Nucleophilic reactions catalysis

Small amounts of salt-like addition products (85) formed by reaction on the ring nitrogen may be present in the medium. (Scheme 60) but. as the equilibrium is shifted by further reaction on the exocyclic nitrogen, the only observed products are exocyclic acylation products (87) (130. 243. 244). Challis (245) reviewed the general features of acylation reactions these are intervention of tetrahedral intermediates, general base catalysis, nucleophilic catalysis. Each of these features should operate in aminothiazoles reactivity. 

We should distinguish between the phrases nucleophilic attack and nucleophilic catalysis. Nucleophilic attack means the bond-forming approach by an electron pair of the nucleophile to an electron-deficient site on the substrate. In nucleophilic catalysis this results in an increase in the rate of reaction relative to the rate in the absence of the catalyst. However, nucleophilic attack may not result in catalysis. Thus, if methylamine is reacted with a phenyl acetate, the reaction observed is amide formation, not hydrolysis, because the product of the nucleophilic attack is more stable than is the ester to hydrolysis. 

The catalytic effect of protons has been noted on many occasions (cf. Section II,D,2,c) and autocatalysis frequently occurs when the nucleophile is not a strong base. Acid catalysis of reactions with water, alcohols, mercaptans, amines, or halide ions has been observed for halogeno derivatives of pyridine, pyrimidine (92), s-triazine (93), quinoline, and phthalazine as well as for many other ring systems and leaving groups. An interesting displacement is that of a 4-oxo group in the reaction of quinolines with thiophenols, which is made possible by the acid catalysis. 

The pattern of base catalysis of reactions with amine nucleophiles provides additional evidence. These reactions are catalyzed by bases only when a relatively... 

Compound 874, as a representative of derivatives with an electron-withdrawing substituent at C-[1 of the vinyl group, is easily prepared by elimination of one benzotriazole from 2,2-/fo(benzotriazol-l-yl)ethyl methyl ketone 873. The stereoselective elimination catalyzed by NaOH gives exclusively the (E) isomer of derivative 874. Addition of nucleophiles to the double bond of vinyl ketone 874 followed by elimination of benzotriazole leads to a,P unsaturated ketones 875. Amines used as nucleophiles do not need any catalysis, but reactions with carbon and sulfur nucleophiles require addition of a base. The total effect is nucleophilic substitution of the benzotriazolyl group at the i-carbon of orji-iinsaturatcd ketone (Scheme 142) <1996SC3773>. 

As we have seen (Section 4, p. 191) the range of effective molarities associated with ring-closure reactions is very much greater than that characteristic of intramolecular general acid-base catalysis the main classification is therefore in terms of mechanism. By far the largest section (I, Tables A-D) gives EM s for intramolecular nucleophilic reactions. These can be concerted displacements (mostly at tetrahedral carbon), stepwise displacements (mostly addition-elimination reactions at trigonal carbon), or additions, and they have been classified in terms of the nucleophilic and electrophilic centres. 

Diamines of varying structure show rate enhancements of 20-200 fold, compared to monofunctional aliphatic amines, in nucleophilic reactions with N-acetylimidazole (Page and Jencks, 1972). These were attributed to intramolecular general base catalysis of proton removal from the attacking nitrogen, viz.. 

The hydrogen-bond complex 5 and ion pair 6 are activated form of the carbonyl compounds. The nucleophilic addihon of carbon nucleophile to carbonyl compounds and imines may be accelerated by acid catalysis. Nucleophilic attack to carbonyl compounds or imine took place either by way of 5 or 6 to furnish addihon product. If HX activates carbonyl compound by forming hydrogen-bond complex 5 and nucleophilic addition takes place to give an adduct, the reaction is a hydro-gen-bond catalyzed reaction (Scheme 2.5). In contrast, when ion pair 6 is formed and nucleophilic addihon occurs, the reachon is a Br0nsted-acid-catalyzed reachon. 

The affinity of the polymer-bound catalyst for water and for organic solvent also depends upon the structure of the polymer backbone. Polystyrene is nonpolar and attracts good organic solvents, but without ionic, polyether, or other polar sites, it is completely inactive for catalysis of nucleophilic reactions. The polar sites are necessary to attract reactive anions. If the polymer is hydrophilic, as a dextran, its surface must be made less polar by functionalization with lipophilic groups to permit catalytic activity for most nucleophilic displacement reactions. The % RS and the chemical nature of the polymer backbone affect the hydrophilic/lipophilic balance. The polymer must be able to attract both the reactive anion and the organic substrate into its matrix to catalyze reactions between the two mutually insoluble species. Most polymer-supported phase transfer catalysts are used under conditions where both intrinsic reactivity and intraparticle diffusion affect the observed rates of reaction. The structural variables in the catalyst which control the hydrophilic/lipophilic balance affect both activity and diffusion, and it is often not possible to distinguish clearly between these rate limiting phenomena by variation of active site structure, polymer backbone structure, or % RS. 

