Benzyl cation forms

The behavior of the isomeric dihydronaphthalenes emphasizes the importance of the relative stabilities of carbocation intermediates in ionic hydrogenations. Treatment of 1,2-dihydronaphthalene with Et3SiH/TFA at 50-60° gives a 90% yield of tetralin after one hour. Under the same conditions, the 1,4-dihydronaphthalene isomer gives less than 5% of tetralin after 70 hours.224 This difference in reactivity is clearly related to the relatively accessible benzylic cation formed upon protonation of the 1,2-isomer compared to the less stable secondary cation formed from the 1,4-isomer.224... 

This stereoselectivity is not a result of adsorption on the electrode but stems from the nature of the benzylic cation formed as an intermediate, because the same oxazolines are formed in a similar ratio in the homogeneous reaction of 54 with Mn(OAc)3. 

Phenols are such good nucleophiles that protonated carbonyl compounds functionalize two phenol molecules. The first phenol molecule is attacked in an Ar-SE reaction by the carboxonium ion formed in an equilibrium reaction. Subsequently, the second equivalent of phenol becomes the substrate of a Friedel-Crafts alkylation. The electrophile is the benzyl cation that is formed from the initially obtained benzyl alcohol and the acid. Protonated acetone is only a weak electrophile for electronic and steric reasons It contains two electron-donating and relatively large methyl groups on the electrophilic C atom. Therefore, it attacks phenol regioselectively in the para and not at all in the less favored ortho position (Figure 5.25). The benzyl cation formed there-... 

Table 12.3. Relative Stability of Alkyl and Benzylic Cations Formed by Hydrolysis of Alkyl Chlorides...

The same reaction has been performed with partially chloromethylated polystyrene as backbone. On addition of silver hexafluoroantimonate in THF solution, the benzylic cations formed can initiate the polymerization of THF to grow the grafts. However, living poly(oxolane) reacts readily with benzylic halides, whereby the chain is terminated and another site is created (Scheme 24). In other words, transfer also contributes to the grafting process. The grafted structure... 

Although this cleavage is probably driven by the stability of benzyl cation evidence has been obtained suggesting that tropyhum cation formed by rearrangement of benzyl cation IS actually the species responsible for the peak... 

However, a number of examples have been found where addition of bromine is not stereospecifically anti. For example, the addition of Bf2 to cis- and trans-l-phenylpropenes in CCI4 was nonstereospecific." Furthermore, the stereospecificity of bromine addition to stilbene depends on the dielectric constant of the solvent. In solvents of low dielectric constant, the addition was 90-100% anti, but with an increase in dielectric constant, the reaction became less stereospecific, until, at a dielectric constant of 35, the addition was completely nonstereospecific.Likewise in the case of triple bonds, stereoselective anti addition was found in bromination of 3-hexyne, but both cis and trans products were obtained in bromination of phenylacetylene. These results indicate that a bromonium ion is not formed where the open cation can be stabilized in other ways (e.g., addition of Br+ to 1 -phenylpropene gives the ion PhC HCHBrCH3, which is a relatively stable benzylic cation) and that there is probably a spectrum of mechanisms between complete bromonium ion (2, no rotation) formation and completely open-cation (1, free rotation) formation, with partially bridged bromonium ions (3, restricted rotation) in between. We have previously seen cases (e.g., p. 415) where cations require more stabilization from outside sources as they become intrinsically less stable themselves. Further evidence for the open cation mechanism where aryl stabilization is present was reported in an isotope effect study of addition of Br2 to ArCH=CHCHAr (Ar = p-nitrophenyl, Ar = p-tolyl). The C isotope effect for one of the double bond carbons (the one closer to the NO2 group) was considerably larger than for the other one. ... 

Indeed, cumyl carbocations are known to be effective initiators of IB polymerization, while the p-substituted benzyl cation is expected to react effectively with IB (p-methylstyrene and IB form a nearly ideal copolymerization system ). Severe disparity between the reactivities of the vinyl and cumyl ether groups of the inimer would result in either linear polymers or branched polymers with much lower MW than predicted for an in/mcr-mediated living polymerization. Styrene was subsequently blocked from the tert-chloride chain ends of high-MW DIB, activated by excess TiCU (Scheme 7.2). 

The acetoxy group is introduced exclusively at the benzylic carbon. This is in accord with the intermediate being a weakly bridged species or a benzylic cation. The addition of bromide salts to the reaction mixture diminishes the amount of acetoxy compound formed by shifting the competition for the electrophile in favor of the bromide ion. Chlorination in nucleophilic solvents can also lead to solvent incorporation, as, for example, in the chlorination of 1-phenylpropene in methanol.37... 

Experimental observations,23 supported by high-level ab initio calculations, 24 indicate that two extreme resonance forms contribute to the general energy of the benzyl cation the aromatic form A, in which the positive charge is concentrated at the methylene group, and the nonaromatic, methylene arenium form B with a sp2 ipso-carbon atom and ring-localized charge (Scheme 3.13). Unlike benzyl cations of the form A, which were isolated and studied, especially by Olah and coworkers,23 compounds represented by the form B remained elusive. Thus, metal complexation... 

Poverenov, E. Leitus, G. Milstein, D. Synthesis and reactivity of the methylene arenium form of a benzyl cation, stabilized by complexation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 16450-16451. 

Estimating stability it is possible to apply criteria commonly used in organic chemistry. Tertiary alkyl carbocation is more stable than the secondary one which is in its turn more stable than the primary one. For the carbon ions of this type the row of the stability is reversed. Allyl and benzyl cations are stable due to the resonance stabilization. The latter having four resonance structures may rearrange to be energetically favorable in the gas phase tropilium cation possessing seven resonance forms (Scheme 5.3). 

Canonical forms can also be drawn for benzylic cations and allylic cations. 

Structural characterisation of 58 and 59 have demonstrated that the PF, anion is located in the cleft between the two dialkylammonium cations forming hydrogen-bonds with the benzylic hydrogen atoms of one of the cations and with one of the hydrogen atoms of a hydroquinone ring. In contrast, a polymeric as-... 

A similar (but somewhat less obvious) dichotomy results in the simultaneous ring and sidechain substitution of durene. Thus in this charge-transfer nitration, the addition of N02 to the cation radical DUR+- (72) occurs in competition with its deprotonation (73), in which the pyridine has been shown to act as a base (Masnovi et al., 1989) (Scheme 15). [Note that deprotonation of DUR+- also leads to aromatic dimers via the subsequent (oxidative) substitution of the benzylic radical formed in (73) (Bewick et al., 1975 Lau and Kochi, 1984).]... 

Anodic side chain substitution is a competing reaction to nuclear substitution of aromatic compounds. In side chain substitution, the first formed acidic radical cation is deprotonated at the a-carbon atom of an alkyl group to form a radical. This is further oxidized to a benzyl cation, which reacts with a nucleophile (Scheme 9, path d). The factors that influence the ratio of nuclear to side chain substitution have been described in 5.4.1. 

---