Alkanes reactivity

This information is, of course, only of a qualitative nature. To obtain a better picture of alkane reactivity in radical abstraction reactions, the activation barrier was computed for the reaction between alkanes and radical reactant. The example used was the reaction between 2-methylpropane, propane, ethane, and methane as alkanes and the trichloromethyl radical as a radical reactant (Table 16). The B3LYP computed activation barriers were not corrected of zero point energy, which is usually 1-2 kcal/mol. With this correction computed, experimental [119] values should be in excellent agreement. As expected, 2-methylpropane was the most susceptible in the hydrogen radical abstraction reaction. With the activation barrier around 8 kcal/mol, it was possible to perform the reaction at a... 

The cyclopentane data points deviate significantly from the alkane reactivity correlation shown in Figure 1. In the absence of systematic... 

A. Auroux, A. Tuel, J. Bandiera, J.M. Guil et al.. Calorimetric and catalytic investigation of alkanes reactivity over a variety of MFI structures. Appl. Catal. 93, 181-190 (1993)... 

It has been known for more than a century that hydrocarbons containing double bonds are more reactive than their counterparts that do not contain double bonds. Alkenes are, in general, more reactive than alkanes. We call electrons in double bonds 71 electrons and those in the much less reactive C—C or CH bonds Huckel theory, we assume that the chemistry of unsaturated hydrocarbons is so dominated by the chemistry of their double bonds that we may separate the Schroedinger equation yet again, into an equation for potential energy. We now have an equation of the same fomi as Eq. (6-8), but one in which the Hamiltonian for all elections is replaced by the Hamiltonian for Ji electrons only... 

Apart from Bronsted acid activation, the acetyl cation (and other acyl ions) can also be activated by Lewis acids. Although the 1 1 CH3COX-AIX3 Friedel-Crafts complex is inactive for the isomerization of alkanes, a system with two (or more) equivalents of AIX3 was fonnd by Volpin to be extremely reactive, also bringing abont other electrophilic reactions. 

Carboxoninm ions, for example, do not react with alkanes. However, in superacid solution acetaldehyde (or acetone), for example, readily reacts with isobutane involving diprotonated, highly reactive carbocationic species. 

An older name for alkanes is paraffin hydrocarbons Paraffin is derived from the Latin words parum affims ( with little affinity ) and testifies to the low level of reactivity of alkanes... 

In this section you have seen how heats of com bustion can be used to determine relative stabilities of isomeric alkanes In later sections we shall expand our scope to include the experimentally determined heats of certain other reactions such as bond dissociation energies (Section 4 16) and heats of hydrogenation (Section 6 2) to see how AH° values from various sources can aid our understanding of structure and reactivity... 

The reactivity of the halogens decreases m the order F2 > CI2 > Br2 > I2 Fluo rme is an extremely aggressive oxidizing agent and its reaction with alkanes is strongly exothermic and difficult to control Direct fluonnation of alkanes requires special equip ment and techniques is not a reaction of general applicability and will not be discussed further... 

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... 

In both the following exercises assume that all the methylene groups in the alkane are equally reactive as sites of free radical chlorination... 

The most frequently used organocuprates are those m which the alkyl group is pri mary Steric hindrance makes secondary and tertiary dialkylcuprates less reactive and they tend to decompose before they react with the alkyl halide The reaction of cuprate reagents with alkyl halides follows the usual 8 2 order CH3 > primary > secondary > tertiary and I > Br > Cl > F p Toluenesulfonates are somewhat more reactive than halides Because the alkyl halide and dialkylcuprate reagent should both be primary m order to produce satisfactory yields of coupled products the reaction is limited to the formation of RCH2—CH2R and RCH2—CH3 bonds m alkanes... 

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... 

Fluorinated Alkanes. As the fluorine content increases, the chemical reactivity decreases until complete fluorination is achieved, after which they are inert to most chemical attack, including the highly reactive element fluorine. Their lack of reactivity leads to their use in certain commercial apphcations where stabiUty is valued when in contact with highly reactive chemicals. 

Mote stable catalysts ate obtained by using fluorinated graphite or fluorinated alumina as backbones, and Lewis acid halides, such as SbF, TaF, and NbF, which have a relatively low vapor pressure. These Lewis acids ate attached to the fluorinated soHd supports through fluorine bridging. They show high reactivity in Friedel-Crafts type reactions including the isomerization of straight-chain alkanes such as / -hexane. 

Neopentyl glycol, or 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol [126-30-7] (1) is a white crystalline soHd at room temperature, soluble ia water, alcohols, ethers, ketones, and toluene but relatively iasoluble ia alkanes (1). Two primary hydroxyl groups are provided by the 1,3-diol stmcture, making this glycol highly reactive as a chemical intermediate. The gem-A methy configuration is responsible for the exceptional hydrolytic, thermal, and uv stabiUty of neopentyl glycol derivatives. 

