Alkanes mechanisms

Allara, D. L. Edelson, D. (1975). A computational modelling study of the low temperature pyrolysis of w-alkanes mechanisms of propane, -butane and n-pentane pyrolyses. Int. J. Chem. Kin., 1, 479-507. 

Physical Properties of Haloalkanes Preparation of Haloalkanes by Halogenation of Alkanes Mechanism of Halogenation of Alkanes Allylic Halogenation Radical Autoxidation Radical Addition of HBr to Alkenes... 

The procedures to be described m the remainder of this chapter use either an alkane or an alcohol as the starting material for preparing an alkyl halide By knowing how to prepare alkyl halides we can better appreciate the material m later chapters where alkyl halides figure prominently m key chemical transformations The preparation of alkyl halides also serves as a focal point to develop the principles of reaction mechanisms... 

Bromine reacts with alkanes by a free radical chain mechanism analogous to that of chlorine There is an important difference between chlorination and brommation how ever Brommation is highly selective for substitution of tertiary hydrogens The spread m reactivity among pnmary secondary and tertiary hydrogens is greater than 10 ... 

Chemical reactivity and functional group transformations involving the preparation of alkyl halides from alcohols and from alkanes are the mam themes of this chapter Although the conversions of an alcohol or an alkane to an alkyl halide are both classi tied as substitutions they proceed by very different mechanisms... 

Cation (Section 1 2) Positively charged ion Cellobiose (Section 25 14) A disacchande in which two glu cose units are joined by a 3(1 4) linkage Cellobiose is oh tamed by the hydrolysis of cellulose Cellulose (Section 25 15) A polysaccharide in which thou sands of glucose units are joined by 3(1 4) linkages Center of symmetry (Section 7 3) A point in the center of a structure located so that a line drawn from it to any element of the structure when extended an equal distance in the op posite direction encounters an identical element Benzene for example has a center of symmetry Cham reaction (Section 4 17) Reaction mechanism m which a sequence of individual steps repeats itself many times usu ally because a reactive intermediate consumed m one step is regenerated m a subsequent step The halogenation of alkanes is a chain reaction proceeding via free radical intermediates... 

In contrast, the ultrasonic irradiation of organic Hquids has been less studied. SusHck and co-workers estabHshed that virtually all organic Hquids wiU generate free radicals upon ultrasonic irradiation, as long as the total vapor pressure is low enough to allow effective bubble coUapse (49). The sonolysis of simple hydrocarbons (for example, alkanes) creates the same kinds of products associated with very high temperature pyrolysis (50). Most of these products (H2, CH4, and the smaller 1-alkenes) derive from a weU-understood radical chain mechanism. 

Lower alkanes such as methane and ethane have been polycondensed ia superacid solutions at 50°C, yielding higher Hquid alkanes (73). The proposed mechanism for the oligocondensation of methane requires the involvement of protonated alkanes (pentacoordinated carbonium ions) and oxidative removal of hydrogen by the superacid system. 

The mechanisms for the reaction of sulfur with alkanes and unsaturated compounds are highly speculative, being strongly influenced by the specific stmcture of the substrate and by the conditions (particularly temperature) of reaction. Alkane (4), olefin (5), animal fat (6), and vegetable oil (7) sulfurization have been extensively studied because these reactions are models for vulcanization. Moreover, the products are used as lubricant additives. 

Surrogate mechanisms use the chemistry of one or two compounds in each class of organics to represent the chemistry of all the species in that class. For example, the expHcit chemistry of butane [106-97-8] C H q, might be used to describe the chemistry of the alkanes. 

Lumped mechanisms are based on the grouping of chemical compounds into classes of similar stmcture and reactivity. For example, all alkanes might be lumped into a single class, the reaction rates and products of which are based on a weighted average of the properties of all the alkanes present. For example, as shown in Table 1, the various alkanes, CH2 2 > react with OH in a similar manner to form alkyl radicals,. When expressed... 

