Alkenes from elimination reaction

The demonstration that formation of the nucleophile adduct R-Nu results in the same proportional decrease in the yields of the alkene and solvent adducts, so that the ratio of the yields of these reaction products is independent of [Nu-]. If the solvolysis and elimination reactions proceed by competing stepwise and concerted pathways, respectively, then the yield of R-OSolv will decrease with increasing trapping of the carbocation intermediate by added nucleophile, while the yield of alkene from elimination will remain constant, so that the ratio [R-OSolv]/[Alkene] will decrease as [Nu ] is increased. 

By Wittig and related reactions (3-Dimethylaminopropyl)-triphenylphosphorane, 119 Sodium amide, 278 Vinyl(triphenyl)phosphonium bromide, 343 (E)-Alkenes By elimination reactions Arylselenocarboxamides, 22 Dichlorobis(cyclopentadienyl)-titanium, 102 Hydrogen peroxide, 145 From three-membered heterocycles Tributyltinlithium-Trimethylalu-minum, 320 Trisubstituted alkenes Chloromethyldiphenylsilane, 74 Organocopper reagents, 207 Alkenes (Methods to form alkenes)... 

If two hydrogen atoms on a (3-carbon atom are available for elimination, ( )-alkenes are strongly preferred. If only one hydrogen atom is present the product stereochemistry will be predictable on the basis of a syn addition of the organopalladium group to the double bond followed by a syn elimination of a palladium hydride group, provided the reaction is conducted under the proper conditions as described in Section 4.3.5.1.2.i. Yields of substituted alkenes from these reactions generally decline as the number and size of the substituents on the vinyl carbons increase. 

The two most common alkene-forming elimination reactions are dehy-drohalogenation—the loss of HX from an alkyl halide—and dehydration—the loss of water from an alcohol. Dehydrohalogenation usually occurs by reaction of an alkyl halide with strong base, such as potassium hydroxide. For example, bromocyclohexane yields cyclohexene when treated with KOH in ethanol solution ... 

Chapter 5 continues the chemistry of alcohols and alkyl halides by showing how they can be nsed to prepare alkenes by elimination reactions. Here, the students see a second example of the formation of carbocation intermediates from alcohols, but in this case, the carbocation travels a different pathway to a different destination. 

When reversible addition and elimination reactions are carried out under similar conditions, they follow the same mechanistic path, but in opposite directions. The principle of microscopic reversibility states that the mechanism of a reversible reaction is the same in the forward and reverse directions. The intermediates and transition structures involved in the addition process are the same as in the elimination reaction. Under these circumstances, mechanistic conclusions about the addition reaction are applicable to the elimination reaction and vice versa. The reversible acid-catalyzed reaction of alkenes with water is a good example. Two intermediates are involved a carbocation and a protonated alcohol. The direction of the reaction is controlled by the conditions, which can be adjusted to favor either side of the equilibrium. Addition is favored in aqueous solution, whereas elimination can be driven forward by distilling the alkene from the reaction solution. The reaction energy diagram is show in Figure 5.1. 

Step 3 IS new to us It is an acid-base reachon m which the carbocation acts as a Br0n sted acid transferrmg a proton to a Brpnsted base (water) This is the property of carbo cations that is of the most significance to elimination reactions Carbocations are strong acids they are the conjugate acids of alkenes and readily lose a proton to form alkenes Even weak bases such as water are sufficiently basic to abstract a proton from a carbocation... 

Like alcohol dehydrations El reactions of alkyl halides can be accompanied by carbocation rearrangements Eliminations by the E2 mechanism on the other hand nor mally proceed without rearrangement Consequently if one wishes to prepare an alkene from an alkyl halide conditions favorable to E2 elimination should be chosen In prac tice this simply means carrying out the reaction m the presence of a strong base... 

The preparation of an alkene 3 from an amine 1 by application of a /3-elimination reaction is an important method in organic chemistry. A common procedure is the Hofmann elimination where the amine is first converted into a quaternary ammonium salt by exhaustive methylation. Another route for the conversion of amines to alkenes is offered by the Cope elimination. 

Just as the chemistry of alkenes is dominated by addition reactions, the preparation of alkenes is dominated by elimination reactions. Additions and eliminations are, in many respects, two sides of the same coin. That is, an addition reaction might involve the addition of HBr or H20 to an alkene to form an alkyl halide or alcohol, whereas an elimination reaction might involve the loss of HBr or H20 from an alkyl halide or alcohol to form an alkene. 

Alkenes are generally prepared by an elimination reaction, such as dehydrohalo-genation, the elimination of FIX from an alkyl halide, or dehydration, the elimination of water from an alcohol. 

A final piece of evidence involves the stereochemistry of elimination. (Jnlike the E2 reaction, where anti periplanar geometry is required, there is no geometric requirement on the El reaction because the halide and the hydrogen are lost in separate steps. We might therefore expect to obtain the more stable (Zaitsev s rule) product from El reaction, which is just what w e find. To return to a familiar example, menthyl chloride loses HC1 under El conditions in a polar solvent to give a mixture of alkenes in w hich the Zaitsev product, 3-menthene, predominates (Figure 11.22). 

