Dehydrohalogenation transition state

We first applied the solvatochromic equation (SCE) to solvolysis of tert-butyl chloride (t-BuCl) to determine if the method could give a reasonable result for this much-studied reaction (7). Abraham et al. (11) had previously attempted correlation of these rates with the SCE without the cavity term, but as Bentley and Carter (12) have noted, an unsatisfactory result was achieved (7). First, TFE and hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol (HFIP) did not fit the correlation. Second, no rate dependence on solvent nucleophilicity 0 was found, despite other works indicating a weak dependence on this parameter (12, 13). Also, different correlations were observed for hydroxylic and nonhydroxylic solvents Bentley considered this finding to indicate that the dehydrohalogenation transition state (in nonhydroxylic solvents) and the solvolysis transition state (in hydroxylic solvents) were significantly different and thus concluded that the two types of reactions should not be included in the same correlation. 

Dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides (Sections 5 14-5 16) Strong bases cause a proton and a halide to be lost from adjacent carbons of an alkyl halide to yield an alkene Regioselectivity is in accord with the Zaitsev rule The order of halide reactivity is I > Br > Cl > F A concerted E2 reaction pathway is followed carbocations are not involved and rearrangements do not occur An anti coplanar arrangement of the proton being removed and the halide being lost characterizes the transition state... 

As we saw in Chapter 5 dehydrations and dehydrohalogenations are typically regiose lective m the direction that leads to the most stable double bond Conjugated dienes are more stable than isolated dienes and are formed faster via a lower energy transition state... 

We have previously seen (Scheme 2.9, enby 6), that the dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides is a stereospecific reaction involving an anti orientation of the proton and the halide leaving group in the transition state. The elimination reaction is also moderately stereoselective (Scheme 2.10, enby 1) in the sense that the more stable of the two alkene isomers is formed preferentially. Both isomers are formed by anti elimination processes, but these processes involve stereochemically distinct hydrogens. Base-catalyzed elimination of 2-iodobutane affords three times as much -2-butene as Z-2-butene. 

Dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides is stereospecific, requiring an anti arrangement between the hydrogen being lost and the leaving group in the transition state. (Z)-l,2-Diphenylpropene must therefore be formed from the diastereomer shown. 

Prior to 1953, few kinetic works on the homogeneous, unimolecular gas-phase pyrolysis or elimination of simple alkyl halides were reported. According to these experimental data the commonly accepted mechanism consisted of a concerted four-membered cyclic transition state yielding the corresponding olefin and hydrogen halide as shown in equation 1. For molecular dehydrohalogenation, the presence of a /i-hydrogen adjacent to the C—X bond is necessary. 

As with other aromatic substitutions, the substitution step itself can be considered to involve an approximately sps hybridization at the carbon atom under attack (10). In the idealized substitution process shown in Eq. (16), 10 may constitute either an intermediate or a transition state. If proton loss ensues directly, the process is properly called a substitution. In other situations the intermediate 10 may become allied with a radical or an anion, leading thereby to a covalent adduct 11. The final substituted product 12 may then be formed either by the elimination of H—Z (first H, then Z) or by the reversal to 10, followed by proton loss. The first case is a classical example of an addition-elimination halogenation, where the adduct is an essential species in the process. In the second case, structure 10 is a common intermediate for both the substitution and the addition reactions. Being merely a diversion of 10, the addition product is not essential to the substitution. In consequence of this, the isolation of adduct 11 may not mean that addition-elimination is the principal pathway of substitution reversal to 10 may be faster than the elimination of H—Z ( 2, k3>ki). On the other hand, the mere failure to detect adduct 11 does not rule out an addition-elimination process, for dehydrohalogenation of adduct 11 may be much faster than its formation (ki>klt k2). 

Why is a stronger base needed in this dehydrohalogenation The transition state for the second elimination reaction includes partial cleavage of a C - H bond. In this case, however, the carbon atom is sp hybridized, and sp hybridized C-H bonds are stronger than sp hybridized C-H bonds. As a result, a stronger base is needed to cleave this bond. 

Ketenes are especially reactive in [2 + 2] cycloadditions, and an important reason is that they offer a low degree of steric interactions in the transition state. Another reason is the electrophilic character of the ketene LUMO. The best yields are obtained in reactions in which the ketene has an electronegative substituent, such as halogen. Simple ketenes are not very stable and usually must be generated in situ. The most common method for generating ketenes for synthesis is by dehydrohalogenation of acyl chorides. This is usually done with an amine such as triethylamine. Other activated carboxylic acid derivatives, such as acyloxypyridinium ions, have also been used as ketene precursors ... 

Dehydrohalogenation may give a mixture of products if the halogen is unsymmetrically located on the carbon skeleton. Eor example, 2-bromo-2-methylbutane (6), the substrate you will use in this experiment, yields both 2-methyl-2-butene (7) and 2-methyl-l-butene (8) on reaction with strong base (Eq. 10.5). Because such elimination reactions are normally irreversible under these experimental conditions, the alkenes 7 and 8 do not undergo equilibration subsequent to their production. Consequently, the ratio of 7 and 8 obtained is defined by the relative rates of their formation. These rates, in turn, are determined by the relative free energies of the two transition states, 9 and 10, respectively, rather than by the relative free energies of the alkenes 7 and 8 themselves. 

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