Dehydrohalogenation alkyl halides

Elimination reactions of alkyl halides (dehydrohalogenations) are a useful method of synthesising alkenes. For good yield, a... 

Geometrical Considerations in the E2 Elimination Reaction. Base-induced elimination of alkyl halides (dehydrohalogenation) is a general reaction and is an excellent method for preparing alkenes.This process is often referred to as -elimination, since a hydrogen atom is always removed p to the halide (leaving group) ... 

This concludes discussion of our second functional group transformation mvolv mg alcohols the first was the conversion of alcohols to alkyl halides (Chapter 4) and the second the conversion of alcohols to alkenes In the remaining sections of the chap ter the conversion of alkyl halides to alkenes by dehydrohalogenation is described... 

Dehydrohalogenation is the loss of a hydrogen and a halogen from an alkyl halide It IS one of the most useful methods for preparing alkenes by p elimination... 

Similarly sodium methoxide (NaOCHj) is a suitable base and is used m methyl alco hoi Potassium hydroxide m ethyl alcohol is another base-solvent combination often employed m the dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides Potassium tert butoxide [K0C(CH3)3] is the preferred base when the alkyl halide is primary it is used m either tert butyl alcohol or dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent... 

The regioselectivity of dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides follows the Zaitsev rule p elimination predominates m the direction that leads to the more highly substi tuted alkene... 

In addition to being regioselective dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides is stereo selective and favors formation of the more stable stereoisomer Usually as m the case of 5 bromononane the trans (or E) alkene is formed m greater amounts than its cis (or Z) stereoisomer... 

There is a strong similarity between the mechanism shown m Eigure 5 12 and the one shown for alcohol dehydration m Eigure 5 6 The mam difference between the dehy dration of 2 methyl 2 butanol and the dehydrohalogenation of 2 bromo 2 methylbutane IS the source of the carbocation When the alcohol is the substrate it is the correspond mg alkyloxonmm ion that dissociates to form the carbocation The alkyl halide ionizes directly to the carbocation... 

Dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides (Sections 5 14-5 16) Strong bases cause a proton and a halide to be lost from adjacent carbons of an alkyl halide to yield an alkene Regioselectivity is in accord with the Zaitsev rule The order of halide reactivity is I > Br > Cl > F A concerted E2 reaction pathway is followed carbocations are not involved and rearrangements do not occur An anti coplanar arrangement of the proton being removed and the halide being lost characterizes the transition state... 

Section 5 15 Dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides by alkoxide bases is not compli cated by rearrangements because carbocations are not intermediates The mechanism is E2 It is a concerted process m which the base abstracts a proton from the p carbon while the bond between the halogen and the a carbon undergoes heterolytic cleavage... 

We now have a new problem Where does the necessary alkene come from Alkenes are prepared from alcohols by acid catalyzed dehydration (Section 5 9) or from alkyl halides by dehydrohalogenation (Section 5 14) Because our designated starting material is tert butyl alcohol we can combine its dehydration with bromohydrm formation to give the correct sequence of steps... 

Just as It IS possible to prepare alkenes by dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides so may alkynes be prepared by a double dehydrohalogenation of dihaloalkanes The dihalide may be a geminal dihalide, one m which both halogens are on the same carbon or it may be a vicinal dihalide, one m which the halogens are on adjacent carbons... 

Dehydrohalogenation (Section 5 14) Reaction in which an alkyl halide on being treated with a base such as sodium ethoxide is converted to an alkene by loss of a proton from one carbon and the halogen from the adjacent carbon... 

A useful apphcation of phosphines for replacing a carbonyl function with a carbon—carbon double bond is the Wittig reaction (91). A tertiary phosphine, usually triphenylphosphine, treated with the appropriate alkyl halide which must include at least one a-hydrogen, yields the quaternary salt [1779A9-3] which is then dehydrohalogenated to form the Wittig reagent, methylenetriphenylphosphorane [19943-09-5] an yhde. 

We have previously seen (Scheme 2.9, enby 6), that the dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides is a stereospecific reaction involving an anti orientation of the proton and the halide leaving group in the transition state. The elimination reaction is also moderately stereoselective (Scheme 2.10, enby 1) in the sense that the more stable of the two alkene isomers is formed preferentially. Both isomers are formed by anti elimination processes, but these processes involve stereochemically distinct hydrogens. Base-catalyzed elimination of 2-iodobutane affords three times as much -2-butene as Z-2-butene. 

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