In 1970, it was disclosed that it is possible to achieve the conversion of dimethylformamide cyclic acetals, prepared in one step from vicinal diols, into alkenes through thermolysis in the presence of acetic anhydride." In the context of 31, this two-step process performs admirably and furnishes the desired trans alkene 33 in an overall yield of 40 % from 29. In the event, when diol 31 is heated in the presence of V, V-dimethylforrnamide dimethyl acetal, cyclic dimethylformamide acetal 32 forms. When this substance is heated further in the presence of acetic anhydride, an elimination reaction takes place to give trans olefin 33. Although the mechanism for the elimination step was not established, it was demonstrated in the original report that acetic acid, yV, V-dimethylacetamide, and carbon dioxide are produced in addition to the alkene product."... 

It is possible to take advantage of the differing characteristics of the periphery and the interior to promote chemical reactions. For example, a dendrimer having a non-polar aliphatic periphery with highly polar inner branches can be used to catalyse unimolecular elimination reactions in tertiary alkyl halides in a non-polar aliphatic solvent. This works because the alkyl halide has some polarity, so become relatively concentrated within the polar branches of the dendrimer. This polar medium favours the formation of polar transition states and intermediates, and allows some free alkene to be formed. This, being nonpolar, is expelled from the polar region, and moves out of the dendrimer and into the non-polar solvent. This is a highly efficient process, and the elimination reaction can be driven to completion with only 0.01 % by mass of a dendrimer in the reaction mixture in the presence of an auxiliary base such as potassium carbonate. 

Elimination reactions are, of course, essentially the reversal of addition reactions the most common type is the loss of hydrogen and another atom or group from adjacent carbon atoms to yield alkenes (p.246) ... 

Thus in the above case the elimination product is found to contain 82 % of (7). Unexpected alkenes may arise, however, from rearrangement of the initial carbocationic intermediate before loss of proton. El elimination reactions have been shown as involving a dissociated carbocation they may in fact often involve ion pairs, of varying degrees of intimacy depending on the nature of the solvent (cf. SN1, p. 90). 

The quantitation of products that form in low yields requires special care with HPLC analyses. In cases where the product yield is <1%, it is generally not feasible to obtain sufficient material for a detailed physical characterization of the product. Therefore, the product identification is restricted to a comparison of the UV-vis spectrum and HPLC retention time with those for an authentic standard. However, if a minor reaction product forms with a UV spectrum and HPLC chromatographic properties similar to those for the putative substitution or elimination reaction, this may lead to errors in structural assignments. Our practice is to treat rate constant ratios determined from very low product yields as limits, until additional evidence can be obtained that our experimental value for this ratio provides a chemically reasonable description of the partitioning of the carbocation intermediate. For example, verification of the structure of an alkene that is proposed to form in low yields by deprotonation of the carbocation by solvent can be obtained from a detailed analysis of the increase in the yield of this product due to general base catalysis of carbocation deprotonation.14,16... 

The formation of alkenes and alkene-related polymerization products can seriously reduce the yields of desired alkane products from secondary alcohols, which can undergo elimination reactions. For example, reduction of 2-octanol at 0° with boron trifluoride gas in dichloromethane containing 1.2 equivalents of tri-ethylsilane gives only a 58% yield of n-octane after 75 minutes (Eq. II).129 The remainder of the hydrocarbon mass comprises nonvolatile polymeric material.126... 

From the mechanistic point of view, the observed competitive reactions can be explained by considering two different pathways (Scheme 114). The intermediacy of ruthenacyclopentadiene 453 or biscarbenoid 452, formed from the reaction of a diyne and a ruthenium(ll) complex, is postulated in the proposed mechanism. Cyclopropanation of the alkene starts with the formation of ruthenacyclobutane 456, which leads to the generation of the vinylcarbene 457. Then, the second cyclopropanation occurs to afford the biscyclopropyl product 458. Insertion of the alkene 459 into the ruthenacyclopentadiene 453 affords the ruthenacycloheptadiene 454. The subsequent reductive elimination gives the cyclotrimerization product 455. The selectivity toward the bis-cyclopropyl product 458 is improved with an increasing order of haptotropic flexibility of the cyclopentadienyl-type ligand. 

Diethyl malonate reacts with iodine under basic soliddiquid conditions (procedure 6.4.20 omitting the alkene) to produce tetraethyl ethane-1,1,2,2-tetracarboxylate (Scheme 6.28) [110] the ethenetetracarboxylate is also formed, presumably from the reaction of the initially formed iodomalonate with its carbanion and subsequent elimination of hydrogen iodide. 

Involvement of a-elimination reactions for in situ prepared catalysts from WC16 and Me4Sn was demonstrated by the use of 13C in tetramethyltin. The norbomene polymers formed contained the 13CH2 alkene moiety as the end-group. Also unstable C14W=CH2 and Cl4W=13CH2 species were observed by H NMR spectroscopy [14],... 

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