A Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanism of Epoxidation Reaction of the 4-(bromomethyl)bicyclo 4.4.1undeca-1,3,5,7,9-pentaen-3-ylmethanol

A reaction mechanism of epoxidation reaction of the 4-(bromomethyl)bicyclo4.4.1undeca-1,3,5,7,9-pentaen-3-ylmethanol has been studied by using the density functional theory(DFT) method at B3LYP level with 631G* basis set. The geometric structures of reactant, product and transition state have been optimized. The transition state is found by the QST2 method and characterized by the vibration frequency analysis. The intrinsic reaction coordinate(IRC) for this reaction is traced and confirms the reaction mechanism. The changes and the nature of related chemical bonds along the IRC path have been analyzed by the theory of electronic charge density. The result shows that the elimination reaction and ring closing reaction are synergistic, and the hydrogen in the elimination reaction derives from hydroxyl. In addition, the activation energy of the reaction is 139.2 kJ/mol.