Theoretical Study of Pericyclic Reactions of Nitrosoethylene and (Thionitroso)ethylene

Structure and reactivity of the title compounds 1 were examined by ab initio methods at the post Hartree‐Fock level of theory. Both compounds are expected to undergo electrocyclic ring closure to 4H‐1,2‐oxazete (4O) and 4H‐1,2‐thiazete (4S), respectively. The alternative electrocyclic reaction affording 2H‐azirine 1‐oxide (3O) and 2H‐azirine 1‐thioxide (3S) is definitely less favoured. (Thionitroso)ethylene (1S) is more reactive than the oxygen‐containing congener. The same holds for the cycloaddition reaction with ethylene. [4 + 2] Hetero Diels‐Alder reactions furnishing 4H‐1,2‐oxazine (5O) or 4H‐1,2‐thiazine (5S) are favoured over the [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions providing 2H‐pyrrole 1‐oxide (2O) and 2H‐pyrrole 1‐thioxide (2S). The results of RMP2/6‐31G* calculations and results obtained at lower levels of theory (RHF, PM3) are compared and discussed with respect to the experimental material available. Some additional single‐point calculations at the computationally more demanding QC1SD/6‐31G* level confirmed conclusions drawn from RMP2 calculations. Some test calculations also showed that the theoretical results are less affected by consideration of the temperature by statistic thermodynamics and by inclusion of solvent effects by a self‐consistent reaction‐field method.