Bromination stereospecificity

Problem 7.4. Start with either ( )-l-bromopropene or (Z)-l-bromopropene and assume that conditions are found to produce the Grignard reagent. Assume that it retained its configuration while reacting with Explain how you might know (what experiments would you do to determine) (a) if was actually incorporated, (b) if the is bound to the carbon from which the bromine (Br) left, and (c) if the geometry of the product was (or was not) in concert with the replacing the bromine stereospecifically. 

Addition of halogens (Sections 6 14-6 16) Bromine and chlorine add to alkenes to form vicinal dihalides A cy clic halonium ion is an intermediate Stereospecific anti addition is observed... 

Bromine addition to alkenes is an example of a stereospecific reaction A stereospecific reaction is one m which stereoisomeric starting materials yield products... 

Entries 1 and 2 in Scheme 2.9 are typical of concerted syn addition to alkene double bonds. On treatment with peroxyacetic acid, the Z-alkene affords the cis-oxirane, whereas the -alkene affords only the iraws-oxirane. Similarly, addition of dibromocarbene to Z-2-butene yields exclusively l,l-dibromo-cw-2,3-dimethylcyclopropane, whereas only 1,1-dibromo-/ra 5-2,3-dimethylcyclopropane is formed from -2-butene. There are also numerous stereospecific anti additions. Entiy 3 shows the anti stereochemistry typical of bromination of simple alkenes. 

The stereochemistry of both chlorination and bromination of several cyclic and acyclic dienes has been determined. The results show that bromination is often stereo-specifically anti for the 1,2-addition process, whereas syn addition is preferred for 1,4-addition. Comparable results for chlorination show much less stereospeciftcity. It appears that chlorination proceeds primarily through ion-pair intermediates, whereas in bromina-hon a stereospecific anfi-l,2-addition may compete with a process involving a carbocation mtermediate. The latter can presumably give syn or anti product. 

The stereochemistry of addition is usually anti for alkyl-substituted alkynes, whereas die addition to aryl-substituted compounds is not stereospecific. This suggests a termo-iecular mechanism in the alkyl case, as opposed to an aryl-stabilized vinyl cation mtermediate in the aryl case. Aryl-substituted alkynes can be shifted toward anti addition by including bromide salts in the reaction medium. Under these conditions, a species preceding the vinyl cation must be intercepted by bromide ion. This species can be presented as a complex of molecular bromine with the alkyne. An overall mechanistic summary is shown in the following scheme. 

This scheme represents an alkyne-bromine complex as an intermediate in all alkyne brominations. This is analogous to the case of alkenes. The complex may dissociate to a inyl cation when the cation is sufficiently stable, as is the case when there is an aryl substituent. It may collapse to a bridged bromonium ion or undergo reaction with a nucleophile. The latta is the dominant reaction for alkyl-substituted alkynes and leads to stereospecific anti addition. Reactions proceeding through vinyl cations are expected to be nonstereospecific. 

In the bromination of styrene, a po-+ plot is noticeably curved. If the extremes of the curves are taken to represent straight lines, the curve can be resolved into two Hammett relationships with p = —2.8 for electron-attracting substituents and p = —4.4 for electron-releasing substituents. When the corresponding -methylstyrenes are examined, a similarly curved ap plot is obtained. Furthermore, the stereospecificity of the reaction in the case of the -methylstyrenes varies with the aryl substituents. The reaction is a stereoespecific anti addition for strongly electron-attracting substituents but becomes only weakly stereoselective for electron-releasing substituents, e.g., 63% anti, 37% syn, forp-methoxy. Discuss the possible mechanistic basis for the Hammett plot curvature and its relationship to the stereochemical results. 

The reactions of bromine with E- or Z-1 -fluoropropene under ionic conditions result in stereospecific anti additions to yield the 15,26 and 1R,25 products, respectively [ftl] (equation 4)... 

The stereospecific trans addition of bromine to 5//-dibcnz[/i,/]azepine has been the subject of intense mechanistic study.230 231... 

STEREOSPECIFIC AND 100 % REGIOSELECTIVE BROMINATION OF A MODERATELY CONJUGATED OLEFIN... 

