Cyclopropane, stability

The bonding in vinylcyclopropane (3) is such that an s-trans-gauche conformational equilibrium exists to allow for maximum orbital overlap of the asymmetric component of cyclopropane orbitals with the IT- or 7T -orbitals of the ethylene unit, as shown in (3a). From thermochemical stuches it appears that conjugation of an alkene with cyclopropane stabilizes the system by 1.2 kcal mol". The conformational equilibrium for vinylcyclopropane was shown to consist of an s-trans minimum (3b) and two gauche conformers that are equ in energy and destabilized by 1.43 kcal mol with respect to the s-trans conformation. The barrier to interconversion has been determined to be 3.92 kcal mol . ... 

The deamination of various caranamines has been found to yield, in the case of the 2- and 5-amines, products from the corresponding cyclopropane-stabilized carbonium ion, but the 4-amines (289) give more complex products, including the two [(290) and (291)] shown. 

Disubstituted cyclopropanes exemplify one of the simplest cases involving stabil ity differences between stereoisomers A three membered ring has no conformational mobility so the ring cannot therefore reduce the van der Waals strain between cis sub stituents on adjacent carbons without introducing other strain The situation is different m disubstituted derivatives of cyclohexane... 

The stabilization of chloromethoxycarbene (234) was intensively studied. It is formed from diazirine (233) in a first order reaction with fi/2 = 34h at 20 C. It reacts either as a nucleophile, adding to electron poor alkenes like acrylonitrile with cyclopropanation, or as an electrophile, giving diphenylcyclopropenone with the electron rich diphenylacetylene. In the absence of reaction partners (234) decomposes to carbon monoxide and methyl chloride (78TL1931, 1935). 

Cyclopropanations by carbenes from chlorodiazirines were observed in several cases, e.g. with the r-butyl compound. Cyclopropanation and stabilization by ring enlargement and by elimination compete in chlorocyclobutyldiazirine photolysis. 

Solvolysis rate studies also indicate that there is greater stabilization by a cyclopropyl group in a bisected geomeby. In tosylate 1, the cyclopropane ring is locked into an orientation which affords a perpendicular arrangement. It reacts 300 times more slowly than the model compound 2. Tosylate 3, which corresponds to the bisected geomeby, undergoes acetolysis at least 10 times faster than the model 2-adamantyl tosylate 4. ... 

Rearrangement studies give an interesting insight into the specific effect of fluonne on the thermodynamic stability and rearrangement kinetics of fluonnated cyclopropanes Fluorine decreases the thermodynamic stability of the cyclopropyl nng, in contrast with the generally observed effect of fluonne increasing the stability of molecules to which it is introduced [124]... 

The direction of ring opening by homolytic cleavage of a cyclopropane bond is controlled by the stability of the diradical species formed. Upon heating of the mono-deuterated vinylcyclopropane 3, a mixture of the two isomeric mono-deuterated cyclopentenes 4 and 5 is formed ... 

The phenyl substitution provides both the chromophore necessary for photoactivity and the stabilization of the initially formed radical. The reported photochemical extrusion of SO from 2,2,4,4-tetraacetylthietane263b to give the corresponding cyclopropane appears to be a unique case associated with the particular features of the irradiated molecule. 

Proton transfer from H3 + and CH5+ to cyclopropane yields a C3H7 + ion, which at atmospheric pressures is largely stabilized by collision (9). This ion reacts as a sec-propyl ion with an added interceptor molecule (9). Hence, the protonated cyclopropane ion undergoes ring opening to acquire the sec-propyl ion structure. Similarly, it has been shown that protonated cyclobutane rearranges to the sec-C4H9 + structure. 

Since cyclopropane rings possess electronic properties similar to those of double bonds and are capable of stabilizing an adjacent positive charge, systems such as 247 are related to allenyl substrates. Therefore, solvolysis of such... 

D.K. Taylor and co-workers investigated thoroughly a new route to diastere-omerically pure functionalized cyclopropanes utilizing stabilized phosphonium ylides and y-hydroxyenones derived from 1,2-dioxines (Scheme 7) [34-38]. 

Esters of a-diazoalkylphosphonic acids (95) show considerable thermal stability but react with acids, dienophiles, and triphenylphosphine to give the expected products. With olefinic compounds in the presence of copper they give cyclopropane derivatives (96), but with no such compounds present vinylphosphonic esters are formed by 1,2-hydrogen shift, or, when this route is not available, products such as (97) or (98) are formed, resulting from insertion of a carbenoid intermediate into C—C or C—H bonds. The related phosphonyl (and phosphoryl) azides (99) add to electron-rich alkynes to give 1,2,3-triazoles, from which the phosphoryl group is readily removed by hydrolysis. 

Several steps are involved in these reactions. First, the enolate of the (1-kelocstcr opens the cyclopropane ring. The polarity of this process corresponds to that in the formal synthon B because the cyclopropyl carbons are electrophilic. The product of the ringopening step is a stabilized Wittig ylide, which can react with the ketone carbonyl to form the carbocyclic ring. 

Like other metal reactions studied previously in our laboratory, H2 elimination is initiated by insertion into one of the C-H bonds forming HMC3H5. The reaction rate constant for Y + cyclopropane was found to be very small at room temperature, 0.7 x 10 12 cm3 s 1, and it was suggested that the reaction most likely involved termolecular stabilization of C-H or C-C insertion complexes, rather than molecular elimination.22 By analogy with other systems studied, the dynamically most favorable route to H2 loss in this case is likely via H atom migration to the Y-H moiety, with concerted... 

A comparison of the rate constant for photoisomerization of the unsubstituted 3-phenyl derivative (kT = 3 x 1010 sec-1) to that of the 3-(p-methoxy phenyl) derivative (kr = 1.5 x 1010 sec-1) indicates that the presence of the p-methoxy groups imparts no special stability to the intermediate responsible for isomerization even though cleavage of a cyclopropane bond is predominant. Clearly these results are inconsistent with an intermediate possessing electron-poor or electron-rich species such as would be obtained from heterolytic cleavage of the cyclopropane. On the other hand, the results are consistent with a biradical species as intermediate. Further evidence consistent with this conclusion was obtained in a study of trans-3-p-cyanophenyl-/ra w-2-phenyl-1 -benzoylcyclopropane,<82)... 

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