Carbocations, allylic dienes

Conjugare is a Latin verb meaning to link or yoke together and allylic carbocations allylic free radicals and conjugated dienes are all examples of conjugated systems In this chapter we 11 see how conjugation permits two functional units within a molecule to display a kind of reactivity that is qualitatively different from that of either unit alone... 

Allylic carbocation Allylic free radical Conjugated diene... 

Not all the properties of alkenes are revealed by focusing exclusively on the func tional group behavior of the double bond A double bond can affect the proper ties of a second functional unit to which it is directly attached It can be a sub stituent for example on a positively charged carbon in an allylic carbocation, or on a carbon that bears an unpaired electron in an allylic free radical, or it can be a substituent on a second double bond in a conjugated diene... 

Later m this chapter we 11 see how allylic carbocations are involved m elec trophihc addition to dienes and how the principles developed m this section apply there as well... 

Allylic carbocations and allylic radicals are conjugated systems involved as reactive intermediates m chemical reactions The third type of conjugated system that we will examine conjugated dienes, consists of stable molecules... 

Protonation at end of diene unit gives a carbocation that IS both secondary and allylic most stable carbocation product is formed from this carbocation... 

Section 10 10 Protonation at the terminal carbon of a conjugated diene system gives an allylic carbocation that can be captured by the halide nucleophile at either of the two sites that share the positive charge Nucleophilic attack at the carbon adjacent to the one that is protonated gives the product of direct addition (1 2 addition) Capture at the other site gives the product of conjugate addition (1 4 addition)... 

Electrophilic Additions to Conjugated Dienes Allylic Carbocations 48i... 

Electrophilic addition of HCJ to a conjugated diene involves the formation of allylic carbocation intermediates. Thus, the first step is to protonate the two ends of the diene and draw the resonance forms of the two allylic carbocations that result. Then... 

Conjugated dienes undergo several reactions not observed for nonconjugated dienes. One is the 1,4-addition of electrophiles. When a conjugated diene is treated with an electrophile such as HCl, 1,2- and 1,4-addition products are formed. Both are formed from the same resonance-stabilized allylic carbocation intermediate and are produced in varying amounts depending on the reaction conditions. The L,2 adduct is usually formed faster and is said to be the product of kinetic control. The 1,4 adduct is usually more stable and is said to be the product of thermodynamic control. 

The following model is that of an allylic carbocation intermediate formed by protonation of a conjugated diene with HBr. Show the structure of the diene and the structures of the final reaction products. 

You may think that is the end of the problem but, since we have an unsymmetrical diene, it is also necessary to consider protonation of the other double bond. Protonation on C-4 also gives a favourable resonance-stabilized allylic carbocation, this time with primary and secondary limiting structures. Protonation on C-3 gives an unfavourable primary carbocation with no resonance stabilization. Since the products formed are related to initial protonation at C-1, it is apparent that, despite the stability associated with an allylic cation, a tertiary limiting structure is formed in preference to that with a secondary limiting structure. 

Besides butadiene, another important monomer for the synthetic elastomer industry is chloroprene, which is polymerized to the chemically resistant polychloroprene. It is made by chlorination of butadiene follow by dehydrochlorination. As with most conjugated dienes, addition occurs either 1,2 or 1,4 because the intermediate allyl carbocation is delocalized. The 1,4-isomer can be isomerized to the 1,2-isomer by heating with cuprous chloride. 

A carbon atom that is directly attached to a benzene ring is called a benzylic carbon (analogous to the allylic carbon of C=C—C). A phenyl group (C H —) is an even better conjugating substituent than a vinyl group (H2C=CH—), and benzylic carbocations and radicals are more highly stabilized than their allylic counterparts. The double bond of an alkenylbenzene is stabilized to about the same extent as that of a conjugated diene. 

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