Carbocations conjugated dienes

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... 

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 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... 

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. 

The first step in the reaction of HX with an alkene is protonation to yield the more stable cation. If we extend this principle to a conjugated diene, e.g. buta-1,3-diene, then we can see that the preferred carbocation will be produced if protonation occurs... 

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. 

Isomeric polymers can also be obtained from a single monomer if there is more than one polymerization route. The head-to-head placement that can occur in the polymerization of a vinyl monomer is isomeric with the normal head-to-tail placement (see structures III and IV in Sec. 3-2a). Isomerization during carbocation polymerization is another instance whereby isomeric structures can be formed (Sec. 5-2b). Monomers with two polymerizable groups can yield isomeric polymers if one or the other of the two alternate polymerization routes is favored. Examples of this type of isomerism are the 1,2- and 1,4-polymers from 1,3-dienes (Secs. 3-14f and 8-10), the separate polymerizations of the alkene and carbonyl double bonds in ketene and acrolein (Sec. 5-7a), and the synthesis of linear or cyclized polymers from non-conjugated dienes (Sec. 6-6b). The different examples of constitutional isomerism are important to note from the practical viewpoint, since the isomeric polymers usually differ considerably in their properties. 

The intermediate carbocation formed from the conjugated diene is aliylic and is more stable than the isolated carbocation from the isolated diene. Since the transition state for the rate-controlling first step leading to the lower-enthalpy aliylic R also has a lower enthalpy, AW for this reaction is smaller and the reaction is faster. It is noteworthy that although the conjugated diene is more stable, it nevertheless reacts faster. 

Conjugated dienes may yield mixtures of products of 1,2 or 1,4 addition. Product of 1,4-addition may be initial product or may actually be formed by 1,2 addition followed by isomerization. In any event, however, formation of the 1,4-product involves isomerization of a carbocation. 

Those olefins having double bonds sufficiently electron rich to react significantly with these salts include the common monomers, alkyl vinyl ethers (28,79-81), N-vinylcarbazole (82-84) p-methoxystyrene (21,67), indene (34,74,85), cyclopen tadiene (85,86), and vinylnaphthalenes (87). Styrene itself (60,76,77,88-91), cr-divinylbenzene (92), a-methylstyrene (88), linear conjugated dienes (93) and a-olefins are much less reactive (i.e. formation of their corresponding carbocations is energetically unfavourable), and undo- normal conditions give at best slow reactions and low yields of polymer. 

Allylic carbocation Allylic free radical Conjugated diene... 

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. 

This reaction is an dehydration acid-catalyzed.12 The hexaaquocop-per cation behaves as a weak cationic acid in copper-salt solution.13 Protonation of the hydroxy group produces an oxonium ion that decomposes unimolecularly into carbocation 21 and water. Water is removed from the reaction equilibrium by means of a water-separating device. Carbocation 21 eliminates an -proton with formation of the energetically favorable conjugated diene 9. 

Conjugated dienes have alternating single and double bonds. They may undergo 1,2- or 1,4-addition. Allylic carbocations, which are stabilized by resonance, are intermediates in both the 1,2- and 1,4-additions (Sec. 3.15a). Conjugated dienes also undergo cycloaddition reactions with alkenes (Diels-Alder reaction), a useful synthesis of six-membered rings (Sec. 3.15b). 

The mechanism of 1, 4-addition starts off in the same way as a normal electrophilic addition. We shall consider the reaction of a conjugated diene with hydrogen bromide as an example (Following fig.). One of the alkene units of the diene uses its n electrons to form a bond to the electrophilic hydrogen of HBr. The H-Br bond breaks at the same time to produce a bromide ion. The intermediate carbocation produced has a double bond next to the carbocation centre and is called an allylic carbocation. 

Electrophilic additions to conjugated dienes usually involve allylic cations as intermediates. Unlike simple carbocations, an allylic cation can react with a nucleophile at either of its positive centers. Let s consider the addition of HBr to buta-1,3-diene, an electrophilic addition that produces a mixture of two constitutional isomers. One product, 3-bromobut-l-ene, results from Markovnikov addition across one of the double bonds. In the other product, 1 -bromobut-2-ene, the double bond shifts to the C2—C3 position. 

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