Catalysis, proton transfer

FIGURE 16.12 Catalysis of nitrophenylacetate hydrolysis by imidazole—an example of general base catalysis. Proton transfer to imidazole in the transition state facilitates hydroxyl attack on the substrate carbonyl carbon. 

Acid and base catalysis of a chemical reaction involves the assistance by acid or base of a particular proton-transfer step in the reaction. Many enzyme catalysed reactions involve proton transfer from an oxygen or nitrogen centre at some stage in the mechanism, and often the role of the enzyme is to facilitate a proton transfer by acid or base catalysis. Proton transfer at one site in the substrate assists formation and/or rupture of chemical bonds at another site in the substrate. To understand these complex processes, it is necessary to understand the individual proton-transfer steps. The fundamental theory of simple proton transfers between oxygen and nitrogen acids and... 

S. P. Greatbanks, I. H. Hillier and P. Sherwood Comparison of embedded cluster models to study zeolite catalysis Proton transfer reactions in acidic chabazite, J. Comp. Chem. 18, 562-568 (1997). 

Edsall, J. T. George Scatchard, John G. Kirkwood, and the electrical interactions of amino acids and proteins. Trends Biochem. Sci. 7 (1982) 414-416. Eigen, M. Proton transfer, acid-base catalysis, and enzymatic hydrolysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 3 (1964) 1-19. 

These reactions are usually performed in water or alcohols as solvents and the alkox ide ion intermediate is rapidly transformed to an alcohol by proton transfer The other involves acid catalysis Here the nucleophile is often... 

Under these circumstances, a distinct contribution to the overall rate will be seen for each potential hydrogen-bond donor D—H. General acid catalysis is also observed when a ratedetermining proton transfer occurs fiom acids other than the solvated proton ... 

A kinetic expression which is equivalent to that for general acid catalysis also occurs if a prior equilibrium between reactant and the acids is followed by rate-controlling proton transfer. Each individual conjugate base will appear in the overall rate expression ... 

Notice that specific acid catalysis describes a situation in which the reactant is in equilibrium with regard to proton transfer, and proton transfer is not rate-determining. On the other hand, each case that leads to general acid catalysis involves proton transfer in the rate-determining step. Because of these differences, the study of rates as a function of pH and buffer concentrations can permit conclusions about the nature of proton-transfer processes and their relationship to the rate-determining step in a reaction. 

In agreement with expectation for a rate-determining proton transfer, the reaction shows general acid catalysis. Base-catalyzed ketonization occurs by C-protonation of the enolate. 

There is an intermediate mechanism between these extremes. This is a general acid catalysis in which the proton transfer and the C—O bond rupture occur as a concerted process. The concerted process need not be perfectly synchronous that is, proton transfer might be more complete at the transition state than C—O rupture, or vice versa. These ideas are represented in a three-dimensional energy diagram in Fig. 8.1. 

In analyzing the behavior of these types of tetrahedral intermediates, it should be kept in mind that proton-transfer reactions are usually fast relative to other steps. This circumstance permits the possibility that a minor species in equilibrium with the major species may be the major intermediate. Detailed studies of kinetics, solvent isotope effects, and the nature of catalysis are the best tools for investigating the various possibilities. 

The relative importance of the potential catalytic mechanisms depends on pH, which also determines the concentration of the other participating species such as water, hydronium ion, and hydroxide ion. At low pH, the general acid catalysis mechanism dominates, and comparison with analogous systems in which the intramolecular proton transfer is not available suggests that the intramolecular catalysis results in a 25- to 100-fold rate enhancement At neutral pH, the intramolecular general base catalysis mechanism begins to operate. It is estimated that the catalytic effect for this mechanism is a factor of about 10. Although the nucleophilic catalysis mechanism was not observed in the parent compound, it occurred in certain substituted derivatives. 

Another type of bifunctional catalysis has been noted with a,cn-diamines in which one of the amino groups is primary and the other tertiary. These substituted diamines are from several times to as much as 100 times more reactive toward imine formation than similar monofunctional amines. This is attributed to a catalytic intramolecular proton transfer. 

Molecular chlorine is believed to be the active electrophile in uncatalyzed chlorination of aromatic compounds. Simple second-order kinetics are observed in acetic acid. The reaction is much slower in nonpolar solvents such as dichloromethane and carbon tetrachloride. Chlorination in nonpolar solvents is catalyzed by added acid. The catalysis by acids is probably the result of assistance by proton transfer during the cleavage of the Cl-Cl bond. ... 

