Bases proton-base bonds

There is a lively controversy concerning the interpretation of these and other properties, and cogent arguments have been advanced both for the presence of hydride ions H" and for the presence of protons H+ in the d-block and f-block hydride phases.These difficulties emphasize again the problems attending any classification based on presumed bond type, and a phenomenological approach which describes the observed properties is a sounder initial basis for discussion. Thus the predominantly ionic nature of a phase cannot safely be inferred either from crystal structure or from calculated lattice energies since many metallic alloys adopt the NaCl-type or CsCl-type structures (e.g. LaBi, )S-brass) and enthalpy calculations are notoriously insensitive to bond type. 

This mechanism is exactly analogous to the allylic rearrangement mechanism for nucleophilic substitution (p. 421). The UV spectra of allylbenzene and 1-propenylbenzene in solutions containing NH2 are identical, which shows that the same carbanion is present in both cases, as required by this mechanism. The acid BH protonates the position that will give the more stable product, though the ratio of the two possible products can vary with the identity of BH". It has been shown that base-catalyzed double-bond shifts are partially intramolecular, at least in some cases. The intramolecularity has been ascribed to a conducted tour mechanism (p. 766) in which the base leads the proton from one carbanionic site to the other ... 

A proton transfer reaction involves breaking a covalent bond. For an acid, an H — X bond breaks as the acid transfers a proton to the base, and the bonding electrons are converted to a lone pair on X. Breaking the H — X bond becomes easier to accomplish as the bond energy becomes weaker and as the bonding electrons become more polarized toward X. Bond strengths and bond polarities help explain trends in acidity among neutral molecules. 

Because the breadth of chemical behavior can be bewildering in its complexity, chemists search for general ways to organize chemical reactivity patterns. Two familiar patterns are Br< )nsted acid-base (proton transfer) and oxidation-reduction (electron transfer) reactions. A related pattern of reactivity can be viewed as the donation of a pair of electrons to form a new bond. One example is the reaction between gaseous ammonia and trimethyl boron, in which the ammonia molecule uses its nonbonding pair of electrons to form a bond between nitrogen and boron ... 

In the previous section, we considered reporter molecules, which interact reversibly in a physical sense, for example, solvation of gas, protonation, or binding of metal ion by a ligand. Other reporter molecules reveal activity based on irreversible bond cleavage to release a distinct product. This may be more akin to the metabolism of drugs, but these reporters can be tailored to interrogate specific biological processes. 

Basicity in the gas phase is measured by the proton affinity (PA) of the electron donor and in solution by the pAj,. A solution basicity scale for aldehydes and ketones based on hydrogen bond acceptor ability has also been established [186]. Nucleophilicity could be measured in a similar manner, in the gas phase by the affinity for a particular Lewis acid (e.g., BF3) and in solution by the equilibrium constant for the complexation reaction. In Table 8.1 are collected the available data for a number of oxygen systems. It is clear from the data in Table 8.1 that the basicities of ethers and carbonyl compounds, as measured by PA and p , are similar. However, the nucleophilicity, as measured by the BF3 affinity, of ethers is greater than that of carbonyl compounds, the latter values being depressed by steric interactions. 

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