Exploring the mechanism for the amine-catalyzed isomerization of dimethyl maleate. A computational study

The main objective of this study was to investigate the amine-catalyzed isomerization of dimethyl maleate into dimethyl fumarate in order to utilize the former as a prodrug for the latter. Mechanistic study of this reaction using DFT at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level revealed that the reaction is first order in dimethyl maleate, second order in the amine, and overall third order. Moreover, the calculations revealed the existence of a linear correlation between the basicity of the amine catalyst and the isomerization rate.