A catalyst is defined as a substance that influences the rate or the direction of a chemical reaction without being consumed. Homogeneous catalytic processes are where the catalyst is dissolved in a liquid reaction medium. The varieties of chemical species that may act as homogeneous catalysts include anions, cations, neutral species, enzymes, and association complexes. In acid-base catalysis, one step in the reaction mechanism consists of a proton transfer between the catalyst and the substrate. The protonated reactant species or intermediate further reacts with either another species in the solution or by a decomposition process. Table 1-1 shows typical reactions of an acid-base catalysis. An example of an acid-base catalysis in solution is hydrolysis of esters by acids. 

Eigen, M., 1964. Proton transfer, acid-base catalysis, and enzymatic hydrolysis. Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed. 3 1—72. 

The catalytic effect of aromatic nitro groups in the substrate and product or in an added inert nitro compoimd (e.g., w-dinitrobenzene in 18) has been observed in the reaction of 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene with an amine in chloroform. Hydrogen bonding to benzil or to dimethyl sulfone and sulfoxide also provided catalysis. It is clear that the type of catalysis of proton transfer shown in structure 18 will be more effective when hydrogen bonding is to an azine-nitrogen. 

The ionization of (E)-diazo methyl ethers is catalyzed by the general acid mechanism, as shown by Broxton and Stray (1980, 1982) using acetic acid and six other aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids. The observation of general acid catalysis is evidence that proton transfer occurs in the rate-determining part of the reaction (Scheme 6-5). The Bronsted a value is 0.32, which indicates that in the transition state the proton is still closer to the carboxylic acid than to the oxygen atom of the methanol to be formed. If the benzene ring of the diazo ether (Ar in Scheme 6-5) contains a carboxy group in the 2-position, intramolecular acid catalysis is observed (Broxton and McLeish, 1983). 

A true intramolecular proton transfer in the second step of an azo coupling reaction was found by Snyckers and Zollinger (1970a, 1970b) in the reaction of the 8-(2 -pyridyl)-2-naphthoxide ion (with the transition state 12.151). This compound shows neither a kinetic deuterium isotope effect nor general base catalysis, in contrast to the sterically similar 8-phenyl-2-naphthoxide ion. Obviously the heterocyclic nitrogen atom is the proton acceptor. 

There are two cases in which the general base catalysis observed for an azo coupling reaction is due not to a rate-limiting proton transfer from the o-complex (Scheme 12-66) but to deprotonation of the coupling component when the species involved in the substitution is formed. These reactions are shown in Schemes 12-71 H I... 

For coupling with 2-naphthol-6,8-disulphonic-l-isotope effects (kK/kD) varied with the substituent in the benzenediazonium ion as follows 4-C1 (6.55) 3-C1 (5.48) 4-N02 (4.78), i.e. the reactivity of the ion was increased so that i correspondingly decreased. Base catalysis was observed127, 129, and there was a free energy relationship between this catalytic effect and the basicity of pyridine, 3- and 4-picoline. However, for 2-picoline and 2,6-lutidine, the catalysis was 3 times and 10 times less than expected from their basicities showing that, in this particular proton transfer, steric hindrance is important. 

The detritiation of [3H]-2,4,6-trimethoxybenzene by aqueous perchloric acid was also studied, the second-order rate coefficients (107/c2) being determined as 5.44, 62.0, and 190 at 0, 24.6, and 36.8 °C, respectively, whilst with phosphate buffers, values were 3.75, 13.8, and 42.1 at 24.6, 39.9, and 55.4 °C, respectively. The summarised kinetic parameters for these studies are given in Table 134, and notable among the values are the more negative entropies of activation obtained in catalysis by the more negative acids. This has been rationalised in terms of proton transfer... 

In the above formulation the proton is transferred in the step in which the intermediate is formed. Such proton transfer is not essential for base catalysis. An alternate mode of catalysis is one in which the transition state for intermediate formation is a hydrogen-bonded complex, e.g. L, but in which this complex collapses to VI and the catalyst rather than to VIII. For such a formulation the only significant intermediate determining the rates would be VI, which would now be formed by the additional steps... 

The kinetic data based on the demonstration of specific acid catalysis in buffers, solvent isotope effects and acidity functions all support mechanisms where the proton-transfers are fast. It is possible to write equations which accommodate these facts together with the first-order dependence on hydrazo-compound and the concurrent first and second-order dependence on acidity. These are... 

This scheme requires a rate-determining (second) proton-transfer, against which there is considerable experimental evidence in the form of specific-acid catalysis, the solvent isotope effect and the hg dependence discussed earlier. Further, application of the steady-state principle to the 7i-complex mechanism results in a rate equation of the form... 

Weak acids and bases are, generally speaking, less effective catalysts than H+ and OH at the same concentrations. Proton transfer occurs in all acid-base catalysis, regardless of the detailed mechanism (this aspect is considered in the next section). It is only... 

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