Carbonyl compounds tetrahedral intermediates

Tetrahedral Intermediates Derived from Carbonyl Compounds, Pentacoordinate Intermediates Derived from Phosphoryl and Sulfonyl Compounds, and Concerted Paths Which Avoid Them... 

The reactions of the specific classes of carbonyl compounds are related by the decisive importance of tetrahedral intermediates, and differences in reactivity can often be traced to structural features present in the tetrahedral intermediates. 

Three-dimensional potential energy diagrams of the type discussed in connection with the variable E2 transition state theory for elimination reactions can be used to consider structural effects on the reactivity of carbonyl compounds and the tetrahedral intermediates involved in carbonyl-group reactions. Many of these reactions involve the formation or breaking of two separate bonds. This is the case in the first stage of acetal hydrolysis, which involves both a proton transfer and breaking of a C—O bond. The overall reaction might take place in several ways. There are two mechanistic extremes ... 

The mechanistic pattern established by study of hydration and alcohol addition reactions of ketones and aldehydes is followed in a number of other reactions of carbonyl compounds. Reactions at carbonyl centers usually involve a series of addition and elimination steps proceeding through tetrahedral intermediates. These steps can be either acid-catalyzed or base-catalyzed. The rate and products of the reaction are determined by the reactivity of these tetrahedral intermediates. 

Certain nucleophilic sp ies add to carbonyl groups to give tetrahedral intermediates that are unstable and break down to form a new double bond. An important group of such reactions are those with compounds containing primary amino groups. Scheme 8.2 lists some of the more familiar classes of such reactions. In general, these reactions are reversible, and mechanistic information can be obtained by study of either the forward or the reverse process. 

As we saw in A Preview of Carbonyl Compounds, the most general reaction of aldehydes and ketones is the nucleophilic addition reaction. A nucleophile, Nu-, approaches along the C=0 bond from an angle of about 75° to the plane of the carbonyl group and adds to the electrophilic C=0 carbon atom. At the same time, rehybridization of the carbonyl carbon from sp2 to sp3 occurs, an electron pair from the C=0 bond moves toward the electronegative oxygen atom, and a tetrahedral alkoxide ion intermediate is produced (Figure 19.1). 

As a general rule, nucleophilic addition reactions are characteristic only of aldehydes and ketones, not of carboxylic acid derivatives. The reason for the difference is structural. As discussed previously in A Preview of Carbonyl Compounds and shown in Figure 19.14, the tetrahedral intermediate produced by addition of a nucleophile to a carboxylic acid derivative can eliminate a leaving group, leading to a net nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction. The tetrahedral intermediate... 

The difference in behavior between aldehydes/ketones and carboxylic acic derivatives is a consequence of structure. Carboxylic acid derivatives have ai acyl carbon bonded to a group -Y that can leave as a stable anion. As soon a the tetrahedral intermediate is formed, the leaving group is expelled to general- a new carbonyl compound. Aldehydes and ketones have no such leaving grouj however, and therefore don t undergo substitution. 

Aldol reactions, Like all carbonyl condensations, occur by nucleophilic addition of the enolate ion of the donor molecule to the carbonyl group of the acceptor molecule. The resultant tetrahedral intermediate is then protonated to give an alcohol product (Figure 23.2). The reverse process occurs in exactty the opposite manner base abstracts the -OH hydrogen from the aldol to yield a /3-keto alkoxide ion, which cleaves to give one molecule of enolate ion and one molecule of neutral carbonyl compound. 

The tetrahedral intermediate expels ethoxide ion to yield a new carbonyl compound, ethyl acetoacetate. 

The importance of displacement reactions on carbonyl compounds in chemistry and biochemistry has resulted in numerous mechanistic studies. In solution, there is general acceptance of the following mechanism for addition of anionic nucleophiles which features a tetrahedral intermediate, 1, and is designated (1). However, recent experimental (2 10) and theoretical (11-17)... 

TETRAHEDRAL INTERMEDIATES DERIVED FROM CARBONYL COMPOUNDS... 

There are some special cases where tetrahedral intermediates are unusually stable there are three phenomena which lead to this stability enhancement. The first is an unusually reactive carbonyl (or imine) compound which is very prone to addition. An example of such a compound is trichoroacetaldehyde or chloral, for which the covalent hydrate can be isolated. A simple way to recognize such compounds is to think of the carbonyl group as a (very) stabilized carbocation, bearing an substituent. 

The factors involved in the attack of nitrogen nucleophiles on carbonyl compounds, e.g. the p/fa of the nitrogen, and the thermodynamics of the formation of neutral (T ) versus zwitterionic (T ) tetrahedral intermediates, have been discussed in terms of their influence on the form of the pH-rate profile. ... 

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