Carbon atom charge stability

The Claisen condensation is initiated by deprotonation of an ester molecule by sodium ethanolate to give a carbanion that is stabilized, mostly by resonance, as an enolate. This carbanion makes a nucleophilic attack at the partially positively charged carbon atom of the e.ster group, leading to the formation of a C-C bond and the elimination ofan ethanolate ion, This Claisen condensation only proceeds in strongly basic conditions with a pH of about 14. 

More recent developments are based on the finding, that the d-orbitals of silicon, sulfur, phosphorus and certain transition metals may also stabilize a negative charge on a carbon atom. This is probably caused by a partial transfer of electron density from the carbanion into empty low-energy d-orbitals of the hetero atom ( backbonding ) or by the formation of ylides , in which a positively charged onium centre is adjacent to the carbanion and stabilization occurs by ylene formation. 

The proton transfer equilibrium that interconverts a carbonyl compound and its enol can be catalyzed by bases as well as by acids Figure 18 3 illustrates the roles of hydroxide ion and water m a base catalyzed enolization As m acid catalyzed enolization protons are transferred sequentially rather than m a single step First (step 1) the base abstracts a proton from the a carbon atom to yield an anion This anion is a resonance stabilized species Its negative charge is shared by the a carbon atom and the carbonyl oxygen... 

Some fundamental structure-stability relationships can be employed to illustrate the use of resonance concepts. The allyl cation is known to be a particularly stable carbocation. This stability can be understood by recognizing that the positive charge is delocalized between two carbon atoms, as represented by the two equivalent resonance structures. The delocalization imposes a structural requirement. The p orbitals on the three contiguous carbon atoms must all be aligned in the same direction to permit electron delocalization. As a result, there is an energy barrier to rotation about the carbon-carbon... 

A comparative study on ylide stability as a function of the heteroatom type was carried out by Doering et al. [3,4]. They concluded that the phosphorus and sulfur ylides are the most stable ones. The participation of three-dimensional orbitals in the covalency determines the resonance stabilization of the phosphorus and sulfur ylides [5-8]. The nitrogen ylides are less stable from this point of view. The only stabilization factor involves electrostatic interactions between the two charges localized on adjacent nitrogen and carbon atoms [9]. 

We can imagine the transition state for alkene protonation to be a structure in which one of the alkene carbon atoms has almost completely rehybridized from sp2 to sp- and in which the remaining alkene carbon bears much of the positive charge (Figure 6.16). This transition state is stabilized by hyperconjuga-lion and inductive effects in the same way as the product carbocation. The more alkyl groups that are present, the greater the extent of stabilization and the faster the transition state forms. 

Figure 22.5 Mechanism of enolate ion formation by abstraction of an a proton from a carbonyl compound. The enolate ion is stabilized by resonance, and the negative charge (red) is shared by the oxygen and the a carbon atom, as indicated by the electrostatic potential map.

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