by the average dipole orientation (Langevin) theory. The calculated sticking probabilities increase, in general, with the size of the clusters and decrease with the level of N2 adsorption, in particular, when reaching an adsorption/desorption equilibrium. We receive further evidence on cluster size dependent properties, such as cluster geometries and metal atom distributions within the clusters through the accompanying spectroscopic and computational study on the equiatomic i = j clusters [Klein et al., J. Chem. Phys. 156, 014302 (2022)].

Substituted diphenylthioureas (DPTUs) are efficient hydrogen-bonding organo-catalysts, and substitution of DPTUs has been shown to greatly affect catalytic activity. Yet, both the conformation of DPTUs in solution and the conformation and hydrogen-bonded motifs within catalytically active intermediates, pertinent to their mode of activation, have remained elusive. By combining linear and ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy with spectroscopic simulations and calculations, we show that different conformational states of thioureas give rise to distinctively different N−H stretching bands in the infrared spectra. In the absence of hydrogen-bond-accepting substrates, we show that vibrational structure and dynamics are highly sensitive to the substitution of DPTUs with CF 3 groups and to the interaction with the solvent environment, allowing for disentangling the different conformational states. In contrast to bare diphenylthiourea (0CF-DPTU), we find the catalytically superior CF 3 -substituted DPTU (4CF-DPTU) to favor the trans−trans conformation in solution, allowing for donating two hydrogen bonds to the reactive substrate. In the presence of a prototypical substrate, DPTUs in trans−trans conformation hydrogen bond to the substrate's C�O group, as evidenced by a red-shift of the N−H vibration. Yet, our time-resolved infrared experiments indicate that only one N−H group forms a strong hydrogen bond to the carbonyl moiety, while thiourea's second N−H group only weakly interacts with the substrate. Our data indicate that hydrogen-bond exchange between these N−H groups occurs on the timescale of a few picoseconds for 0CF-DPTU and is significantly accelerated upon CF 3 substitution. Our results highlight the subtle interplay between conformational equilibria, bonding states, and bonding lifetimes in reactive intermediates in thiourea catalysis, which help rationalize their catalytic activity.