Cation solvators

In the discussion of the relative acidity of carboxylic acids in Chapter 1, the thermodynamic acidity, expressed as the acid dissociation constant, was taken as the measure of acidity. It is straightforward to determine dissociation constants of such adds in aqueous solution by measurement of the titration curve with a pH-sensitive electrode (pH meter). Determination of the acidity of carbon acids is more difficult. Because most are very weak acids, very strong bases are required to cause deprotonation. Water and alcohols are far more acidic than most hydrocarbons and are unsuitable solvents for generation of hydrocarbon anions. Any strong base will deprotonate the solvent rather than the hydrocarbon. For synthetic purposes, aprotic solvents such as ether, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and dimethoxyethane (DME) are used, but for equilibrium measurements solvents that promote dissociation of ion pairs and ion clusters are preferred. Weakly acidic solvents such as DMSO and cyclohexylamine are used in the preparation of strongly basic carbanions. The high polarity and cation-solvating ability of DMSO facilitate dissociation... 

In contrast to the allyl system, where the reduction of an isolated double bond is investigated, the reduction of extensively delocalized aromatic systems has been in the focus of interest for some time. Reduction of the systems with alkali metals in aprotic solvents under addition of effective cation-solvation agents affords initially radical anions that have found extensive use as reducing agents in synthetic chemistry. Further reduction is possible under formation of dianions, etc. Like many of the compounds mentioned in this article, the anions are extremely reactive, and their intensive studies were made possible by the advancement of low temperature X-ray crystallographic methods (including crystal mounting techniques) and advanced synthetic capabilities. 

In the radical anions of the norbornane-linked naphthalenes [37] mentioned earlier (Gerson et al, 1990) no counterion effects were detected for [37a], which has a small spatial separation, but the esr/ENDOR spectra of [37b]- and [37c]- indicate that the electron-spin transfer between the naphthalene moieties is determined by the rate of synchronous counterion migration (Gerson et al., 1990). For tight ion pairs the electron is localized, while for loose ion-pair conditions, e.g. by using solvents of high cation-solvating power, the transfer becomes fast on the hyperfine timescale (k > 107 Hz). 

Bergman s group showed that low-temperature selective C-H activations of -alkanes could be achieved using cationic-solvated iridium complexes (Equation (2)).10 10a... 

Polymerisations of undiluted, bulk monomer are rare except for those initiated by ionising radiations and they require a special treatment which will be given later. The most common situation is to have the propagating ions in a mixture of monomer and solvent, and as the solvation by the solvent is ubiquitous and may dominate over that by other components of the reaction mixture, mainly because of the mass-action effect, it will not be noted by any special symbol, except in a few instances. This means that we adopt the convention that the symbol Pn+ denotes a growing cation solvated mainly by the solvent correspondingly kp+ denotes the propagation constant of this species, subject to the proviso at the end of Section 2.3. Its relative abundance depends upon the abundance of the various other species in which the role of the solvent as the primary solvator has been taken over by any or all of the anion or the monomer or the polymer. The extent to which this happens depends on the ionic strength (essentially the concentration of the ions), and the polarity of the solvent, the monomer and the polymer, and their concentrations. 

The proportion of C-alkylation increases in the order OTs < Br < I, a sequence which is often associated with the balance of hardness between nucleophile and nucleofuge (Smith and Hanson, 1971). The work of Kurts et al. (1974) indicates that the overall reaction rate of the crown ether-assisted alkylation increases in the order Na+ < K+ < Rb+ < Cs+, which, according to these authors, reflects the increasing distance between cation and anion in the ion pairs. The high reactivity of the tetraphenylarsenate also fits in with this picture. The decrease of the kc/k0 ratio is only small in good cation-solvating solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Alkylation of the sodium derivative of [103] with ethyl iodide in DMSO gave kc/kQ = 15.7 addition of... 

Note Added in Proof After we sent the manuscript to the publishers we became aware of CNDO studies on alkali ion solvation performed by Gupta and Rao 270> and Balasubramanian et al.271 >, which might be of some importance for readers interested in cation solvation by water and various amides. Another CNDO model investigation on the structure of hydrated ions was published very recently by Cremaschi and Simonetta 272> They studied CH5 and CH5 surrounded by a first shell of water molecules in order to discuss solvation effects on structure and stability of these organic intermediates or transition states respectively. 

For lariat ethers to be effective as polymer-bound phase transfer catalysts, sidearm and macroring cooperation must be intramolecular. It is unlikely that two lariat ethers will be close enough on a polymer backbone or other support for the ring of one compound to interact with the sidearm donors of another. The mechanical attributes of lariat ethers will be independent of spacing but for any advantage in cation binding and anion activation to be realized, the macroring and its attached sidearm must cooperate to envelop the cation, solvate it, and shield it from the counteranion. 

The direct evidence on which our view of cation solvation in polymer electrolytes is based comes mainly from spectroscopic techniques. IR and Raman studies have been carried out on a variety of systems (see Chapter 5, Torell and Schantz, 1989 and Freeh, Manning, Teeters and Black, 1988). Low frequency vibrational modes, around 860-870 cm associated with the cation-ether oxygen interactions in PEG based systems have been observed they are absent in PEO itself... 

A number of important issues involving the structure and dynamics of ionically conducting polymers have yet to receive thorough theoretical consideration. For example, in the case df multivalent cations, some systems exhibit cation transport whereas others do not, due to strong cation solvation. Therefore a term associated with ion-polymer dissociation must be important in systems which are on the borderline between these two extremes. This term is likely to be of the form ikHi, /2RT). 

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