Computational Design of Transition Metal Catalysts for Hydrodefluorination of Trifluoromethylarenes using Hydrosilane

Thus, the concept of "reference-generalized volcano plots (RGVPs)" was introduced to assist with the selection of the appropriate reference state to determine catalytic activity. Our regression models indicate that electronic properties of ligands significantly influence energy descriptors more than steric size, although steric hindrance affects reference state stability. Optimal ligands are highly electron-donating with small-to-moderate steric sizes.

This study highlights the importance of selecting appropriate ligands and metal centers to optimize catalytic activity. Examples of input files for density functional calculations in Gaussian16 to obtain relative free energies for all intermediates and transition states, the spreadsheet tables including the calculated relative free energies for generating LFESRs and volcano plots, and all optimized Cartesian coordinates are provided.