Stereochemistry alkyl halides

An advantage that sulfonate esters have over alkyl halides is that their prepara tion from alcohols does not involve any of the bonds to carbon The alcohol oxygen becomes the oxygen that connects the alkyl group to the sulfonyl group Thus the configuration of a sulfonate ester is exactly the same as that of the alcohol from which It was prepared If we wish to study the stereochemistry of nucleophilic substitution m an optically active substrate for example we know that a tosylate ester will have the same configuration and the same optical purity as the alcohol from which it was prepared... 

Electrophilic attack on the sulfur atom of thiiranes by alkyl halides does not give thiiranium salts but rather products derived from attack of the halide ion on the intermediate cyclic salt (B-81MI50602). Treatment of a s-2,3-dimethylthiirane with methyl iodide yields cis-2-butene by two possible mechanisms (Scheme 31). A stereoselective isomerization of alkenes is accomplished by conversion to a thiirane of opposite stereochemistry followed by desulfurization by methyl iodide (75TL2709). Treatment of thiiranes with alkyl chlorides and bromides gives 2-chloro- or 2-bromo-ethyl sulfides (Scheme 32). Intramolecular alkylation of the sulfur atom of a thiirane may occur if the geometry is favorable the intermediate sulfonium ions are unstable to nucleophilic attack and rearrangement may occur (Scheme 33). 

I Ignoring double-bond stereochemistry, what products would you expect from elimination reactions of the following alkyl halides Which will be the major product in each case ... 

What stereochemistry do you expect for the trisubstituted alkene obtained by E2 elimination of the following alkyl halide on treatment with KOE1 (Reddish brown - Br.)... 

AJkynes can be made by dehydrohalogenation of vinylic halides in a reaction that is essentially an E2 process. In studying the stereochemistry of this elimination, it was found that (Z)-2-chloro-2-butenedioic acid reacts 50 times as fast as the corresponding isomer. What conclusion can you draw about the stereochemistry of eliminations in vinylic halides How does this result compare with eliminations of alkyl halides ... 

Propose a structure for an alkyl halide that gives only ( )-3-methyl-2-phcnvl-2-pentene on E2 elimination. Make sure you indicate the stereochemistry. 

How- does this reaction take place Although it appears superficially similar to the SN1 and S 2 nucleophilic substitution reactions of alkyl halides discussed in Chapter 11, it must be different because aryl halides are inert to both SN1 and Sj 2 conditions. S l reactions don t occur wdth aryl halides because dissociation of the halide is energetically unfavorable due to tire instability of the potential aryl cation product. S]sj2 reactions don t occur with aryl halides because the halo-substituted carbon of the aromatic ring is sterically shielded from backside approach. For a nucleophile to react with an aryl halide, it would have to approach directly through the aromatic ring and invert the stereochemistry of the aromatic ring carbon—a geometric impossibility. 

One of the most important reasons for using tosylates in S j2 reactions is stereochemical. The S]s]2 reaction of an alcohol via an alkyl halide proceeds with hvo inversions of configuration—one to make the halide from the alcohol and one to substitute the halide—and yields a product with the same stereochemistry as the starting alcohol. The SN2 reaction of an alcohol via a tosylate, however, proceeds with only one inversion and yields a product of opposite stereochemistry to the starting alcohol. Figure 17.5 shows a series of reactions on the R enantiomer of 2-octanol that illustrates these stereochemical relationships. 

The nucleophile OH uses its lone pair electrons to attack the alkyl halide carbon 180° away from the departing halogen. This leads to a transition state with a partially formed C-O bond and a partially broken C-X bond. The stereochemistry is inverted as the C-O bond fully forms, and the halide ion departs with the electron pair from the former C-X bond. 

As reported in Scheme 1 the process involves a series of steps. The alkylpalladium species 1 forms through oxidative addition of the aromatic iodide to palladium(O) followed by noibomene insertion (4-7). The ready generation of complex 2 (8-11) from 1 is due to the unfavourable stereochemistry preventing P-hydrogen elimination from 1 (12). Complex 2 further reacts with alkyl halides RX to form palladium(IV) complex 3 (13-15). Migration of the R group to the... 

