Carbon structure activation energies

Sketch a potential energy diagram for rotation around a carbon-carbon bond in propane. Clearly identify each potential energy maximum and minimum with a structural formula that shows the conformation of propane at that point. Does your diagram more closely resemble that of ethane or of butane Would you expect the activation energy for bond rotation in propane to be more than or less than that of ethane Of butane ... 

Both compounds react by an SnI mechanism, and their relative rates reflect their- activation energies for carbocation fonnation. Because the allylic chloride is more reactive, we reason that it ionizes more rapidly because it for-rns a more stable car bocation. Structurally, the two carbocations differ in that the allylic carbocation has a vinyl substituent on its positively charged carbon in place of one of the methyl groups of ten-buXyl cation. 

These values suggest that the two hydroxycarbene isomers convert into one another very easily. The barrier to molecular dissociation of the cis form is significant, however, and so this structure probably does not dissociate directly, but rather first converts to the trans isomer, which is subsequently transformed into formaldehyde, which dissociates to carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas. The article from which this study was drawn computes the activation energy for the trans to cis reaction as 28.6 kcal- moT at RMP4(SDQ)/6-31G(d,p) (it does not consider the other reactions). 

The activation energy of thermolysis of the azo group was measured by DSC [14]. Type II MAIs, which are composed of various prepolymers such as aliphatic polyester, poly(caprolactone), and aliphatic poly (carbonate), showed almost the same activation energy irrespective of difference in prepolymer structure, suggesting that the neighboring group only affects the active site. 

It hag been shown that transition of a backbone carbon from the sp to sp state is promoted by tensile stresses and inhibited by compressive strains (10,44). The acceleration of the process of ozone oxidation of the polymers under load is not associated with the changes in supramolecular structure or segmental mobility of the chain. The probably reason of this effect is a decreasing of the activation energy for hydrogen abstraction (44). The mechanism of initial stages of the reaction of ozone with PP can be represented as ... 

The transition structure trans-42 to fra s-43 TiCp2Cl was also calculated and a barrier of 11.7 kcal mol 1 was obtained for the cyclization. This value is similar to the activation energy for the formation of cis-43 TiCp2Cl, although the distance between the carbon-centered radical and oxygen atom is shorter (2.04 A). 

Peroxynitrous acid, which has an estimated lifetime of 1-3 s at neutral pH, has been studied through ab initio calculations that suggest that peroxynitrous acid, per-oxyformic acid, and dimethyldioxirane have, despite diverse 0—0 bond energies, similar activation energies for oxygen-atom transfer." The transition-state structures for the epoxidation of ethene and propene with peroxynitrous acid are symmetrical with equal or almost equal bond distances between the spiro oxygen and the carbons of the double bond. 

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