We report a new method for determination of rate constants of processes in solution using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The investigated reaction is C-H activation of acetanilides by palladium(II)trifluoroacetate leading to stable organopalladium complexes. The rate constants can be determined from an experiment with a couple of differently substituted acetanilides being in competition activated by the palladium salt. The formed organopalladium complexes can be detected by ESI-MS. The time dependence is achieved by adding one of the acetanilides to the reaction mixture with a time delay. The kinetics can be then evaluated from the evolution of the ratio of the ESI-MS signals of differently substituted complexes as a function of the time delay. The Hammett analysis of the rate constants obtained for a series of meta-and para-substituted acetanilides provides the ρ value of-1.5, which is in agreement with values reported for similar C-H activations. We have investigated the very same reaction also with UV-Vis spectroscopy that gave us about three times smaller rate constants, but the same trend with the ρ value of-1.6. The rate constants determined by ESI-MS are directly linked to the occurrence of organopalladium complexes, whereas the UV-Vis data are associated with an absorption spectra change that could involve more reaction steps. DFT calculations support the interpretation of the reaction mechanism as cyclopalladation and provide the ρ value in the same range. The rate determining step corresponds to the agostic C-H transition structure.
Pyrazolyl-phthalazine-dione derivatives (PPDs) were synthetized in the ionic liquid catalyzed one-pot multicomponent reaction of acetylacetone, 2,3-dihydrophthalazine-1,4-dione, and different aldehydes in moderate to good yields. Six new PPDs were obtained, and the crystal structure of 2-acetyl-1-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-methyl-1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-5,10-dione (PPD-4) was determined. The most interesting structural features of the novel PPD-4 is the formation of a rather short intermolecular distance between the F atom of one molecule and the midpoint of the neighbouring six-membered heterocyclic ring. This interaction arranges all molecules into parallel supramolecular chains. UV-Vis spectra of all PPDs were acquired and compared to the simulated ones obtained with TD-DFT. All synthetized compounds were subjected to evaluation of their in vitro antioxidative activity using a stable DPPH radical. It was shown that PPD-7, with a catechol motive, is the most active antioxidant, while PPD-9, with two neighbouring methoxy groups to the phenolic OH, exerted a somewhat lower, but significant antioxidative potential. The results of DFT thermodynamical study are in agreement with experimental findings that PPD-7 and PPD-9 should be considered as powerful radical scavengers. In addition, the obtained theoretical results (bond dissociation and proton abstraction energies) specify SPLET as a prevailing radical scavenging mechanism in polar solvents, and HAT in solvents with lower polarity. On the other hand, the obtained reaction enthalpies for inactivation of free radicals suggest competition between HAT and SPLET mechanisms, except in the case of the cOH radical in polar solvents, where HAT is labeled as prefered.
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