reactive than nitrobenzene. Among the five-membered heterocycles 2-nitrothiophene is the most active followed by nitroimidazoles and 4-nitropyrazole. Nitropyrroles are the least electrophilic nitroheteroarenes with reactivities comparable to nitrobenzene. Quantum chemically calculated methyl anion affinities (B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d)) of the nitroarenes correlated only moderately with the partial
Alkylation of nitroarenes via VicariousNucleophilicSubstitution (VNS) was tested experimentally and modelled with DFT calculations. Mechanistic studies reveal intrinsic differences between reactions of archetypal carbanion precursor PhSO2CH2Cl, and alkyl phenyl sulfones, in which benzenesulfinate acts as a leaving group. Accordingly, for the latter precursors steric hindrance develops at the β-elimination