Reaction of N-arylsulfonylquinonimines and quinones with N-chloramides

N-chloro derivatives of formamide, chloroacetamide and N-substituted ureas in the presence of triethylamine or potassium acetate amidate N-arylsulfonylquinonimines. Quantum chemical calculations of the electronic structure of anions of N-chloramides of carboxylic and sulfonic acids show that the amidation of quinoid systems by N-chloramides is subject to orbital control. In the framework of the frontier molecular orbital theory, the inactivity of benzoquinones and naphthoquinones and N,N/sup 1/-bis(benzoyl)-1,4-benzoquinonediimine in the amidation reaction is attributed to the level of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, which is higher than that in N-arylsulfonylquinonimines. The quantum chemical calculations showed that the major contribution to the reaction of quinonimines with N-chloramide anions is made by an orbital interaction. Thus, the electrophilic reactivity of quinoid compounds should depend on the level of their LUMO, whose energy is approximately equal to the electron affinity of the molecule.