The present study establishes the ene reaction as a competing reaction mechanism to the diradical mechanism for the thermal C(2)-C(6) cyclization of enyne-allenes which possess bulky substituents at the alkyne terminus. Both reaction routes are found to possess nearly equal free energies of activation. As shown by our computations, primary H/D isotope effects could be used for a definite decision about the mechanism. Concerning the regioselectivity of the cyclization reactions of enyne-allenes our study resolves a long-standing deviation between theoretical results and experimental findings.

Background: A number of algorithms for steady state analysis of metabolic networks have been developed over the years. Of these, Elementary Mode Analysis (EMA) has proven especially useful. Despite its low user-friendliness, METATOOL as a reliable high-performance implementation of the algorithm has been the instrument of choice up to now. As reported here, the analysis of metabolic networks has been improved by an editor and analyzer of metabolic flux modes. Analysis routines for expression levels and the most central, well connected metabolites and their metabolic connections are of particular interest.

The Moore (C(2)-C(7)) cyclization and the alternative C(2)-C(6) cyclization of enyne-ketenes belong to the family of biradical cyclization reactions such as the Bergman reaction of ene-diynes, both the cyclizations of enyne-allenes and enyne-cumulenes. The latter garnered substantial interest due to their antitumor efficacy. The mechanisms of both cyclization modes of enyne-ketenes are still unclear, but as the enyne-ketenes can formally be regarded as heteroanalogues of enyne-allenes, both cyclizations are expected to react via biradical routes. Nevertheless, as shown recently for cyclic allenes, the substitution of a methylene group by oxygen can lead to different energetic ordering of the electronic states of the key intermediates. To elucidate the mechanism, the present work investigates the course of both cyclization modes for various model compounds. To reveal general motifs for the large family of biradical cyclizations, a comparison with enyne-allenes is performed.

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To gain a better understanding of the chemistry of cyclic allenes, in the present work six-membered monocyclic systems containing second- (B−O) and third-row elements (Al−S) of the periodic table of elements are studied in detail, regarding the energetic order of the electronic states and the planarization energies, which together determine their chemical behavior. The data obtained by high-level ab initio methods show that the properties of the compounds strongly depend on the heteroatoms and can be related to trends in the periodic table of elements. These trends in the series B to O and Al to S are rationalized by the degree of the interaction between the various fragments and the interplay between this interaction and the strain in the allene moiety. In addition, by applying the model to charged species, we reveal an unexpected link between the cyclic allenes and the phenyl anion. Furthermore, our computations answer open questions about the chemical properties of 1-aza-2,3-cyclohexadienes. Finally, we analyze how the various kinds of interaction influence the chemistry of this important class of intermediates.