Coordination compounds acid-catalyzed reactions

Judging from these findings, the mechanism of Lewis acid catalysis in water (for example, aldol reactions of aldehydes with silyl enol ethers) can be assumed to be as follows. When metal compounds are added to water, the metals dissodate and hydration occurs immediatdy. At this stage, the intramolecular and intermolecular exchange reactions of water molecules frequently occur. If an aldehyde exists in the system, there is a chance that it will coordinate to the metal cations instead of the water molecules and the aldehyde is then activated. A silyl enol ether attacks this adivated aldehyde to produce the aldol adduct. According to this mechanism, it is expected that many Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions should be successful in aqueous solutions. Although the precise activity as Lewis acids in aqueous media cannot be predicted quantitatively... 

New challenges were then made to develop useful Lewis base-catalyzed aldol reactions of trimethylsilyl enolates, simple and the most popular silicon enolates. It has recently been found that aldol reactions of trimethylsilyl enolates with aldehydes proceed smoothly under the action of a catalytic amount of lithium diphenylamide or lithium 2-pyrrilidone in DMF or pyridine (Eq. (38)) [57]. This Lewis base-catalyzed aldol reaction of trimethylsilyl enolates [58] has an advantage over acid-catalyzed reactions in that aldol reaction of carbonyl compounds with highly-coordinative functional groups with Lewis acid catalysts are smoothly catalyzed by Lewis bases to afford the desired aldol adducts in high yields. 

Until now we have been discussing the kinetics of catalyzed reactions. Losses due to volatility and side reactions also raise questions as to the validity of assuming a constant concentration of catalyst. Of course, one way of avoiding this issue is to omit an outside catalyst reactions involving carboxylic acids can be catalyzed by these compounds themselves. Experiments conducted under these conditions are informative in their own right and not merely as means of eliminating errors in the catalyzed case. As noted in connection with the discussion of reaction (5.G), the intermediate is stabilized by coordination with a proton from the catalyst. In the case of autoprotolysis by the carboxylic acid reactant, the rate-determining step is probably the slow reaction of intermediate [1] ... 

Due to the presence of an electron-withdrawing group on the dipolarophile, these processes are classified as type 1 reactions. The process involves the transference of charge from the dipole to the dipolarophile. When catalyzed by metallic compounds, coordination of the dipolarophile is highly desired. Usually, coordination of a nitrone to the Lewis acid is more feasible than coordination of a carbonyl compound. For this reason, alkenes that enable a bidentate coordination to the Lewis acid, such as 3-alkenoyl-oxazolidinones (Scheme 5), have been frequently employed as a model system to smdy the metal-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition... 

Metal complexes catalyze oxidation of compounds having mobile hydrogens, such as ascorbic acid, hydroquinone, phenols, and amines, in the presence of molecular oxygen [Eq. (16)]. In this reaction, a substrate coordinates to the metal catalyst,... 

Trivalent carbenium ions play a key role, not only in the acid-catalyzed polymerization of alkenes [Eq. (5.348)] but also in the polycondensation of arenes (7r-bonded monomers) as well as in the cationic polymerization of ethers, sulfides, and nitrogen compounds (nonbonded electron-pair donor monomers). On the other hand, penta-coordinated carbonium ions play the key role in the electrophilic reactions of cr-bonds (single bonds), including the oligocondensation of alkanes and alkenes (Section 5.1.5). 

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