REACTION MECHANISM STUDIES: 3. SOLVENT EFFECTS AND THE NATURE OF THE TRANSITION STATE IN THE DIAXIAL → DIEQUATORIAL REARRANGEMENT

1965 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 847-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. King ◽  
R. G. Pews

The rates of the diaxial → diequatorial rearrangement of 2β,3α-dibromocholestane (Ia), and the analogous bromohydrin p-toluenesulfonates (Id and Ie) and anisates (If and Ig) have been measured in various solvents. The change in rate with variation in solvent was found to correlate with the change in the ionizing power of the solvents. The sensitivity of the rate of rearrangement to changes in solvent ionizing power, as measured by the ratio of the rate of rearrangement in nitromethane to that in decalin, was found to be smaller for the dibromide (Ia) than for the esters (Id to Ig). A detailed discussion of the mechanism of the reaction is presented. It is proposed that the following factors (either singly or simultaneously) could lead to the smaller sensitivity to solvent change shown by the dibromide (Ia) as compared with the esters (Id to Ig): (1) a difference in a postulated change of the axial: equatorial opening ratio with change in solvent, and (2) the development of a smaller charge in the transition state for the rearrangement of the dibromide (Ia) as compared with that in the rearrangement of the esters, when the reactions are carried out in the less polar solvents. It is argued that the operation of the latter factor would be most simply interpreted in terms of a merged ion-pair, cyclic-concerted mechanism, as initially suggested by Grob and Winstein.

1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. King ◽  
K. Abikar

p-Methoxy- and p-nitro substituted analogues (1b and 1c) of the diaxial β-chlorothioether 2β-chloro-3α-(phenylthio)-5α-cholestane (1a), have been prepared and found to undergo the diaxial → diequatorial rearrangement. The rates of rearrangement of these compounds show the sequence p-methoxy > H > p-nitro. It is concluded that the transition state for the rearrangement is polarized in the sense of a sulfonium chloride (3). The rearrangement of 1a is 1600 times faster in butanol than in decalin (at 110°). There is thus no inherent insensitivity to solvent change in a rearrangement in which there may be a "four-atom arrangement" in the transition state, a conclusion relevant to previous work on the diaxial → diequatorial rearrangement of 1,2-dibromides (1). It was further found that the nitro group slowed the rearrangement (at 110°) more in butanol than in decalin, an observation regarded as consistent with, but not requiring, the incursion of a merged ion-pair, cyclic concerted mechanism.


1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Charles West Away ◽  
Zhu-Gen Lai

Identical secondary α-deuterium kinetic isotope effects (transition state structures) in the SN2 reaction between n-butyl chloride and a free thiophenoxide ion in aprotic and protic solvents confirm the validity of the Solvation Rule for SN2 Reactions. These isotope effects also suggest that hydrogen bonding from the solvent to the developing chloride ion in the SN2 transition state does not have a marked effect on the magnitude of the chlorine (leaving group) kinetic isotope effects. Unlike the free ion reactions, the secondary α-deuterium kinetic isotope effect (transition state structure) for the SN2 reaction between n-butyl chloride and the solvent-separated sodium thiophenoxide ion pair complex is strongly solvent dependent. These completely different responses to a change in solvent are rationalized by an extension to the Solvation Rule for SN2 Reactions. Finally, the loosest transition state in the reactions with the solvent-separated ion pair complex is found in the solvent with the smallest dielectric constant. Keywords: ion pairs, transition state, solvent effects, nucleophilic substitution, isotope effects.


