AB-INITIO MOLECULAR-ORBITAL STUDY OF THE REARRANGEMENT OF FLUOROALLENE TO SINGLET FLUOROVINYLMETHYLENE

The rearrangement of fluoroallene (FAL) to singlet fluorovinylmethylen e (FVM) is studied by using ab initio closed-shell SCF gradient and Mo ller-Plesset perturbation methods. It is found from the present result s that among 1,2 hydrogen migration pathways from FAL to singlet FVM, the pathway to 3-FVM has the lowest potential energy barrier height wh ich is estimated to be 67.8 kcal mol(-1), that is 3.8 kcal mol(-1) tow er than the barrier height for the 1,2 hydrogen migration pathway from allene (AL) to singlet vinylmethylene (VM), and that 1,2 fluorine mig ration is energetically less favorable than 1,2 hydrogen migration rea ctions.