Carboxylic acid derivatives reactivities

What structural features are responsible for the reactivity order of carboxylic acid derivatives Like the other carbonyl containing compounds that we ve studied they all have a planar arrangement of bonds to the carbonyl group Thus all are about the same in offering relatively unhindered access to the approach of a nucleophile They differ m the degree to which the atom attached to the carbonyl group can stabilize the carbonyl group by electron donation... 

The order of reactivity of carboxylic acid derivatives toward nucleophilic acyl sub stitution can be explained on the basis of the electron donating properties of sub stituent X The greater the electron donating powers of X the slower the rate... 

Thioesters Like chlorine sulfur is a third row element with limited ability to donate a pair of 3p electrons into the carbonyl tt system With an electronegativ ity that IS much less than Cl or O however its destabilizing effect on the carbonyl group IS slight and thioesters he m the middle of the group of carboxylic acid derivatives m respect to reactivity... 

After acyl halides acid anhydrides are the most reactive carboxylic acid derivatives Three of them acetic anhydride phthahc anhydride and maleic anhydride are mdus trial chemicals and are encountered far more often than others Phthahc anhydride and maleic anhydride have their anhydride function incorporated into a nng and are referred to as cyclic anhydrides... 

Section 20 2 The structure and reactivity of carboxylic acid derivatives depend on how well the atom bonded to the carbonyl group donates electrons to it... 

There are large differences in reactivity among the various carboxylic acid derivatives, such as amides, esters, and acyl chlorides. One important factor is the resonance stabilization provided by the heteroatom. This decreases in the order N > O > Cl. Electron donation reduces the electrophilicity of the carbonyl group, and the corresponding stabilization is lost in the tetrahedral intermediate. 

Another factor which strongly affects the reactivity of these carboxylic acid derivatives is the leaving-group abihty of the substituents. The order is Cl > OAr > OR > NR2 > 0 so that not only does the ease of forming the tetrahedral intermediate decrease in the order Cl>0Ar>0R>NR2>0 , but the tendency for subsequent elimination to occur is also in the same order. Because the two factors work together, there are large differences in reactivity toward the nucleophiles. 

FIGURE 20.1 Structure, reactivity, and carbonyl-group stabilization in carboxylic acid derivatives. Acyl chlorides are the most reactive, amides the least reactive. Acyl chlorides have the least stabilized carbonyl group, amides the most. Conversion of one class of compounds to another is feasible only in the direction that leads to a more stabilized carbonyl group that is, from more reactive to less reactive. 

Amides are the least reactive carboxylic acid derivative, and the only nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction they undergo is hydrolysis. Amides are fairly stable in water, but the amide bond is cleaved on heating in the presence of strong acids or bases. Nominally, this cleavage produces an amine and a car boxylic acid. 

Figure 21.2 Interconversions of carboxylic acid derivatives. A more reactive acid derivative can be converted into a less reactive one, but not vice versa.

Acid halides are among the most reactive of carboxylic acid derivatives and can be converted into many other kinds of compounds by nucleophilic acyl substitution mechanisms. The halogen can be replaced by -OH to yield an acid, by —OCOR to yield an anhydride, by -OR to yield an ester, or by -NH2 to yield an amide. In addition, the reduction of an acid halide yields a primary alcohol, and reaction with a Grignard reagent yields a tertiary alcohol. Although the reactions we ll be discussing in this section are illustrated only for acid chlorides, similar processes take place with other acid halides. 

Esters undergo the same kinds of reactions that we ve seen for other carboxylic acid derivatives, but they are less reactive toward nucleophiles than either acid chlorides or anhydrides. All their reactions are equally applicable to both acyclic and cyclic esters, called lactones. 

Another occasionally used method for the preparation of acyclic A-(l-alkoxyalkyl)amides (or carbamates) proceeds via addition of reactive carboxylic acid derivatives to aldimines. In a one-pot procedure, treatment of the imine with the acid chloride (or ethyl chloroformate) and subsequent (m)ethanolysisofthe intermediary a-chloroamide leads to the oc-alkoxyamide56-58. 

