Carbocations, stereochemistry elimination

No matter how produced, RN2 are usually too unstable to be isolable, reacting presumably by the SnI or Sn2 mechanism. Actually, the exact mechanisms are in doubt because the rate laws, stereochemistry, and products have proved difficult to interpret. If there are free carbocations, they should give the same ratio of substitution to elimination to rearrangements, and so on, as carbocations generated in other SnI reactions, but they often do not. Hot carbocations (unsolvated and/or chemically activated) that can hold their configuration have been postulated, as have ion pairs, in which OH (or OAc , etc., depending on how the diazonium ion is generated) is the coun-... 

The unusual stereospecific elimination via a carbocation was rationalized by suggesting that extensive C-metal a-ir conjugation is present in the carbocation intermediate (Figure 3). The awP -periplanar stereochemistry is found because the a-jt stabilization to the SnMe3 group is strongest when the metal is involved in a vertical stabilization of the carbocation. 

Step 1 is fundamentally an SN2 reaction (kinetics related to structural variations of the reactants,16 8 retention of stereochemistry at phosphorus912), except in those instances wherein a particularly stable carbocation is produced from the haloalkane component.13 A critical experiment concerned with verification of the Sn2 character of Step 1 by inversion of configuration at the carbon from which the leaving group is displaced was inconclusive because elimination rather than substitution occurred with the chiral secondary haloalkane used.14 An alternative experiment suggested by us in our prior review using a chiral primary substrate apparently has not yet been performed.2... 

Now let s turn our attention to the stereochemistry of elimination reactions. El reactions go through an intermediate carbocation, so you lose stereospecificity. This means that if there are two possible stereoisomeric double bonds, you will get both of them ... 

Unlike the E2 reaction, the relative stereochemistry of the leaving group and the hydrogen is not important in the El elimination reaction. In the first step of the reaction, the leaving group departs, producing a planar carbocation. Only at this point must the C—H bond be aligned parallel to the empty p orbital of the carbocation so that pi over-... 

Follow the steps listed in the preceding Visual Summary of Key Reactions section. Identify the leaving group, the electrophilic carbon, and the nucleophile (or base). Then determine which mechanism is favored (see Section 9.7). Watch out for stereochemistry where important, regiochemistry in elimination reactions, and carbocation rearrangements when the mechanism is SN1 or El. 

Having established the three-dimentional structure of carbocations as planar, we can now study the stereochemical progression of Sk 1 reactions as compared to Sk2 reactions. As shown in Scheme 5.6, the stereochemical course of an Sk2 reaction is well defined because nucleophilic displacement of a leaving group proceeds with inversion of stereochemistry. Thus, the stereochemical outcome is defined by the stereochemistry of the starting material. As for SnI reactions, since the step required for initiation of these reactions involves formation of a planar species, incoming nucleophiles have equal access to both sides of the reactive carbocation. As shown in Scheme 5.7, this results in complete elimination of... 

First-Order Elimination The E1 Reaction 258 Key Mechanism 6-8 The E1 Reaction 258 Mechanism 6-9 Rearrangement in an E1 Reaction 261 Summary Carbocation Reactions 262 6-18 Positional Orientation of Elimination Zaitsev s Rule 263 6-19 Second-Order Elimination The E2 Reaction 265 Key Mechanism 6-10 The E2 Reaction 266 6-20 Stereochemistry of the E2 Reaction 267... 

Chapter 5 considers the relationship between mechanism and regio- and stereoselectivity. The reactivity patterns of electrophiles such as protic acids, halogens, sulfur and selenium electrophiles, mercuric ion, and borane and its derivatives are explored and compared. These reactions differ in the extent to which they proceed through discrete carbocations or bridged intermediates and this distinction can explain variations in regio- and stereochemistry. This chapter also describes the El, E2, and Elcb mechanisms for elimination and the idea that these represent specific cases within a continuum of mechanisms. The concept of the variable mechanism can explain trends in reactivity and regiochemistry in elimination reactions. Chapter 6 focuses on the fundamental properties and reactivity of carbon nucleophiles, including... 

The reactant in this problem is the same as in Problem 9.38a. However, the reaction conditions are different. In Problem 9.38a, the reaction was conducted with the strong base, ethoxide anion, so the mechanism was E2 and anti elimination was preferred. In this problem, there is no strong base present, so the mechanism is S I/EI. First the Cl leaves to form a carbocation. Because the carbocation is planar, stereochemistry is lost and anti elimination is not required. So both products are formed. Product 2 should be the major elimination product because E1 reactions follow Zaitsev s rule. 

---