Conjugate acid reactions

Thymine and uracil behave similar to typical carbonyl compounds, i.e. the first intermediate is a radical anion [reaction (55)] which is in equilibrium with its oxygen-protonated conjugated acid [reaction (57)]. The other functional groups, especially the second carbonyl function, withdraw electron density, and hence the p a values of these oxygen-protonated radical anions are much lower (thymine p a = 6.9 [52]) than those of the corresponding radicals from simple carbonyl compounds. However, the C(6)-protonated isomers [cf. reaction (58)]... 

The rates of tritiation of A,A-diaIkylanilines have been determined in solutions containing a mild excess of acid . Under such conditions, the anilinium ion may preferentially be attacked at the meta position, but quantitative data appear to conform to an equilibrium of the free amine with its conjugate acid (reaction 39). Further, most... 

Product acids and bases such as those formed in this process are termed conjugate acids and conjugate bases. Thus, all acid-base reactions can be written as... 

The reaction therefore involves nucleophilic displacement on carbon passing through the transition state indicated otherwise expressed, the reaction involves nucleophUic di.splacement in the conjugate acid R—OH2 in which the displaced group is OHj" " ... 

It has been suggested that the Sommelet reaction proceeds by a hydride ion transfer, the acceptor being the conjugate acid of a Schiff base ... 

Because of the mentioned leveling effect of the solvent (or excess acid itself acting as such) the acidity cannot exceed that of its conjugate acid. In the case of water the limiting acidity is that of HsO. Proton-ated water, H30 (hydronium ion), was first postulated in 1907, and its preeminent role in acid-catalyzed reactions in aqueous media was first realized in the acid-base theory of Bronsted and Lowry. Direct experimental evidence for the hydronium ion in solution and in the... 

Many aromatic compounds are sufficiently basic to be appreciably protonated in concentrated sulphuric acid. If nitration occurs substantially through the free base, then the reactivity of the conjugate acid will be negligible. Therefore, increasii the acidity of the medium will, by depleting the concentration of the free base, reduce the rateof reaction. This probably accounts for the particularly marked fall in rate which occurs in the nitration of anthraquinone, benzoic acid, benzenesulphonic acid, and some nitroanilines (see table 2.4). 

Nitration may or may not involve the predominant form of the substrate. In the latter case, if the predominant form is the conjugate acid, the observed second-order rate constant can be corrected to give one (/iafb.) appropriate to the reacting free base. With a reaction of the form... 

If the observed second-order rate constant is greater than calc., reaction via the free base is precluded. If /taobs. is less than k czlc., reaction via the conjugate acid or the free base is possible. The first compound reported to be nitrated via its conjugate acid, and yet to have 2 calc. > obs. at the acidities concerned, was pyrazoleother examples are mentioned later ( 9.3 10.4.2). 

An alternative approach is to assume, in the light of the experimental evidence just mentioned, that the reactions of cations and neutral molecules have similar values of (or, equivalently, of log ( /l mol and to try to calculate the difference which would arise from the fact that the observed entropy of activation for a minority free base includes a contribution from the acidic dissociation of the conjugate acid in the medium in question (see (5) above). Consider the two following reaction schemes one (primed symbols) represents nitration via the free base, the other the normal nitration of a non-basic majority species (unprimed symbols) ... 

Phenylbenzimidazole is nitrated first at the 5-position with mixed acid, and subsequent reaction produces 5-nitro-2-(4-nitrophenyl)-and 5-nitro-2-(3-nitrophenyl)-benzimidazole. 2-Phenyl-, 2-(4-nitro-phenyl)- and 5-nitro-2-phenyl-benzimidazole are nitrated as their conjugate acids. ... 

The formation of the above anions ("enolate type) depend on equilibria between the carbon compounds, the base, and the solvent. To ensure a substantial concentration of the anionic synthons in solution the pA" of both the conjugated acid of the base and of the solvent must be higher than the pAT -value of the carbon compound. Alkali hydroxides in water (p/T, 16), alkoxides in the corresponding alcohols (pAT, 20), sodium amide in liquid ammonia (pATj 35), dimsyl sodium in dimethyl sulfoxide (pAT, = 35), sodium hydride, lithium amides, or lithium alkyls in ether or hydrocarbon solvents (pAT, > 40) are common combinations used in synthesis. Sometimes the bases (e.g. methoxides, amides, lithium alkyls) react as nucleophiles, in other words they do not abstract a proton, but their anion undergoes addition and substitution reactions with the carbon compound. If such is the case, sterically hindered bases are employed. A few examples are given below (H.O. House, 1972 I. Kuwajima, 1976). 

