Alkenes general reactions

Pyrolysis. The pyrolysis of simple esters of the formula RCOOCR R CHR 2 to form the free acid and an alkene is a general reaction that is used for producing olefins ... 

The important hydrocarbon classes are alkanes, alkenes, aromatics, and oxygenates. The first three classes are generally released to the atmosphere, whereas the fourth class, the oxygenates, is generally formed in the atmosphere. Propene will be used to illustrate the types of reactions that take place with alkenes. Propene reactions are initiated by a chemical reaction of OH or O3 with the carbon-carbon double bond. The chemical steps that follow result in the formation of free radicals of several different types which can undergo reaction with O2, NO, SO2, and NO2 to promote the formation of photochemical smog products. 

Addition of HCl to an alkene generally proceeds by a stepwise mechanism. The HCl bond breaks as the CH bond forms and this gives two reaction intermediates. The intermediates are not observed, but they persist until a second collision brings Cl close to the other carbon of the alkene. 

The synthetic utility of the alkene metathesis reaction may in some cases be limited because of the formation of a mixture of products. The steps of the catalytic cycle are equilibrium processes, with the yields being determined by the thermodynamic equilibrium. The metathesis process generally tends to give complex mixtures of products. For example, pent-2-ene 8 disproportionates to give, at equilibrium, a statistical mixture of but-2-enes, pent-2-enes and hex-3-enes ... 

One of the most striking differences between conjugated dienes and typical alkenes is in their electrophilic addition reactions. To review briefly, the addition of an electrophile to a carbon-carbon double bond is a general reaction of alkenes (Section 6.7). Markovnikov regiochemistry is found because the more stable carbo-cation is formed as an intermediate. Thus, addition of HC1 to 2-methylpropene yields 2-chloro-2-methylpropane rather than l-chloro-2-methylpropane, and addition of 2 mol equiv of HC1 to the nonconjugated diene 1,4-pentadiene yields 2,4-dichloropentane. 

Methods of synthesis for carboxylic acids include (1) oxidation of alkyl-benzenes, (2) oxidative cleavage of alkenes, (3) oxidation of primary alcohols or aldehydes, (4) hydrolysis of nitriles, and (5) reaction of Grignard reagents with CO2 (carboxylation). General reactions of carboxylic acids include (1) loss of the acidic proton, (2) nucleophilic acyl substitution at the carbonyl group, (3) substitution on the a carbon, and (4) reduction. 

The synthesis of 2-chloro-2,3,3-trifluorocyclobutyl acetate illustrates a general method of preparing cyclobutanes by heating chlorotrifluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene, and other highly fluorinated ethylenes with alkenes. The reaction has recently been reviewed.11 Chlorotrifluoroethylene has been shown to form cyclobutanes in this way with acrylonitrile,6 vinylidene chloride,3 phenylacetylene,7 and methyl propiolate.3 A far greater number of cyclobutanes have been prepared from tetrafluoroethylene and alkenes 4,11 when tetrafluoroethylene is used, care must be exercised because of the danger of explosion. The fluorinated cyclobutanes can be converted to a variety of cyclobutanes, cyclobutenes, and butadienes. 

The first step of this procedure illustrates a general reaction, the addition of allenes to alkenes to form methylenecyclobutanes. The reaction has been reviewed recently.7... 

The diradical mechanism b is most prominent in the reactions involving fluorinated alkenes. These reactions are generally not stereospecificand are insensitive to solvent effects. Further evidence that a diion is not involved is that head-to-head eoupling is found when an unsymmetrical molecule is dimerized. Thus dimerization of F2C=CFC1 gives 106, not 107. If one pair of electrons moved before the other, the positive end of one molecule would be expeeted to attack the negative end of the other. 

The most general method for formation of new carbon-carbon bonds via radical intermediates involves addition of the radical to an alkene. The reaction generates a new radical that can propagate a chain sequence. The preferred alkenes for trapping alkyl... 

