Theoretical study of base-catalyzed amide hydrolysis: Gas- and aqueous-phase hydrolysis of formamide

Base-catalyzed hydrolysis of formamide in the gas phase and in aqueous solution has been studied using a combination of quantum chemical and statistical mechanical methods. A three-step procedure has been applied which comprises the determination of a gas-phase reaction path by high-level ab initio calculations, the calibration of empirical solute-solvent potentials, and classical Monte Carlo simulations of the solute immersed in a bath of solvent molecules. These simulations yield the solvent effect as a potential of mean force along the predetermined reaction coordinate. Each of the three consecutive steps of base-catalyzed hydrolysis has been analyzed in detail: the formation of a tetrahedral intermediate, its conformational isomerization, and the subsequent breakdown to products. The reaction is very exothermic in the gas phase and involves only moderate barriers for the latter two steps. Aqueous solvent, however, induces a significant barrier toward formation of the intermediate. On the other hand, it also facilitates conformational isomerization and produces a more product-like transition state for the breakdown step. Solvent effects, as expressed by differences in free energy of solvation, are found to reflect variations in the solute's charge distribution and are readily explained by the analysis of hydrogen bond patterns. The calculated free energy profile is in satisfactory agreement with available experimental data for the solution-phase reaction.