Potassium hydride (KH) is a source of the strongly basic hydride ion ( H ) Using curved arrows to track electron movement write an equation for the reaction of hydride ion with water What is the conjugate acid of hydride lon ... 

Step 3 IS new to us It is an acid-base reachon m which the carbocation acts as a Br0n sted acid transferrmg a proton to a Brpnsted base (water) This is the property of carbo cations that is of the most significance to elimination reactions Carbocations are strong acids they are the conjugate acids of alkenes and readily lose a proton to form alkenes Even weak bases such as water are sufficiently basic to abstract a proton from a carbocation... 

We can gam a general understanding of the mechanism of hydrogen halide addi tion to alkenes by extending some of the principles of reaction mechanisms introduced earlier In Section 5 12 we pointed out that carbocations are the conjugate acids of alkenes Therefore strong acids such as HCI HBr and HI can protonate the double bond of an alkene to form a carbocation... 

We can extend the general principles of electrophilic addition to acid catalyzed hydration In the first step of the mechanism shown m Figure 6 9 proton transfer to 2 methylpropene forms tert butyl cation This is followed m step 2 by reaction of the car bocation with a molecule of water acting as a nucleophile The aUcyloxomum ion formed m this step is simply the conjugate acid of tert butyl alcohol Deprotonation of the alkyl oxonium ion m step 3 yields the alcohol and regenerates the acid catalyst... 

Conjugate acid (Section 1 13) The species formed from a Brpnsted base after it has accepted a proton Conjugate addition (Sections 1010 and 1812) Addition reaction in which the reagent adds to the termini of the con jugated system with migration of the double bond synony mous with 1 4 addition The most common examples include conjugate addition to 1 3 dienes and to a 3 unsaturated car bonyl compounds... 

When an acid and a base react, the products are a new acid and base. For example, the acetate ion, C1T3COO-, in reaction 6.7 is a base that reacts with the acidic ammonium ion, N1T45", to produce acetic acid and ammonia. We call the acetate ion the conjugate base of acetic acid, and the ammonium ion is the conjugate acid of ammonia. 

Tabulating Values for K and Kb A useful observation about acids and bases is that the strength of a base is inversely proportional to the strength of its conjugate acid. Consider, for example, the dissociation reactions of acetic acid and acetate. 

The most important appHcation of metal alkoxides in reactions of the Friedel-Crafts type is that of aluminum phenoxide as a catalyst in phenol alkylation (205). Phenol is sufficientiy acidic to react with aluminum with the formation of (CgH O)2Al. Aluminum phenoxide, when dissolved in phenol, greatiy increases the acidic strength. It is beheved that, similar to alkoxoacids (206) an aluminum phenoxoacid is formed, which is a strong conjugate acid of the type HAl(OCgH )4. This acid is then the catalyticaHy active species (see Alkoxides, metal). 

Nitration. Because nitration frequentiy generates nitrogen oxides which can participate in oxidative transformations, the nitration of indole itself is a complex reaction. In strongly acidic media, the nitration of 2-substituted indoles can proceed through the conjugate acid (8). Because the aromatic system is thereby transformed to an a2astyrene, the 5-position is the primary site of reaction. 

In general, an appropriate initiator is a species which has approximately the same stmcture and reactivity as the propagating anionic species, ie, the piC of the conjugate acid of the propagating anion should correspond closely to the piC of the conjugate acid of the initiating species. If the initiator is too reactive, side reactions between the initiator and monomer can occur if the initiator is not reactive enough, then the initiation reaction may be slow or inefficient. 

Methacryhc acid and its ester derivatives are Ctfjy -unsaturated carbonyl compounds and exhibit the reactivity typical of this class of compounds, ie, Michael and Michael-type conjugate addition reactions and a variety of cycloaddition and related reactions. Although less reactive than the corresponding acrylates as the result of the electron-donating effect and the steric hindrance of the a-methyl group, methacrylates readily undergo a wide variety of reactions and are valuable intermediates in many synthetic procedures. 

The perhydrolysis reaction could theoretically continue to give four moles of peracid per mole of TAED but stops at this stoichiometry because of the substantial increase in the conjugate acid pify of the leaving group going from an amide (p-R = 17) to an amine (pif = 35) (94,95). Nonanoyloxybenzene sulfonate (NOBS) [101482-85-3] is used in detergent products in the United States and Japan. The NOBS perhydrolysis reaction is shown in equation 20 (96). 

With nitnles in general, addition reactions take place readily in the presence of acids, because of the enhanced electrophilic character of the central carbon atom in the conjugate acid ... 

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