The chain-carrying catalytic species of alkene-polymerization reactions is commonly a tri-coordinate group 4 transition-metal cation of the general form L2M+P , where P is the polyalkene chain. A family of commercially important examples is based on the complex titanium ion57... 

In summary, transifion-metal-catalyzed alkene-polymerization reactions highlight the metal-induced electrophilic activation of C—C n bonds to form carbo-cation-like alkene complexes. Considerations involving substituent pi-donor or pi-acceptor strength (i.e., tendency toward carbocation formation) will be useful in similarly rationalizing polymerization reactions (4.105) for more general alkenes. 

Furans and thiophenes are believed to be oxidized to epoxides, following the general reaction described for alkenes. However, at least in the case of tienilic add, experimental evidence shows that the reactive intermediate is an S-oxide [39]. Another example of CYP inactivation by a thiophene derivative is the covalent binding of ticlopidine to CYP2C19 [40]. 

With the exception of the parent compounds, where the Michael adducts are isolated, acrylic esters [see, e.g. 6,7,31,105,111 ] and nitriles [6,7], and vinyl ketones [26, 113, 115] generally yield the cyclopropanes (Table 7.6) under the standard Makosza conditions with chloroform. Mesityl oxide produces a trichlorocyclopropy-lpropyne in low yield (10%) [7]. When there is no substituent, other than the electron-withdrawing group at the a-position of the alkene, further reaction occurs with the trichloromethyl anion to produce spiro systems (35-48%) (Scheme 7.12) [7, 31]. Under analogous conditions, similar spiro systems are formed with a,p-unsaturated steroidal ketones [39]. Generally, bromoform produces cyclo adducts with all alkenes. Vinyl sulphones are converted into the dichlorocyclopropane derivatives either directly or via the base-catalysed cyclization of intermediate trichloromethyl deriva-... 

In the thermolysis and photolysis in alkenes, the diazoazoles gave allylic insertion as a general reaction, although vinylic insertion and addition to give spirocyclopropane adducts were also observed. Thermolysis and... 

The most common alkenes employed in the Pd-catalysed synthesis of alternating polyketones are ethene, styrene, propene and cyclic alkenes such as norbomene and norbornadiene. Even though the mechanism does not vary substantially with the alkene, the reactions of the various co-monomers are here reported and commented on separately, starting with the ethene/CO copolymerisation, which is still the most studied process. As a general scheme, the proposed catalytic cycles are presented first, then the spectroscopic experiments that have allowed one to elucidate each single mechanistic step. 

The general reaction for the catalytic hydration of an alkene to produce an alcohol is shown in Figure 3-6, and the mechanism is in Figure 3 7. This process is an excimple of a Markovnikov addition (as seen in Organic Chemistry 1). 

Symmetric ethers (R = R ) can be prepared by the acid-catalyzed dehydration of primary alcohols. However, this reaction competes with the acid-catalyzed dehydration of the alcohol to form an alkene. Lower temperatures favor ether formation over alkene formation. Secondary and tertiary alcohols favor alkene formation. The general reaction is shown in Figure 3-29. 

Oximes undergo similar cycloaddition with alkenes. This reaction provides more flexibility because oximes are easily available and are stable compounds. The reaction is, however, slower than cycloaddition of nitrones and generally requires high temperatures... 

Rhodium complexes were generally found to be more effective than iridium, but on the whole they show moderate activity in alkene oxygenation reactions. Significantly, epoxides, a typical product of the oxidation of olefins catalyzed by the middle transition metals, have rarely been evoked as products [18-22]. Although allylic alcohols [23] or ethers [24] have sometimes been described as products, the above cited rhodium and iridiiun complexes are characterized by an excellent selectivity in the oxygenation of terminal alkenes to methyl ketones. 

With ions or dipolar substrates, radical ions undergo nucleophilic or electrophilic capture. Nucleophilic capture is a general reaction for many alkene and strained-ring radical cations and may completely suppress (unimolecular) rearrangements or dimer formation. The regio- and stereochemistry of these additions are of major interest. The experimental evidence supports several guiding principles. 

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