Addition of Bu3SnLi or McsSnI.i to 4-t-butylcyclohexanone affords mixtures of trans and cis adducts in ratios that depend on reaction conditions (Table ll)68. In THF, a 93 7 mixture is obtained with both reagents. This ratio is thought to represent the thermodynamic distribution—the axial stannane being favored. In ether, the cis isomer predominates, suggesting a kinetic preference for equatorial addition. Each of the two isomers can be lithiated with BuLi. Subsequent treatment with alkyl halides or carbonyl compounds affords the substituted alkoxy cyclohexanes with retention of stereochemistry. 

The oxidative addition of alkyl halides can proceed in different ways, although the result is usually atrans addition independent of the mechanism. In certain cases the reaction proceeds as an SN2 reaction as in organic chemistry. That is to say that the electron-rich metal nucleophile attacks the carbon atom of the alkyl halide, the halide being the leaving group. This process leads to inversion of the stereochemistry of the carbon atom (only when the carbon atom is asymmetric can this be observed). There are also examples in which racemisation occurs. This has been explained on the basis of a radical chain... 

It has been shown that a complete shift in stereochemistry of the nucleophilic reactions of (29), with alkyl halides such as 2-bromobutane or cis-2-bromomethoxycyclohexane, from racemization to complete inversion, is induced by increase in the inner-sphere stabilization of the transition state from 0 to 3 kcal mol" This has been ascribed to competition between inner-sphere 5)vr2 and outer-sphere electron-transfer processes the former being extremely sensitive towards inner-sphere stabilization. 

The crux of organic mechanistic stereochemistry may be the Walden inversion, the inversion of stereochemistry about a four-coordinate carbon atom by nucleophilic attack of, for example, a hydroxide ion on an alkyl halide. Many reactions of inorganic molecules follow the same mechanism. In contrast, the dissociative mechanism of tertiary halides to form tertiary carbocatanion intermediates is essentially unknown among the nonmetallic elements silicon, germanium, phosphorus, etc. The reason for this is the generally lower stability of species with coordination numbers of less than 4, together with an increased stability of five-coordinate intermediates. This difference is attributable to the presence of d orbitals in the heavier elements (Chapter 18). 

Some organic reactions can be accomplished by using two-layer systems in which phase-transfer catalysts play an important role (34). The phase-transfer reaction proceeds via ion pairs, and asymmetric induction is expected to emerge when chiral quaternary ammonium salts are used. The ion-pair interaction, however, is usually not strong enough to control the absolute stereochemistry of the reaction (35). Numerous trials have resulted in low or only moderate stereoselectivity, probably because of the loose orientation of the ion-paired intermediates or transition states. These reactions include, but are not limited to, carbene addition to alkenes, reaction of sulfur ylides and aldehydes, nucleophilic substitution of secondary alkyl halides, Darzens reaction, chlorination... 

Oxidative Addition of Alkyl Halides to Palladium(0). The stereochemistry of the oxidative addition (31) of alkyl halides to the transition metals of group VIII can provide information as to which of the many possible mechanisms are operative. The addition of alkyl halides to d8-iridium complexes has been reported to proceed with retention (32), inversion (33), and racemization (34, 35) via a free radical mechanism at the asymmetric carbon center. The kinetics of this reaction are consistent with nucleophilic displacement by iridium on carbon (36). Oxi-... 

The phase-transfer-catalyzed asymmetric alkylation of 1 has usually been performed with achiral alkyl halides, and hence the stereochemistry of the reaction with chiral electrophiles has scarcely been addressed. Nevertheless, several groups have tackled this problem. Zhu and coworkers examined the alkylation of 1 with stereo-chemically defined (5S)-N-benzyloxycarbonyl-5-iodomethyl oxazolidine using 4d to prepare (2S,4R)-4-hydroxyornithine for the total synthesis of Biphenomycin. Unexpectedly, however, product 7 with a 2 R absolute configuration was formed as a major isomer, and the diastereomeric ratio was not affected by switching the catalyst to pseudoenantiomeric 2d and even to achiral tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB), indicating that the asymmetric induction was dictated by the substrate (Scheme 2.3) [21]. 

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