The debromination/hydrogenation reaction shows some stereospecificity. Bromine in lateral positions of C-2, C-3, C-6 and C-7 reacts faster than in the peri position (C-1, C-4, C-5, C-8). This is shown below for photolysis of 1,2,3,4,6,7-hexabromodibenzodioxin. 

These terms are best illustrated by examples. Thus, if maleic acid treated with bromine gives the dl pair of 2,3-dibromosuccinic acid while fumaric acid gives the meso isomer (this is the case), the reaction is stereospecific as well as stereoselective because two opposite isomers give two opposite isomers ... 

However, if both maleic and fumaric acid gave the dl pair or a mixture in which the dl pair predominated, the reaction would be stereoselective but not stereospecific. If more or less equal amounts of dl and meso forms were produced in each case, the reaction would be nonstereoselective. A consequence of these definitions is that if a reaction is carried out on a compound that has no stereoisomers, it cannot be stereospecific, but at most stereoselective. For example, addition of bromine to methylacetylene could (and does) result in preferential formation of trans-1,2-dibromopropene, but this can be only a stereoselective, not a stereospecific reaction. 

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. ... 

A common feature of the compounds that give extensive syn addition is the presence of a phenyl substituent on the double bond. The presence of a phenyl substituent diminishes the strength of bromine bridging by stabilizing the cationic center. A weakly bridged structure in equilibrium with an open benzylic cation can account for the loss in stereospecificity. 

Hydroboration is highly regioselective and stereospecific. The boron becomes bonded primarily to the less-substituted carbon atom of the alkene. A combination of steric and electronic effects works to favor this orientation. Borane is an electrophilic reagent. The reaction with substituted styrenes exhibits a weakly negative p value (-0.5).156 Compared with bromination (p+ = -4.3),157 this is a small substituent effect, but it does favor addition of the electrophilic boron at the less-substituted end of the double bond. In contrast to the case of addition of protic acids to alkenes, it is the boron, not the hydrogen, that is the more electrophilic atom. This electronic effect is reinforced by steric factors. Hydroboration is usually done under conditions in which the borane eventually reacts with three alkene molecules to give a trialkylborane. The... 

The anti stereospecificity of epoxidation by the peracid is interpreted as due to association of the reagent with the allylic hydroxyl group which directs the entering oxygen atom to the same face of the molecule. The stereospecificity of bromohydrin formation is explicable in terms of steric approach control involving initial attack of the bulky bromine atom on the face opposite to the benzylic hydroxyl group (7). 

Bromination can exhibit stereo-, regio- and chemo-selectivity when the reaction is carried out in the presence of nucleophiles (solvent or added salt). When the ionic intermediate is a bromonium ion, a stereospecific but non-regioselective reaction is expected. In contrast, for an open bromo-carbocation, the products should be formed regioselectively but not stereo-specifically. These considerations were understood very early since, in fact, Roberts and Kimball (1937) suggested bridged ions as bromination inter-... 

Bromination is less stereoselective, and the reactions of cis- and trans-olefins tend to be stereoconvergent. The stereospecific formation of the mixed bromoadducts in protic media, such as methanol or acetic acid, could be interpreted in the light of the recent finding (Ruasse et al., 1991) that these solvents assist the formation of the ionic intermediate nucleophilically. If a solvent molecule is close to the cationic part of the transition state in the rate-limiting step, the intermediate can be trapped by this solvent molecule in a necessarily trans mode with respect to the first bromine, before the two components of the ion-pair diffuse away from each other (15). This would... 

To summarize, when the kinetic data predict that only bromonium ions or only bromocarbocations are formed, the bromination products are obtained stereospecifically and regiospecifically, respectively, whatever the solvent. Olefin brominations involving open intermediates lead to more solvent-incorporated products in methanol or acetic acid than those involving bridged ions. This chemoselectivity can be interpreted in terms of the hard and soft acid and base theory (Dubois and Chretien, 1978). Methanol assistance to intermediate formation also plays a role in determining product-selectivity (Ruasse et al, 1991). 

---