Abstract

Regioselectivity of the photochemical [2 + 2] cyclo-addition of triplet carbonyl compounds with a series of ground state electron-rich and electron-poor alkenes, the Paterno-Buchi reaction, is studied. Activation barriers for the first step of the triplet reaction are computed in the case of the O-attack. Next, the observed regioselectivity is explained using a series of DFT-based reactivity indices. In the first step, we use the local softness and the local HSAB principle within a softness matching approach, and explain the relative activation barriers of the addition step. In the final step, the regioselectivity is assessed within the framework of spin-polarized conceptual density functional theory, considering response functions of the system's external potential v, number of electrons N and spin number N, being the difference between the number of a and P electrons in the spin-polarized system. Although the concept of local spin philicity, introduced recently within this theory, appears less suited to predict the regioselectivity in this reaction, the correct regioselectivity emerges from considering an interaction between the largest values of the generalized Fukui functions f(ss) on both interacting molecules.