Carbocation formation, thermodynamics

It has been possible to obtain thermodynamic data for the ionization of alkyl chlorides by reaction with SbFs, a Lewis acid, in the nonnucleophilic solvent S02C1F. It has been foimd that the solvation energies of the carbocations in this medium are small and do not differ much from one another, making comparison of the nonisomeric systems possible. As long as subsequent reactions of the carbocation can be avoided, the thermodynamic characteristics of this reaction provide a measure of the relative ease of carbocation formation in solution. 

In so far as in aqueous solution dehydration of alcohols to form alkenes is normally disfavored thermodynamically, it is clear why the rate-determining step in the acid-catalyzed dehydration (or hydration of the alkenes) is normally proton transfer. Only when the double bond of the product is strongly stabilized, for example by forming part of an aromatic ring, does deprotonation become faster than carbocation formation. 

The Y-T equation has been used to analyse the substituent effects on carbocation formation equilibria in the gas phase. These correlations are compared with those for the kinetic substituent effects in the corresponding solution phase solvolyses in Table 17 and substituent effects on thermodynamic basicities of carbonyl groups in both phases are compared in Tables 18 and 19. 

In benzylic solvolyses forming carbocations, the r value for the transition state of ionization, r, is identical with the corresponding to for the gas phase carbocation formation. It is reasonable to assume that the thermodynamic r... 

In the presence of strong acid, the carbonium ion can be formed at either carbon, depending upon the method of control employed (kinetic or thermodynamic). If the hydroxyl group at the carbon with the diphenyl is protonated, a benzylic cation is formed. If the other hydroxyl group is protonated, a primary carbocation is formed. The rate of carbocation formation depends upon the stability of the ion formed. The order of stability of carbocations is ... 

One of the most important and general trends in organic chemistry is the increase in carbonium ion stability with additional alkyl substitution at the carbonium ion site. This stability relationship is fundamental to understanding many aspects of reactivity, including nucleophilic substitution. In recent years it has been possible to put the stabilization effect on a quantitative basis. One approach has been gas phase measurements which determine the proton affinity of alkenes resulting in carbocation formation. From these data the hydride affinity of the carbonium ion can be obtained. These data provide a thermodynamic basis for comparison of the... 

Assuming selective formation of the most stable carbocation, which product(s) would be obtained from HCl addition to isoprene Would this outcome be different from the one predicted on the basis of thermodynamic control ... 

The second point to explore involves carbocation stability. 2-Methyl-propene might react with H+ to form a carbocation having three alkyl substituents (a tertiary ion, 3°), or it might react to form a carbocation having one alkyl substituent (a primary ion, 1°). Since the tertiary alkyl chloride, 2-chloro-2-methylpropane, is the only product observed, formation of the tertiary cation is evidently favored over formation of the primary cation. Thermodynamic measurements show that, indeed, the stability of carbocations increases with increasing substitution so that the stability order is tertiary > secondary > primary > methyl. 

Intermodular Alkylation by Carbocations. The formation of carbon-carbon bonds by electrophilic attack on the ir system is a very important reaction in aromatic chemistry, with both Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation following this pattern. These reactions are discussed in Chapter 11. There also are useful reactions in which carbon-carbon bond formation results from electrophilic attack by a carbocation on an alkene. The reaction of a carbocation with an alkene to form a new carbon-carbon bond is both kinetically accessible and thermodynamically favorable. 

We consider the relatively high pKA values of 6-8 to be typical value for a cation-quinone methide equilibrium. The formation of a resonance-stabilized aromatic carbocation is one reason for these high pKA values. Another reason is the high energy of the quinone methide. The thermodynamic cycle shown in... 

Our analysis of literature data will focus on two closely related questions about the influence of changes in the relative thermodynamic driving force and Marcus intrinsic barrier for the reaction of simple carbocations with Bronsted bases (alkene formation) and Lewis bases (nucleophile addition) on the values of ks/kp determined by experiment. 

