Assessment of Mechanistic Hypotheses of 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition of (Arylsulfonyl)Allene to Nitrilimines by DFT Reactivity Indices

The mechanism of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between 1-[2-(acetylamino)phenylsulfonyl]-1,2-propadiene 1 and a series of N-(4- substituted)phenyl-C-methoxycarbonylnitrilimines 2 has been reinvestigated on the basis of DFT calculations and a quantitative formulation of the HSAB principle. Comparison of the new computational results with experimental findings led to the formulation of a mechanistic scheme involving both 1,3-prototropic and 1,3-arylsulfonyl shifts. The role of silver cation is also pointed out.