Carbocation-nucleophile addition

Fig. 4 Free energy reaction coordinate profiles that illustrate a change in the relative kinetic barriers for partitioning of carbocations between nucleophilic addition of solvent and deprotonation resulting from a change in the curvature of the potential energy surface for the nucleophile addition reaction. This would correspond to an increase in the intrinsic barrier for the thermoneutral carbocation-nucleophile addition reaction.

Interest within the physical organic community on the mechanism for the formation and reaction of ion-pair and ion-dipole intermediates of solvolysis peaked sometime in the 1970s and has declined in recent years. The concepts developed during the heyday of this work have stood the test of time, but these reactions have not been fuUy characterized, even for relatively simple systems. Richard and coworkers have prepared a short chapter that summarizes their recent determinations of absolute rate constants for the reactions of these weak association complexes in water. This work provides a quantitative basis for the formerly largely qualitative discussions of competing carbocation-nucleophile addition and rearrangement reactions of ion and dipole pairs. 

The Marcus equation was first formulated to model the dependence of rate constants for electron transfer on the reaction driving force [47-49]. Marcus assumed in his treatment that the energy of the transition state for electron transfer can be calculated from the position of the intersection of parabolas that describe the reactant and product states (Fig. 1.2A). This equation may be generalized to proton transfer (Fig. 1.2A) [46, 50, 51], carbocation-nucleophile addition [52], bimolecular nucleophilic substitution [53, 54] and other reactions [55-57] by assuming that their reaction coordinate profiles may also be constructed from the intersection of... 

Acid-Catalyzed Addition of Alcohols to Alkenes (Section 11.4C) Proton transfer to the alkene generates a carbocation. Nucleophilic addition of an alcohol to the car-bocation followed by proton transfer to the solvent gives the ether. 

The mechanism for formation of benzaldehyde diethyl acetal which proceeds m two stages is presented m Figure 17 9 The first stage (steps 1-3) involves formation of a hemiacetal m the second stage (steps 4-7) the hemiacetal is converted to the acetal Nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl group characterizes the first stage carbocation chemistry the second The key carbocation intermediate is stabilized by electron release from oxygen... 

Carbinolamines are formed by nucleophilic addition of an amine to a carbonyl group and are intermediates in the for mation of imines and enamines Carbocation (Section 4 8) Positive ion in which the charge re sides on carbon An example is tert butyl cation (CH3)3C Carbocations are unstable species that though they cannot normally be isolated are believed to be intermediates in certain reactions... 

Cycloahphatics capable of tertiary carbocation formation are candidates for nucleophilic addition of nitriles. HCN in strong sulfuric acid transforms 1-methyl-1-cyclohexanol to 1-methyl-1-cyclohexylamine through the formamide (47). The terpenes pinene (14) [2437-95-8] and limonene [5989-27-5] (15) each undergo a double addition of HCN to provide, after hydrolysis, the cycloahphatic diamine 1,8-menthanediamine (16) (48). 

It is not difficult to incorporate this result into the general mechanism for hydrogen halide additions. These products are formed as the result of solvent competing with halide ion as the nucleophilic component in the addition. Solvent addition can occur via a concerted mechanism or by capture of a carbocation intermediate. Addition of a halide salt increases the likelihood of capture of a carbocation intermediate by halide ion. The effect of added halide salt can be detected kinetically. For example, the presence of tetramethylammonium... 

Nucleophilic addition of water to the carbocation yields another oxonium ion. . . ... 

These observations are explainable by a pathway in which one end of a bromine molecule becomes positively polarised through electron repulsion by the n electrons of the alkene, thereby forming a n complex with it (8 cf. Br2 + benzene, p. 131). This then breaks down to form a cyclic bromonium ion (9)—an alternative canonical form of the carbocation (10). Addition is completed through nucleophilic attack by the residual Br (or added Ye) on either of the original double bond carbon atoms, from the side opposite to the large bromonium ion Br , to yield the meso dibromide (6) ... 

The orientation of addition of an unsymmetrical adduct, HY or XY, to an unsymmetrically substituted alkene will be defined by the preferential formation of the more stabilised carbanion, as seen above (cf. preferential formation of the more stabilised carbocation in electrophilic addition, p. 184). There is little evidence available about stereoselectivity in such nucleophilic additions to acyclic alkenes. Nucleophilic addition also occurs with suitable alkynes, generally more readily than with the corresponding alkenes. 

How Does Structure Determine Organic Reactivity Partitioning of Carbocations between Addition of Nucleophiles and Deprotonation... 

Table 1 Rate and equilibrium constants for partitioning of substituted a-methyl carbocations R (R2)CCH3+ between nucleophilic addition of solvent (ks) and deprotonation (kp) (Scheme 7)°... 

In summary, there now exists a body of data for the reactions of carbocations where the values of kjkp span a range of > 106-fold (Table 1). This requires that variations in the substituents at a cationic center result in a >8 kcal mol-1 differential stabilization of the transition states for nucleophile addition and proton transfer which have not yet been fully rationalized. We discuss in this review the explanations for the large changes in the rate constant ratio for partitioning of carbocations between reaction with Bronsted and Lewis bases that sometimes result from apparently small changes in carbocation structure. 

