Abstract:

This work describes a research-oriented computational chemistry experiment for senior undergraduates. The Baeyer-Villiger (B-V) reaction is one of the most useful reactions in organic chemistry, and is also an important teaching topic, yet the migratory aptitude of the various substituents is still debatable and these controversies are often neglected during the teaching and learning process. In this experiment, the reaction mechanism and migratory aptitude of the B-V rearrangement are studied by performing quantum chemistry calculations with the Gaussian program. The purposes of this experiment are to train students to conduct scientific research using chemical computational methods, cultivate students' critical thinking ability, and improve students' scientific research literacy.

Key words: B-V rearrangement, Reaction mechanism, Migratory aptitude, DFT calculations