Alkylation reaction formation kinetics

Reaction of 3-amino-1-propanol and 5-bromo-5-deoxy-D-furanoxylose (25) in D2O was monitored by NMR (Scheme 4). The a-anomer of trihydroxypyridoPd-f l-LbSloxazine 26 formed 20 times faster, but the /3-anomer 27 was more stable (A / 7.3). The faster formation of the Q -anomer is a consequence of a kinetic anomeric effect that destabilizes the transition state for equatorial A -alkylation and formation of the /3-anomer 27 (OOJOC889). 

The fundamental aspects of the structure and stability of carbanions were discussed in Chapter 6 of Part A. In the present chapter we relate the properties and reactivity of carbanions stabilized by carbonyl and other EWG substituents to their application as nucleophiles in synthesis. As discussed in Section 6.3 of Part A, there is a fundamental relationship between the stabilizing functional group and the acidity of the C-H groups, as illustrated by the pK data summarized in Table 6.7 in Part A. These pK data provide a basis for assessing the stability and reactivity of carbanions. The acidity of the reactant determines which bases can be used for generation of the anion. Another crucial factor is the distinction between kinetic or thermodynamic control of enolate formation by deprotonation (Part A, Section 6.3), which determines the enolate composition. Fundamental mechanisms of Sw2 alkylation reactions of carbanions are discussed in Section 6.5 of Part A. A review of this material may prove helpful. 

The preparation of ketones and ester from (3-dicarbonyl enolates has largely been supplanted by procedures based on selective enolate formation. These procedures permit direct alkylation of ketone and ester enolates and avoid the hydrolysis and decarboxylation of keto ester intermediates. The development of conditions for stoichiometric formation of both kinetically and thermodynamically controlled enolates has permitted the extensive use of enolate alkylation reactions in multistep synthesis of complex molecules. One aspect of the alkylation reaction that is crucial in many cases is the stereoselectivity. The alkylation has a stereoelectronic preference for approach of the electrophile perpendicular to the plane of the enolate, because the tt electrons are involved in bond formation. A major factor in determining the stereoselectivity of ketone enolate alkylations is the difference in steric hindrance on the two faces of the enolate. The electrophile approaches from the less hindered of the two faces and the degree of stereoselectivity depends on the steric differentiation. Numerous examples of such effects have been observed.51 In ketone and ester enolates that are exocyclic to a conformationally biased cyclohexane ring there is a small preference for... 

Because of the irreversibility of the O-alkylation reaction, kinetic regio-and stereo-control is required for selective product-formation. Therefore, selective formation of either a or / product seemed to be unattainable. 

Simple a-diimines are hydrolytically unstable, but can be stabilized as metal complexes by virtue of the formation of stable five-membered chelate rings.68 69 a-Diketones and glyoxal undergo metal template reactions with amines to yield complexes of multidentate ligands such as (34),70 (35)71 and (36).72>73 In the last case, the metal exerts its stabilizing influence on the a-diimine partner in an equilibrium process (Scheme 5). The same phenomenon occurs with amino alcohols74 75 in addition to amino thiols. The thiolate complexes (37) can be converted to macrocyclic complexes by alkylation in a kinetic template reaction (Scheme 5).76 77... 

Both the intramolecular and the intermolecular secondary metathesis reactions affect the polymerisation kinetics by decreasing the rate of polymerisation, because a fraction of the active sites that should be available as propagation species are involved in these non-productive metathesis reactions. The kinetics of polymerisation in the presence of metal alkyl-activated and related catalysts shows in some cases a tendency towards retardation, again due to gradual catalyst deactivation [123]. Moreover, several other specific reactions can influence the polymerisation. Among them, the addition of carbene species to an olefinic double bond, resulting in the formation of cyclopropane derivatives [108], and metallacycle decomposition via reductive elimination of cyclopropane [109] deserve attention. 

Thus Sn2 alkylation occurs on the carbon atom, whereas a-chloroethers, well known to react by an SnI mechanism, undergo O-alkylation as predicted by the SHAB principle. Both reactions are kinetically controlled, and bond formation is not far advanced in the transition state. Acylating agents (which have a hard electrophilic carbon atom) however, give the C-acylated product in the Claisen condensation. 

Typical experimental conditions for reactions of kinetic enolates involve formation of the enolate at very low temperature (-78°C) in THF. Remember, the strong base LDA is used to avoid self-condensation of the carbonyl compound but, while the enolate is forming, there is always a chance that self-condensation will occur. The lower the temperature, the slower the self-condensation reaction, and the fewer by-products there are. Once enolate formation is complete, the electrophile is added (still at -78°C the lithium enolates may not be stable at higher temperatures). The reaction mixture is then usually allowed to warm up to room temperature to speed up the rate of the S 2 alkylation. 

All these ligands have extensive chemistry here we note only a few points that are of interest from the point of view of catalysis. The relatively easy formation of metal alkyls by two reactions—insertion of an alkene into a metal-hydrogen or an existing metal-carbon bond, and by addition of alkyl halides to unsaturated metal centers—are of special importance. The reactivity of metal alkyls, especially their kinetic instability towards conversion to metal hydrides and alkenes by the so-called /3-hydride elimination, plays a crucial role in catalytic alkene polymerization and isomerization reactions. These reactions are schematically shown in Fig. 2.5 and are discussed in greater detail in the next section. 

In binary catalysts two types of propagation centers can be kinetically identified stereospecific CJ and non stereospecific C. The aluminum alkyl causes the formation of such centers by means of irreversible alkylation reactions of the corresponding S and SA sites. Moreover, it brings about the reversible deactivation of the propagation species, which is preferential for the non-stereospecific centers. The external base, in equilibrium and competition with the organoaluminum, would reversibly poison the non-stereospecific centers and, to a much lower degree, also the stereospecific centers. In the ternary catalysts a further stereospecific center, would be present. This center is most likely, but not necessarily, donor associated. In this case the aluminum alkyl, besides deactivating the various active centers to different... 

Affinity labeling agents are intrinsically reactive compounds that initially bind reversibly to the active site of the enzyme then undergo chemical reaction (generally an acylation or alkylation reaction) with a nucleophile on the enzyme (Scheme 8). To differentiate a reversible inhibitor from an irreversible one, often the dissociation constant is written with a capital i, K (65), instead of a small i, K, which is used for reversible inhibitors. The K denotes the concentration of an inactivator that produces half-maximal inactivation. Note that this kinetic Scheme is similar to that for substrate turnover except instead of the catalytic rate constant, kcat for product formation, kmact is used to denote the maximal rate constant for inactivation. 

Kinetic reaction rate constants increase with the number of ethyl groups alkylated on the benzene ring. For example, the relative rate constant for alkylation of EB is roughly twice that for the alkylation of benzene. Reaction rate constants continue to increase with each successive alkylation reaction until a limitation is reached, such as steric hindrance. The formation of penta-EB and hexa-EB proceeds very slowly for this and other reasons so that only trace quantities are formed. 

---