Hydrocarbons, compounds of carbon and hydrogen, are stmcturally classified as aromatic and aliphatic the latter includes alkanes (paraffins), alkenes (olefins), alkynes (acetylenes), and cycloparaffins. An example of a low molecular weight paraffin is methane [74-82-8], of an olefin, ethylene [74-85-1], of a cycloparaffin, cyclopentane [287-92-3], and of an aromatic, benzene [71-43-2]. Cmde petroleum oils [8002-05-9], which span a range of molecular weights of these compounds, excluding the very reactive olefins, have been classified according to their content as paraffinic, cycloparaffinic (naphthenic), or aromatic. The hydrocarbon class of terpenes is not discussed here. Terpenes, such as turpentine [8006-64-2] are found widely distributed in plants, and consist of repeating isoprene [78-79-5] units (see Isoprene Terpenoids). 

The alkanes have low reactivities as compared to other hydrocarbons. Much alkane chemistry involves free-radical chain reactions that occur under vigorous conditions, eg, combustion and pyrolysis. Isobutane exhibits a different chemical behavior than / -butane, owing in part to the presence of a tertiary carbon atom and to the stability of the associated free radical. 

The alkan olamines discussed here exhibit the chemical reactivity of both amines and alcohols, as is the case with other alkan olamines. Typically, they attack copper, brass, and aluminum, but not steel or iron. Alkan olamines are useful as amination agents however, the reactivity of both the amino and alcohol... 

Generally, unsaturated compounds, eg, alkenes and natural fats and their derivatives, are much more reactive toward sulfur than alkanes. Sulfur reacts with unsaturated compounds at temperatures of 120—215°C, forming products that are usually dark and often viscous cross-linked mixtures of dithiole-3-thiones (eq. 4) (2) and sulfides (Table 1) (3). 

These reactions occur on the benzylic hydrogens because these hydrogens are much more reactive. Competition experiments show, for example, that at 40°C a benzylic hydrogen of toluene is 3.3 times as reactive toward bromine atoms as the tertiary hydrogen of an alkane and nearly 100 million times as reactive as a hydrogen of methane. 

Wax usually refers to a substance that is a plastic solid at ambient temperature and that, on being subjected to moderately elevated temperatures, becomes a low viscosity hquid. Because it is plastic, wax usually deforms under pressure without the appHcation of heat. The chemical composition of waxes is complex all of the products have relatively wide molecular weight profiles, with the functionaUty ranging from products that contain mainly normal alkanes to those that are mixtures of hydrocarbons and reactive functional species. 

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... 

Alkenes — Also known as olefins, and denoted as C H2 the compounds are unsaturated hydrocarbons with a single carbon-to-carbon double bond per molecule. The alkenes are very similar to the alkanes in boiling point, specific gravity, and other physical characteristics. Like alkanes, alkenes are at most only weakly polar. Alkenes are insoluble in water but quite soluble in nonpolar solvents like benzene. Because alkenes are mostly insoluble liquids that are lighter than water and flammable as well, water is not used to suppress fires involving these materials. Because of the double bond, alkenes are more reactive than alkanes. 

The high reactivity of N-H bonds has also been exploited to produce N-F denvatives without significant substitution on neighbonng C-H bonds, Diethyl-phosphoramidates of ammonia, alkylammes, and a,polar solvents to produce difluoroamine [57], N,N-difluoroalkylamines, and a,to-bis(At,7V-difluoroamino)alkanes [52] Acetamide undergoes fluonnation to give modest yields of N,N difluoroacetatnide and acetyl fluonde when fluorinated... 

Once again, the addition of antimony pentachloride increases the reactivity of chlonne tnonofluoride toward alkanes but reduces its selectivity and thus allows more than one product to be generated [7d]... 

Oxidations of higly fluonnated alkanes and cycloalkanes are rare because of the resistance of these compounds to oxidation agents Reactive centers include C-H and C-I bonds (oxidations of lodo compounds at lodme atom are descnbed in a special part of this chapter)... 

Trifluoromethyl-substituted diazonium betaines [176]. Synthetic routes to trifluoromethyl-substituted diazo alkanes, such as 2,2,2-trifluorodiazoethane [ 177, 7 78, 179] and alkyl 3,3,3-trifluoro-2-diazopropionates [24], have been developed Rhodium-catalyzed decomposition of 3,3,3-tnfluoro-2-diazopropionates offers a simple preparative route to highly reactive carbene complexes, which have an enormous synthetic potential [24] [3-1-2] Cycloaddition reactions were observed on reaction with nitnles to give 5-alkoxy-4-tnfluoromethyloxazoles [750] (equation 41)... 

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