Conceptual Density-Functional Theory for General Chemical Reactions, Including Those That Are Neither Charge- nor Frontier-Orbital-Controlled. 2. Application to Molecules Where Frontier Molecular Orbital Theory Fails

This paper examines cases where frontier molecular orbital theory is known to fail, specifically electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions on isoquinoline and borazarophenanthrenes. While we are able to explain the experimental regioselectivity preferences for isoquinoline without too much difficulty, describing the regioselectivity of the borazarophenanthrenes is much more challenging. This is attributed to the fact that these molecules …