Carbocation methide

Scheme 10. Mechanislic possibililies for PF condensalion. Mechanism a involves an SN2-like attack of a phenolic ring on a methylol. This attack would be face-on. Such a mechanism is necessarily second-order. Mechanism b involves formation of a quinone methide intermediate and should be Hrst-order. The quinone methide should react with any nucleophile and should show ethers through both the phenolic and hydroxymethyl oxygens. Reaction c would not be likely in an alkaline solution and is probably illustrative of the mechanism for novolac condensation. The slow step should be formation of the benzyl carbocation. Therefore, this should be a first-order reaction also. Though carbocation formation responds to proton concentration, the effects of acidity will not usually be seen in the reaction kinetics in a given experiment because proton concentration will not vary.

The new carbocation can rearrange again through a methide/hydride shift as shown in the following equation ... 

Brousmiche, D. W. Xu, M. Lukeman, M. Wan, P. Photohydration and photosolvolysis of biphenyl alkenes and alcohols via biphenyl quinone methide-type intermediates and diarylmethyl carbocations. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 12961-12970. 

For over 35 years, the quinone methide species has been invoked as a reactive intermediate in bioreductive alkylation and in other biological processes.8 29 Generally, there is only circumstantial evidence that the quinone methide species forms in solution. Conceivably, the O-protonated quinone methide (i.e., the hydroquinone carbocation) could be the electrophilic species. If so, bioreductive alkylation may simply be an SN1 reaction. Also, there are questions concerning the mechanism of quinone methide... 

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... 

Scheme 7.25 shows the role of quinone methide energy on the cation-quinone methide equilibrium. A high pKa value for this equilibrium is expected if the energy of the quinone methide approaches that of the carbocation. To construct this cycle, we used the Ka values that we determined for the protonated ketone (pKa — —0.9) and quinone methide (pKa = 6.6). This pKa difference requires that the keto form be more stable than the quinone methide by — 10.2kcal/mol. We obtained the calculated energy difference of lO.lkcal/mol from Hartree-Fock calculations using 6-31G and STO-3G basis sets, inset of Scheme 7.25. 

Boruah, R. C. Skibo, E. B. Determination of the pKa values for the mitomycin C redox couple by tritration, pH rate profile, and Nemst-Clark fits. Studies of methanol elimination, carbocation formation, and the carbocation/quinone methide equilibrium. J. Org. Chem. 1995, 60, 2232-2243. 

Richard, J. P. Amyes, T. L. Bei, L. Stubblefield, V. The effect of beta-fluorine substituents on the rate and equilibrium-constants for the reactions of alpha-substituted 4-methoxybenzyl carbocations and on the reactivity of a simple quinone methide. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990, 112, 9513-9519. 

Fig. 12.7a,e) it is important to realize that a protonated quinone methide QM1H + is actually a benzylic carbocation (Fig. 12.7a). Water will also add to the quinone methide under fairly neutral conditions.86-88 The isomer distribution of the resulting compounds, PI can be determined directly from or 13C (or 2D 13C/1H correlation)... 

Effects of oxygen substitutents in an aromatic ring upon an exocyclic rather than endocyclic carbocation charge center have also been measured. The possibility of comparing HO, MeO, and O substituent effects for the benzylic cations is provided by recent studies of quinone methides, including the unsubstituted / -quinone methide 23, which may be considered as a resonance-stabilized benzylic cation with a /xoxyanion substituent. 

It seems clear therefore that more reactive cations than those for which Ritchie s N+ relationship was developed, show a distinct dependence of selectivity between nucleophiles upon the stability and reactivity of the carbocation. Richard has confirmed that for a very stable benzylic carbocation, represented by the bis-trifluoromethyl quinone methide 57, the N+ regime is restored and that a plot of log k against N+ for reactions of nucleophiles, including amines, oxygen and sulfur anions, the azide ion, and a-effect nucleophiles, shows a good correlation with N+.219... 

The interpretation of reactivities here provides a particular challenge, because differences in solvation and bond energies contribute differently to reaction rates and equilibria. Analysis in terms of the Marcus equation, in which effects on reactivity arising from changes in intrinsic barrier and equilibrium constant can be separated, is an undoubted advantage. Only rather recently, however, have equilibrium constants, essential to a Marcus analysis, become available for reactions of halide ions with relatively stable carbocations, such as the trityl cation, the bis-trifluoromethyl quinone methide (49), and the rather less stable benzhydryl cations.19,219... 

