34th Annual Student Research Conference
A Computational Study of Evans Magnesium Catalyzed Aldol Reaction
Samuel J. Baldwin
Dr. Stuart Winikoff, Faculty Mentor
Evans Aldol reaction is a useful reaction that can enantioselectively generate carbon-carbon bonds in the form of aldols, through the use of magnesium chloride as a catalyst. Using density functional theory, [M06-2X/6-31+G(d,p)], the reaction between benzaldehyde and Evans aldol in tetrahydrofuran (THF) was modeled. The reaction compared three possible pathways (uncatalyzed, magnesium chloride catalyzed, and Mg (II) catalyzed) using reaction energies. The structures for each step of all three reaction pathways were identified where the Mg (II) pathway showed increased reaction rate and magnesium chloride was found to inhibit reaction progress. The transition state for all three mechanistic pathways showed a stereochemical preference which may explain experimental stereochemical observations.
Keywords:
Topic(s):Chemistry
Presentation Type: Asynchronous Virtual Oral Presentation
Session: 6-6
Location: https://flipgrid.com/ebc10430
Time: 0:00