Frank De Proft | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Reactivity of Ambident Nucleophiles in Magnetic Fields: a Combined Conceptual DFT and Current-DFT Study

The influence of strong external magnetic fields (up to $0.30\,B_0$) on the electronic structure and reactivity of ambident nucleophiles is investigated using the nitrite and thiocyanate anions as prototypical examples. To capture magnetic-field-induced changes in reactivity, current-density-functional theory (current-DFT) calculations are interpreted through conceptual density-functional theory (conceptual DFT) descriptors, namely global hardness and local softness via Fukui functions, focusing on the evolution of the electronic structure and associated properties with increasing field strength in different orientations. By extending our previous adiabatic treatment of molecules to include higher-spin states, in analogy with earlier work on atoms, and by considering the symmetry properties of relevant quantum-chemical quantities within full magnetic groups using the QSym$^2$ framework, we uncover substantial magnetic-field-induced modulations of both molecular polarity and the shape of the Fukui function. Despite these modulations, the ambident nucleophilicity of both $(\textrm{NO}_2)^-$ and $\textrm{SCN}^-$ is largely preserved, as is the preference for attack by soft electrophiles at the sulfur end of $\textrm{SCN}^-$. At higher field strengths, however, the Fukui functions become increasingly diffuse, reflecting the growing importance of external magnetic interactions relative to internal electrostatic forces. The resulting redistribution of local reactivity not only predicts reaction pathways with unexpected geometries but also raises the possibility that regioselectivity may become progressively less well-defined in the strong-field regime.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2024

Symmetry and reactivity of $π$-systems in electric and magnetic fields: a perspective from conceptual DFT

[Abridged] The extension of conceptual DFT to include external fields in chemical systems is utilised to investigate the effects of strong magnetic fields on the electronic charge distribution and its consequences on the reactivity of $π$-systems. Formaldehyde, H$_2$CO, is considered as a prototypical example and current-DFT calculations are used to evaluate the electric dipole moment together with the electron density and the Fukui functions, which provide insight into how H$_2$CO behaves chemically in a magnetic field. In particular, the symmetries of these quantities are analysed based on group, representation, and corepresentation theories using QSym$^2$. This allows us to leverage the simple symmetry constraints on the macroscopic electric dipole moments to make profound predictions on the more nuanced symmetry transformation properties of the microscopic frontier MOs, electron densities, and Fukui functions. This is especially useful for complex-valued MOs in magnetic fields whose detailed symmetry analyses lead us to define the new concepts of modular and phasal symmetry breaking. Through these, the connection between the vanishing constraints on the electric dipole moments and the symmetry of electron densities and Fukui functions can be formalised, and the inability of the magnetic field in all three orientations considered to induce asymmetry with respect to the molecular plane can be understood from a molecular perspective. Furthermore, the detailed forms of the Fukui functions reveal remarkable reversals in the direction of the C=O dipole moment in the presence of a parallel or perpendicular magnetic field, which can be attributed to the mixing between frontier MOs due to their subduced symmetries in magnetic fields. The findings in this work are also discussed in the wider context of a long-standing debate on the possibility to create enantioselectivity by external fields.

physics.chem-ph↗