DFT calculations of CH acidity of substituted triazoles and experimental study of their ability to undergo mercuration

The CH acidity of all possible N-methyl substituted nitrotriazoles as well as of some 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles and N-alkyl-4-nitro-1,2,3-triazoles in the gas phase and in THF and DMSO solution has been calculated with the density functional theory B3LYP method. Electronic effects of substituents on the CH acidity of 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles have been examined using linear free energy relationship (LFER) methodology. In order to investigate the relation between the CH acidity of the heterocycles and their ability to undergo electrophilic substitution involving C–H bond cleavage, we have studied the reaction of isomeric N-alkyl-4-nitro-1,2,3-triazoles (alkyl=methyl, ethyl, isopropyl and tert-butyl) with HgBr2 in alkali solution. It was found that 1-isomers undergo mercuration readily, while mercuration of 2-substituted compounds do not occur under the same conditions, which is in agreement with the results of DFT calculations of the CH acidity of the compounds, showing that 2-isomers have considerably lower CH acidity than 1-isomers.