Alkylation of isobutylene and isobutane in the presence of an acidic catalyst yields isooctane. This reaction proceeds through the same mechanism as dimerization except that during the last step, a proton is transferred from a surrounding alkane instead of one being abstracted by a base. The cation thus formed bonds with the base. Alkylation of aromatics with butylenes is another addition reaction and follows the same general rules with regard to relative rates and product stmcture. Thus 1- and 2-butenes yield j -butyl derivatives and isobutylene yields tert-huty derivatives. 

Alkanes, dipurin-8-yl-synthesis, 5, 574 Alkanes, poly-N-pyrazoIyl-synthesis, 5, 320 Alkanoic acids, tetrazolyl-anti-inflammatory activity, 5, 835 Alkanoic acids, 4-thienyi-cyclization, 4, 905-906 Alkene metathesis mechanism, 1, 668 Alkenes activated... 

The chemical resistance of polyethylene is, to a large measure, that expected of an alkane. It is not chemically attacked by non-oxidising acids, alkalis and many aqueous solutions. Nitric acid oxidises the polymer, leading to a rise in power factor and to a deterioration in mechanical properties. As with the simple alkanes, halogens combine with the hydrocarbon by means of substitution mechanisms. 

Diphenylthioalkanes react with mercuric fluoride to give 1-fluoro-l-phenylthio-alkanes. Provide a detailed description of a likely mechanism for this reaction. Consider such questions as (1) Is an SnI or an Sn2 process most likely to be involved (2) Would NaF cause the same reaction to occur (3) Why is only one of the phenylthio groups replaced ... 

Mechanism The reaction of and A -steroids with nitrosyl fluoride to form ni trimines is best discussed in conjunction with the nitrosyl chloride reaction leading tothe5a-chloro-6 -nitro steroids (33). Since nitroso alkanes are oxidized with nitrosyl chloride to nitro alkanes it is believed that 5a-chloro-6j5-nitro steroids are formed in this way from an initially formed 5a-chloro-6 -nitroso adduct. The same is true for nitrosyl fluoride up to the stage of the nitroso fluoride (56). Since NOF is a weaker oxidizing agent than NOCl the nitroso fluoride tautomerizes to the fluoro oxime (57) at a rate... 

The elementary steps (1) through (3) describe a free-radical chain mechanism for the reaction of an alkane with a halogen. 

Chain reaction (Section 4.17) Reaction mechanism in which a sequence of individual steps repeats itself many times, usually because a reactive intermediate consumed in one step is regenerated in a subsequent step. The halogenation of alkanes is a chain reaction proceeding via free-radical intermediates. 

Structurally simple alJkyl halides can sometimes be prepared by reaction of an alkane with Cl2 or Br2 through a radical chain-reaction pathway (Section 5.3). Although inert to most reagents, alkanes react readily with Cl2 or Br2 in the presence of light to give alkyl halide substitution products. The reaction occurs by the radical mechanism shown in Figure 10.1 for chlorination. 

Alkyl halides can be reduced to alkanes by a radical reaction with tributyltin hydride, (C4H9)3SnH, in the presence of light (hv). Propose a radical chain mechanism by which the reaction might occur. The initiation step is the light-induced homolytic cleavage of the Sn— H bond to yield a tributyltin radical. 

Figure 19.11 MECHANISM Mechanism of the Wolff-Kishner reduction of an aldehyde or ketone to yield an alkane.

If the reaction just described is conducted in the presence of a suitable hydrogen atom donor such as tri-n-butyltin hydride or tert-butyl hydrosulfide, reductive decarboxylation occurs via a radical chain mechanism to give an alkane (see 125—>128, Scheme 24). Carboxylic acids can thus be decarboxylated through the intermediacy of their corresponding thiohydroxamate esters in two easily executed steps. In this reducjtive process, one carbon atom, the carbonyl carbon, is smoothly excised... 

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