The development of diversification linkers allows introduction of an additional element of diversity. Upon completion of the synthesis sequence, the linker is activated facilitating nucleophilic release of the library members from support In the ideal case, as implemented with the acylsulfonamide linker (Scheme 4a), the activated linker is sufficiently reactive that limiting amounts of nucleophile may be added to provide pure product after resin filtration.181 Diversification linkers have been developed for the preparation of carboxylic acid derivatives (Scheme 4a), amines (Scheme 4b),191 aromatic (Scheme 4c) and even heteroaromatic compounds (Scheme 4d).1101... 

Five- or six-membered saturated cyclic ketones can also react by another pathway that does not involve decarbonylation. In these reactions, the biradical initially formed by a-cleavage undergoes internal disproportionation without loss of carbon monoxide, resulting in the formation of either an unsaturated aldehyde or a ketene. Methanol is usually added to convert the reactive ketene to a stable carboxylic-acid derivative (Scheme 9.2). 

In HO -catalyzed hydrolysis (specific base catalyzed hydrolysis), the tetrahedral intermediate is formed by the addition of a nucleophilic HO ion (Fig. 3.1, Pathway b). This reaction is irreversible for both esters and amides, since the carboxylate ion formed is deprotonated in basic solution and, hence, is not receptive to attack by the nucleophilic alcohol, phenol, or amine. The reactivity of the carboxylic acid derivative toward a particular nucleophile depends on a) the relative electron-donating or -withdrawing power of the substituents on the carbonyl group, and b) the relative ability of the -OR or -NR R" moiety to act as a leaving group. Thus, electronegative substituents accelerate hydrolysis, and esters are more readily hydrolyzed than amides. 

J. Nishikawa, K. Tori, 3-Substituent Effect and 3-Methylene Substituent Effect on the Structure-Reactivity Relationship of 7 beta-(Acylamino)-3-cephem-4-carboxylic Acid Derivatives Studied by Carbon-13 and IR Spectroscopies , J. Med. Chem. 1984, 27, 1657-1663. 

Formally related reactions are observed when anthracene [210] or arylole-fines [211-213] are reduced in the presence of carboxylic acid derivatives such as anhydrides, esters, amides, or nitriles. Under these conditions, mono- or diacylated compounds are obtained. It is interesting to note that the yield of acylated products largely depends on the counterion of the reduced hydrocarbon species. It is especially high when lithium is used, which is supposed to prevent hydrodimerization of the carboxylic acid by ion-pair formation. In contrast to alkylation, acylation is assumed to prefer an Sn2 mechanism. However, it is not clear if the radical anion or the dianion are the reactive species. The addition of nitriles is usually followed by hydrolysis of the resulting ketimines [211-213]. 

The most significant change in these reactions is the formation of the carbon-nncleophile bond so, in both types of mechanism, the reaction is termed a nucleophilic addition. It should be noted that the polarization in the carbonyl group leads to nucleophilic addition, whereas the lack of polarization in the C=C donble bond of an alkene leads to electrophilic addition reactions (see Chapter 8). Carbonyl groups in carboxylic acid derivatives undergo a similar type of reactivity to nucleophiles, but the... 

Table 7.2 Leaving groups and reactivity in carboxylic acid derivatives...

As one of the most reactive groups of carboxylic acid derivatives, acyl halides are very useful substrates for the preparation of the other classes of derivatives. For example, anhydrides may be synthesized by the reaction of carboxylic acid salts with an acyl halide. In this reaction, the carboxylate anion acts as the nucleophile, eventually displacing the halide leaving group. 

Thiols undergo the same types of nucleophilic reaction with carboxylic acid derivatives as do alcohols. However, reactivity tends to be increased for two reasons. First, sulfur, because of its larger size, is a better nucleophile than oxygen (see... 

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