Semiempirical molecular orbital theory has been used to study the effects of solvation by acetonitrile on the Stevens rearrangement of methylammonium formylmethylide to 2-aminopropanal. Three methods of solvation have been used to investigate both the electrostatic and specific solvent-solute effects of solvation: a supermolecule calculation involving the complete geometry optimization of up to six solvent molecules about the solute, the conductor-like screening model (COSMO) polarizable continuum method which allows for geometry optimization of the solute in a solvent defined by its dielectric constant, and a hybrid method in which up to five solvent molecules are incorporated inside the solute cavity and complete geometry optimization of the complex is carried out within the polarizable continuum. A comparison of the calculated geometries, rearrangement activation energies, and enthalpies of solvation from these approaches is presented, and the explicit versus bulk solvation effects are discussed. The overall effect of all methods for incorporating solvation effects is that the radical pair pathway is perferred over the concerted mechanism. © 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Chemical Sciences
Research Group:	Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)
Research Field:	Catalysis and Mechanisms of Reactions
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding Knowledge in the Chemical Sciences
Author:	Heard, GL (Mr George Lance Heard)
Author:	Yates, BF (Professor Brian Yates)
ID Code:	8643
Year Published:	1996
Web of Science® Times Cited:	5
Deposited By:	Chemistry
Deposited On:	1996-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-08-19
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