In a number of classes of systems, the catalytic and other chemical effects of metal ions on reactions of organic and inorganic molecules are generally recognized the catalysis of nucleophilic reactions such as ester hydrolysis the reactions of alkenes and alkynes in the presence of metal carbonyls (8, 9, 69) stereospecific polymerization in the presence of Ziegler catalysts (20, 55, 56) the activation of such small molecules as H2 (37), 02 (13), H202 (13), and possibly N2 (58) and aromatic substitution reactions of metal-cyclopentadienyl compounds (59, 63). 

The nucleophilic reactions of acetyl phosphate are catalyzed by cations such as magnesium (26), calcium (15, 32), and even lithium (30). Most of the reactions involve catalysis of hydrolysis. Calcium ion catalyzes a neutral as well as a... 

The pattern of base catalysis of reactions with amine nucleophiles provides additional evidence. These reactions are catalyzed by bases only when a relatively poor leaving group (such as OR) is present (not Cl or Br) and only when relatively bulky amines are nucleophiles. Bases could not catalyze step 1, but if amines are nucleophiles, bases can catalyze step 2. Base catalysis is found precisely in those cases where the amine moiety cleaves easily... 

The sulphur atom of alkyl(thioalkyl)phosphonium salts forms a new onium centre on triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate alkylation in nitromethane848,849 (thiocetals see above). Phosphonium ketene acetals are potential alkylating agents for phosphorus dithioic acid anions in non-aqueous, aprotic and aqueous media and in phase-transfer catalysis conditions296 (reaction 263). It is suggested that onium ketene acetals react by nucleophilic attack on the methyl group of the acetal. 

The lower effective concentrations found in intramolecular base catalysis are due to the loose transition states of these reactions. In nucleophilic reactions, the nucleophile and the electrophile are fairly rigidly aligned so that there is a large entropy loss. In general-base or -acid catalysis, there is considerable spatial freedom in the transition state. The position of the catalyst is not as closely defined as in nucleophilic catalysis. There is consequently a smaller loss in entropy in general-base catalysis, so that the intramolecular reactions are not favored as much as their nucleophilic counterparts. 

The magnitude of general-acid-base catalysis by oxygen and nitrogen bases depends only on their pATa s, and is independent of their chemical natures (apart from an enhanced activity of oximes in general-acid catalysis). Nucleophilic reactivity depends markedly on the nature of the reagents. These reactions may be divided into two broad classes nucleophilic attack on soft and on hard electrophilic centers.47... 

Phosphoryl and nucleotidyl transfer enzymes are extremely important and widespread in biology. They have in common the catalysis of nucleophilic reactions of phosphorus esters, and the general requirement for divalent metal ions, particularly Mg11, for activity. This requirement has stimulated considerable interest in the catalytic roles of divalent metal ions in these reactions. 

Buffer catalysis of the hydrolysis of phenyl (311 R = Ph) and methyl (311 R = Me) benzenesulfinates to give the sulfinic acid (312) and alcohol ROH is strongly accelerated by both carboxylate and amine components of the buffer which give Bronsted /i values of approximately unity on separate lines. The carboxylates are about 44 tunes more effective than amines of similar basicity. A concerted. S n2 mechanism with a hypervalent intermediate (313) is proposed for the nucleophilic reaction of these esters.286 The reaction of the thiosulfinate esters (314) with sulfenyl chlorides RSCI and sulfenate esters (315) to give sulfinyl chlorides and disulfides and sulfinate esters and disulfides, respectively, has been studied.287 Hydrolysis of 2-(3-aminophenyl)sulfonyl-ethanol hydrogensulfate gives under different conditions various products such as the ether (316) and the sulfone (317).288... 

Nucleophilic and electrophilic catalysis occur when a nucleophile or electrophile reacts with the substrate to form an adduct which provides a more favourable alternative mechanism to that of the uncatalysed reaction. The intermediate can be formed as a transient species present in only a small concentration compared with the reactant or product, or it can build up to a measurable concentration. In this section, we exemplify the techniques used in their investigation using nucleophilic reactions. The same techniques can be used for reactions undergoing electrophilic catalysis, mutatis mutandis. 

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