1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-371
Author(s):  
Allan R. Stein

Racemization and radio-bromide exchange kinetics for 1-phenylbromoethanes in acetonitrile and in nitromethane using tetrabutylammonium bromide are reported. The results, together with those previously reported for acetone solutions, provide direct empirical support for the ion-pair mechanism for nucleophilic substitution at saturated carbon. Changing the substituents on the phenyl from the 4-nitro through to the 3,4-dimethyl substrate and the solvent from acetone to the more polar acetonitrile and nitromethane shifts the transition state for bromide substitution from an early to a late stage of the equilibria series substrate [Formula: see text] intimate ion pair [Formula: see text] various solvated ion pairs [Formula: see text] free or dissociated ions. For all the substrates in acetone and, for the species giving the less stable carbocations, in acetonitrile and nitromethane, both racemizations and exchanges are bimolecular. In the latter solvents, the substrates giving the more stable carbocations show mixed kinetics.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Bakewell ◽  
Martí Garçon ◽  
Richard Y Kong ◽  
Louisa O'Hare ◽  
Andrew J. P. White ◽  
...  

The reactions of an aluminium(I) reagent with a series of 1,2-, 1,3- and 1,5-dienes are reported. In the case of 1,3-dienes the reaction occurs by a pericyclic reaction mechanism, specifically a cheletropic cycloaddition, to form aluminocyclopentene containing products. This mechanism has been interrogated by stereochemical experiments and DFT calculations. The stereochemical experiments show that the (4+1) cycloaddition follows a suprafacial topology, while calculations support a concerted albeit asynchronous pathway in which the transition state demonstrates aromatic character. Remarkably, the substrate scope of the (4+1) cycloaddition includes dienes that are either in part, or entirely, contained within aromatic rings. In these cases, reactions occur with dearomatisation of the substrate and can be reversible. In the case of 1,2- or 1,5-dienes complementary reactivity is observed; the orthogonal nature of the C=C π-bonds (1,2-diene) and the homoconjugated system (1,5-diene) both disfavour a (4+1) cycloaddition. Rather, reaction pathways are determined by an initial (2+1) cycloaddition to form an aluminocyclopropane intermediate which can in turn undergo insertion of a further C=C π-bond leading to complex organometallic products that incorporate fused hydrocarbon rings.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ascough ◽  
Fernanda Duarte ◽  
Robert Paton

The base-catalyzed rearrangement of arylindenols is a rare example of a suprafacial [1,3]-hydrogen atom transfer. The mechanism has been proposed to proceed via sequential [1,5]-sigmatropic shifts, which occur in a selective sense and avoid an achiral intermediate. A computational analysis using quantum chemistry casts serious doubt on these suggestions: these pathways have enormous activation barriers and in constrast to what is observed experimentally, they overwhelmingly favor a racemic product. Instead we propose that a suprafacial [1,3]-prototopic shift occurs in a two-step deprotonation/reprotonation sequence. This mechanism is favored by 15 kcal mol<sup>-1</sup> over that previously proposed. Most importantly, this is also consistent with stereospecificity since reprotonation occurs rapidly on the same p-face. We have used explicitly-solvated molecular dynamics studies to study the persistence and condensed-phase dynamics of the intermediate ion-pair formed in this reaction. Chirality transfer is the result of a particularly resilient contact ion-pair, held together by electrostatic attraction and a critical NH···p interaction which ensures that this species has an appreciable lifetime even in polar solvents such as DMSO and MeOH.


1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 1969-1976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Domínguez ◽  
Rafael Jimenez ◽  
Pilar López-Cornejo ◽  
Pilar Pérez ◽  
Francisco Sánchez

Solvent effects, when the classical transition state theory (TST) holds, can be interpreted following the Brønsted equation. However, when calculating the activity coefficient of the transition state, γ# it is important to take into account that this coefficient is different from that of the precursor complex, γPC. The activity coefficient of the latter is, in fact, that calculated in classical treatments of salt and solvent effects. In this paper it is shown how the quotients γ#/γPC change when the reaction medium changes. Therefore, the conclusions taken on the basis of classical treatments may be erroneous.


1963 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1525-1530 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. R. Allcock

The kinetics of alkaline cleavage of o-nitrobenzyltrimethylsilane were examined in aqueous dioxane media. At high water concentrations, increases in solvent polarity retard the cleavage, as required by a mechanism involving charge dispersion in the transition state. At high dioxane concentrations, solvent polarity increases are accompanied by increases in the rate of reaction, a result which may reflect association between the solvent components.


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