posted on 1998-12-30, 00:00authored byFrank Eckert, Guntram Rauhut
A detailed ab initio and density functional study of the Boulton−Katritzky rearrangement is presented.
Two different reaction paths for the rearrangement of 4-nitrobenzofuroxan were investigated at the RHF, MP2,
MP4(SDQ), B3-LYP, and BH&H-LYP levels, with further energy refinements using coupled-cluster theory
(CCSD and CCSD(T)). Electron correlation effects appear to be extremely important both for geometries and
for relative energies. All methods indicate a one-step mechanism. In agreement with experimental results, a
recently discussed tricyclic intermediate could not be found.