Density functional theory based global and local electrophilicity descriptors are used to study the reliability of local electrophilicity values of the strongest electrophilic sites in generating global intermolecular electrophilicity trends. The evaluated values on 15 different organic chlorides show that, for systems having more than one comparatively strong electrophilic site, the local electrophilicity value of the strongest site does not produce a reliable global intermolecular electrophilicity trend. But for systems having one distinctly strong electrophilic site it does. The analytical explanation in favor of the above observation is also provided. Thus, what was argued in an earlier study (Roy, R. K. J. Phys. Chem. 2004, 108, 4934) is established strongly by numerical demonstrations as well as analytical reasoning in the present one.
Acetalization of benzaldehyde and substituted benzaldehydes (containing both electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups) is explained qualitatively on the basis of global electrophilicity descriptor, w, as proposed by Parr and coworkers. The generated values of w can explain qualitatively the preferential electrophilic addition, and hence, the yield of acetalization obtained in an earlier experimental study carried by Patel and coworkers. The present study also reveals that although both steric and electronic factors affect the yield, only later can be taken care of by w. In the case of a competitive formation of cyclic acetals and cyclic thioacetals from a reaction mixture containing p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, p-nitrobenzaldehyde, 1,2-ethanediol (i.e., glycol), and 1,2-ethanedithiol, the relative experimental yields could be explained from the difference of the global electrophilicity values between aldehydes and acetalizing agents in the same line of arguments of Maynard et al.
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