The values of ks/kp for partitioning of carbocations are most conveniently determined as the ratio of the yields of products from the competing nucleophile addition and proton transfer reactions (equation 1 derived for Scheme 2). The determination of these product yields has been simplified in recent years by the application of high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Typically, the product peaks from an HPLC analysis are detected and quantified by UV-vis spectroscopy. In cases where the absorbance of reactants and products is small, substrates may be prepared with a chromophore placed at a sufficient distance so that its effects on the intrinsic reactivity of the carbocationic center are negligible. For example, the aliphatic substrates [1]-Y have proved to be very useful in studies of the reactions of the model tertiary carbocation [1+].21,23... 

It is often difficult to understand at an intuitive level the explanation for the effect of changing substituents on the rate constant ratio kjkp for partitioning of carbocations between nucleophilic addition of solvent and deprotonation. In these cases, insight into the origins of the changes in this rate constant ratio requires a systematic evaluation of substituent effects on the following ... 

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... 

To what extent are the variations in the rate constant ratio /cs//cpobserved for changing structure of aliphatic and benzylic carbocations the result of changes in the Marcus intrinsic barriers Ap and As for the deprotonation and solvent addition reactions It is not generally known whether there are significant differences in the intrinsic barriers for the nucleophile addition and proton transfer reactions of carbocations. 

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. 

Fig. 5 Logarithmic plots of rate-equilibrium data for the formation and reaction of ring-substituted 1-phenylethyl carbocations X-[6+] in 50/50 (v/v) trifluoroethanol/water at 25°C (data from Table 2). Correlation of first-order rate constants hoh for the addition of water to X-[6+] (Y) and second-order rate constants ( h)so1v for the microscopic reverse specific-acid-catalyzed cleavage of X-[6]-OH to form X-[6+] ( ) with the equilibrium constants KR for nucleophilic addition of water to X-[6+]. Correlation of first-order rate constants kp for deprotonation of X-[6+] ( ) and second-order rate constants ( hW for the microscopic reverse protonation of X-[7] by hydronium ion ( ) with the equilibrium constants Xaik for deprotonation of X-[6+]. The points at which equal rate constants are observed for reaction in the forward and reverse directions (log ATeq = 0) are indicated by arrows.

There is a 4kcalmol 1 smaller intrinsic barrier As for nucleophilic addition of water to the benzylic carbocations X-[6+] than for deprotonation of X-[6+] by solvent. This difference reflects the greater ease of direct addition of solvent to the charged benzylic carbon of X-[6+] than of proton transfer at the adjacent a-methyl carbon. This may result in some way from the greater number of bonds formed and cleaved in the proton transfer than in the nucleophile addition reaction. However, it is our impression that there is little or no theoretical justification for generalizations of this type. 

By contrast, the addition of a pair of ortho-methyl groups to the aromatic ring of X-[8+] to give X-[10+] has the following dramatic effects on partitioning of the carbocations between nucleophilic addition of solvent and proton transfer 27-41... 

The net effect of the two orrAo-methyl groups at Me-[10+] is a 4200-fold decrease in the rate constant ratio As/Ap for partitioning of the carbocation between nucleophilic addition of solvent and proton transfer.27... 

Fig. 6 Hypothetical free energy reaction coordinate profiles for the interconversion of X-[8]-OH and X-[9] (R = H) and X-[10]-OH and X-[ll] (R = CH3) through the corresponding carbocations. The arrows indicate the proposed eifects of the addition of a pair of ortAo-methyl groups to X-[8]-OH, X-[8+] and X-[9] to give X-[10]-OH, X-[10+] and X-[ll]. A Effect of a pair of or/Ao-methyl groups on the stability of cumyl alcohols. B Effect of a pair of or/Ao-methyl groups on the stability of cumyl carbocations. C Effect of a pair of ortho-methyl groups on the stability of the transition state for nucleophilic addition of water to cumyl carbocations. D Effect of a pair of orf/io-methyl groups on the stability of the transition state for deprotonation of cumyl carbocations.

Substituent effects on ks. The replacement of an a-methyl group at the 4-methoxycumyl carbocation CH3-[14+] by an a-ester or a-amide group destabilizes the parent carbocation by 7 kcalmol-1 relative to the neutral azide ion adduct (Scheme 11 and Table 3) and results in 5-fold and 80-fold decreases, respectively, in ks for nucleophilic addition of a solvent 50/50 (v/v) methanol/water.33 These results follow the trend that strongly electron-withdrawing substituents, which destabilize a-substituted 4-methoxybenzyl carbocations relative to neutral adducts to nucleophiles, do not lead to the expected large increases in the rate constants for addition of solvent.28,33,92-95... 

The results of ab initio calculations provide evidence that Me2NC(S)-[14+] is stabilized by resonance electron donation from the a-thioamide group (A, Scheme 12) and by covalent bridging of sulfur to the benzylic carbon (B, Scheme 12).96 Direct resonance stabilization of the carbocation will increase the barrier to the nucleophile addition reaction, because of the requirement for the relatively large fractional loss of the stabilizing resonance interaction (A, Scheme 12) at the transition state for nucleophile addition to a-substituted benzyl carbocations.8,13,28 91-93 If the solvent adds exclusively to an open carbocation that is the minor species in a mixture of open and closed ions, then... 

A comparison of rate and equilibrium constants for partitioning of the cyclic carbocation [18+] with those for the l-(4-methylphenyl)ethyl carbocation Me-[6+] (Table 5) shows that placement of the cationic benzylic carbon in a five-membered ring results in the following complex changes in the reactivity of the carbocation towards deprotonation and nucleophilic addition of solvent (Scheme 15). 

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