To what extent is the partitioning of simple aliphatic and benzylic a-CH-substituted carbocations in nucleophilic solvents controlled by the relative thermodynamic driving force for proton transfer and nucleophile addition reactions It is known that the partitioning of simple aliphatic carbocations favors the formation of nucleophile adducts (ksjkp > 1, Scheme 2) and there is good evidence that this reflects, at least in part, the larger thermodynamic driving force for the nucleophilic addition compared with the proton transfer reaction of solvent (A dd U Scheme 6).12 21,22,24... 

The more favorable partitioning of [1+ ] to form [l]-OH than to form [2] must be due, at least in part, to the 4.0 kcal mol-1 larger thermodynamic driving force for the former reaction (Kadd = 900 for conversion of [2] to [l]-OH, Table 1). However, thermodynamics alone cannot account for the relative values of ks and kp for reactions of [1+] that are limited by the rate of chemical bond formation, which may be as large as 600. A ratio of kjkp = 600 would correspond to a 3.8 kcal mol-1 difference in the activation barriers for ks and kp, which is almost as large as the 4.0 kcal mol 1 difference in the stability of [1]-OH and [2]. However, only a small fraction of this difference should be expressed at the relatively early transition states for the reactions of [1+], because these reactions are strongly favored thermodynamically. These results are consistent with the conclusion that nucleophile addition to [1+] is an inherently easier reaction than deprotonation of this carbocation, and therefore that nucleophile addition has a smaller Marcus intrinsic barrier. However, they do not allow for a rigorous estimate of the relative intrinsic barriers As — Ap for these reactions. 

The partitioning of ferrocenyl-stabilized carbocations [30] between nucleophile addition and deprotonation (Scheme 18) has been studied by Bunton and coworkers. In some cases the rate constants for deprotonation and nucleophile addition are comparable, but in others they favor formation of the nucleophile adduct. However, the alkene product of deprotonation of [30] is always the thermodynamically favored product.120. In other words, the addition of water to [30] gives an alcohol that is thermodynamically less stable than the alkene that forms by deprotonation of [30], but the reaction passes over an activation barrier whose height is equal to, or smaller than, the barrier for deprotonation of [30], These data require that the intrinsic barrier for thermoneutral addition of water to [30] (As) be smaller than the intrinsic barrier for deprotonation of [30] (Ap). It is not known whether the magnitude of (Ap — As) for the reactions of [30] is similar to the values of (Ap - As) = 4-6 kcal mol 1 reported here for the partitioning of a-methyl benzyl carbocations. 

The partitioning of simple tertiary carbocations, ring-substituted 1-phenylethyl carbocations, and cumyl carbocations between deprotonation and nucleophilic addition of solvent strongly favors formation of the solvent adduct. The more favorable partitioning of these carbocations to form the solvent adduct is due, in part, to the greater thermodynamic stability of the solvent... 

Calculations of the nucleophilic reactions with MeO" were performed for the carbocations 4H+, 5H+ and 6H+ in order to simulate the crucial step of aza-PAH/adduct formation. These reactions were considered as models for evaluation of the reactivity trend for these carbocations toward nucleophiles. Thus, the thermodynamical tendency of each carbocation to react with the nucleophilic sites of DNA was estimated. 

The different products arise from enthalpy differences in the second step, the reaction of Br and the allyl R. See Fig. 8-5. At -80°C the 1,2-adduct, the rate-controlled product, is favored because its formation has the lower A// . 1,2-Adduct formation can reverse to refurnish the intermediate allylic carbocation, R. At 40°C, R goes through the higher-energy transition state for formation of the more stable 1,4-adduct, the thermodynamic-controlled product. The 1,4-adduct accumulates because the addition, having a greater is more difficult to reverse than that for the 1,2-adduct. The 1,4-adduct has a lower enthalpy because it has more R groups on the C=C,... 

Alkane isomerization equilibria are temperature-dependent, with the formation of branched isomers tending to occur at lower temperatures (Table 4.1). The use of superacids exhibiting high activity allows to achieve isomerization at lower temperature (as discussed below). As a result, high branching and consequently higher octane numbers are attained. Also, thermodynamic equilibria of neutral hydrocarbons and those of derived carbocations are substantially different. Under appropriate conditions (usual acid catalysts, longer contact time) the thermodynamic... 

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