The second factor is the dependence of bonding interactions between the nucleophile and carbocation at the transition state upon the distance between the charge centers. The importance of this is suggested by a comparison of rate and equilibrium constants for the reactions of chloride ion and Me2S with the quinone methide 57 and / -methoxybenzyl cation. 

The reaction of 6//-dibcnzo[2y ]thiepin-l l-ol 146 in trifluoroacetic acid in CH2C12 or in glacial acetic acid and cone. I I2S()4 led to 4-(6//-dibcnzo[2y ]thiepin-l 1 -ylidcnc)cyclohexa-2,5-dienonc 149 in 55% and 73% yields, respectively (Scheme 16) <2002JCM516>. A plausible mechanism involves the formation of stable carbocation 147, followed by nucleophilic attack of water at methoxy-substituted aryl carbon atom giving a hemiacetal 148, which subsequently eliminates methanol resulting in quinone methide 149. 

An overview of the reactions over zeolites and related materials employed in the fields of refining, petrochemistry, and commodity chemicals reviewed the role of carbocations in these reactions.15 An overview appeared of the discovery of reactive intermediates, including carbocations, and associated concepts in physical organic chemistry.16 The mechanisms of action of two families of carcinogens of botanical origin were reviewed.17 The flavanoids are converted to DNA-reactive species via an o-quinone, with subsequent isomerization to a quinone methide. Alkenylbenzenes such as safrole are activated to a-sulfatoxy esters, whose SnI ionization produces benzylic cations that alkylate DNA. A number of substrates (trifluoroacetates, mesylates, and triflates) known to undergo the SnI reaction in typical solvolysis solvents were studied in ionic liquids several lines of evidence indicate that they also react here via ionization to give carbocationic intermediates.18... 

Generation of quinone methides by nucleophilic aromatic substitution of water at carbocations 59... 

The neutral 1,4- and 1,2-quinone methides react as Michael acceptors. However, the reactivity of these quinone methides is substantially different from that of simple Michael acceptors. The 1,6-addition of protonated nucleophiles NuH to simple Michael acceptors results in a small decrease in the stabilization of product by the two conjugated 7T-orbitals, compared to the more extended three conjugated 7T-orbitals of reactant. However, the favorable ketonization of the initial enol product (Scheme 1) confers a substantial thermodynamic driving force to nucleophile addition. By comparison, the 1,6-addition of NuH to a 1,4-quinone methide results in a large increase in the -stabilization energy due to the formation of a fully aromatic ring (Scheme 2A). This aromatic stabilization is present to a smaller extent at the reactant quinone methide, where it is represented as the contributing zwitterionic valence bond structure for the 4-0 -substituted benzyl carbocation (Scheme 1). The ketonization of the product phenol (Scheme 2B) is unfavorable by ca. 19 kcal/mol.1,2... 

Our work on nucleophile addition to quinone methides is a direct extension of studies on the formation and reaction of ring-substituted benzyl carboca-tions,89,90,128 146 and has shown strong overlap with the interests of Kresge and coworkers. The main goal of this work has been to characterize the effect of the strongly electron-donating 4-0 substituent on the reactivity of the simple benzyl carbocation, with an emphasis on understanding the effect of this substituent on the complex structure reactivity relationships observed for nucleophile addition to benzylic carbocations. 

The lower reactivity of the o-thioquinone methide 81 (7.0 x 104 M-1 s 1) compared with the o-l (8.4 x 105 M-1 s 1) in acidic solution contrasts with the much higher reactivity of 81 at neutral pH (Table 1). This may represent the balance between the smaller concentration of the protonated thioquinone methide compared with protoned o-l due to the weaker basicity of o-S (pATa < —3 Table 1) compared with o-S (pKa < —1.7) and the presumably greater intrinsic reactivity of H-81 +. 58 However, the observed effects of sulfur for oxygen substitution on carbocation reactivity have in the past proven very difficult to rationize,130,160 and in the present case are probably not fully understood. 

Table 3 Rate and equilibrium constants and intrinsic reaction barriers91 for the addition of nucleophiles to the quinone methide 48 and the triarylmethyl carbocation (PhC+) in water at 25°C...

---