Dimerization stereospecific

Photocyclodimerization of crystalline olefinic compounds (giving cyclobutane derivatives) thus requires that the C=C bonds be aligned parallel (or antiparallel) to each other and about 4 A apart. It also requires that the formation of new bonds should cause a minimal movement of atoms. This type of solid-state reaction is called a topochemical reaction. It is essentially diffusionless since all that is required is a minor reorganization of atoms rather than a diffusion so that two reactant molecules can approach each other in a suitable manner for reaction. For example, cfs-4a,5,8,8a-dimethyltetrahydronaphthoquinone, forms dimers stereospecifically in the crystalline state upon irradiation (Figure 18.2). By contrast, intramolecular cyclization occurs in solution. 

It is possible that some of these photochemical cycloadditions take place by a lA + A] mechanism, which is of course allowed by orbital symmetry when and if they do, one of the molecules must be in the excited singlet state (5i) and the other in the ground state.The nonphotosensitized dimerizations of cis- and trans-2-butene are stereospecific,making it likely that the [n2s + n2s] mechanism is operating in these reactions. However, in most cases it is a triplet excited state that reacts with the ground-state molecule in these cases the diradical (or in certain... 

The direct irradiation of cis- and frans-2-butenes in solution separately and in admixture gives stereospecific dimerization along with the more efficient cis-trans isomerization<78) ... 

It can be seen that these products result from stereospecific dimerization of the corresponding 2-butenes. Irradiation of mixtures of cis- and tra/w-2-butene resulted in a fourth isomer (4) in addition to the above products ... 

The stereospecificity of these reactions is surprising in light of the large energies absorbpd by these molecules. Indeed, the major photochemical product of these photolyses was the alternate olefin isomer (1-butene was also observed). These results indicate that free rotation about the photo-excited double bond does not occur in those molecules that dimerize. This suggests the participation of ground state complexes or excimers in the photodimerization. This view is supported by the observations that dilution of cw-2-butene with neopentane (1 1) decreased the yield of dimers and a 1 4 dilution almost completely suppressed dimerization. 

Oxidation of arylphospholes (17) by peroxides led to phosphole oxides (84) that dimerized to the corresponding phosphanorbomene derivatives (85) (Scheme 23) [36, 38, 66], As in earlier cases, the cyclodimerization took place in a regio- and stereospecific manner. The interesting observation was that, due to the bulky P-substituent, oxidation was slower and the phosphole oxides (84) became relatively stable hence, they could be characterized by NMR. 

Despite the aromatic character, the arylphospholes could also participate in Diels-Alder reactions to give new type of 7-phosphanorbomenes. These products together with phosphanorbomenes obtained by the regio- and stereospecific dimerization of arylphosphole oxides were useful model compounds in the UV light mediated fragmentation-related phosphorylation of alcohols. A novel mechanism was substantiated. 

Palladium(II) acetate was found to be a good catalyst for such cyclopropanations with ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 19) by analogy with the same transformation using diazomethane (see Sect. 2.1). The best yields were obtained with monosubstituted alkenes such as acrylic esters and methyl vinyl ketone (64-85 %), whereas they dropped to 10-30% for a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds bearing alkyl groups in a- or p-position such as ethyl crotonate, isophorone and methyl methacrylate 141). In none of these reactions was formation of carbene dimers observed. 7>ms-benzalaceto-phenone was cyclopropanated stereospecifically in about 50% yield PdCl2 and palladium(II) acetylacetonate were less efficient catalysts 34 >. Diazoketones may be used instead of diazoesters, as the cyclopropanation of acrylonitrile by diazoacenaph-thenone/Pd(OAc)2 (75 % yield) shows142). 

The presence of solvated dimethylformamide is necessary for the dimerization to occur the dimerization is stereospecific since no trans isomer is formed.18... 

Treatment of the olefin 49 with Zeise s dimer leads to the chloroplatination complex 50 [26], The addition adduct 50 is hydrogenated stereospecifically to the trans-disubstituted chlorocyclohexane 51. The insertion of carbon monoxide into 50, in the presence of methanol, yields the ester 52 stereoselectively. 

A remaining class of dimerizations is represented by the reactions shown in Eqs. 36—39. These are singlet state reactions, and they are all characterized by stereospecificity and regiospecificity. Production of the trans isomer from the steroidal dienone in Eq. 39 is anomalous and poses a... 

Very few examples of singlet n-n dimerizations are reported, the reactions of 2-butenes in Eqs. 36 and 37 being examples with observable stereochemistry. The reactions are stereospecific in agreement with theory. The unsensitized reactions of styrene 115> and some stilbene derivatives 116> may also proceed via excited states, Eq. 47 and... 

Dimethyl-4-silacyclohexadienylidene (lv) is of interest as a potential source of silaxylene 24, however, all attempts to convert the carbene into an aromatic compound failed.107 The only isolated product from gas phase reactions is the dimer 25. In solution, carbene lv was found to add stereospecifically to cis-2-butene. With butadiene as trapping reagent both the products of the 1,2- and 1,4-addition 26 and 27, respectively, are observed (Scheme 21).107 In addition, silacyclopentene 28 is formed, which is the trapping product of cyclo-... 

The future prospects for the capsule project emerge from these considerations. Further increasing the size of the capsule and building chemical functionalities into the inner cavity would allow a closer emulation the functions of enzymes, especially those that require cofactors in order to catalyze chemical transformations. Another important aspect is to design capsules that can combine stereospecificity and catalysis - that is accelerate stereoselective transformations. Capsules that reversibly dimerize in water would probably contribute a lot more to our understanding of non-covalent forces and solvent effects in this most biorelevant medium. So far, water solubility and assembly have not been achieved with hydrogen-bonded capsules. 

A cycloaddition reaction produces a ring of atoms by forming two new G-bonds, for example the formation of a cyclobutane dimer from two alkene molecules. The direct photoreaction involves the concerted reaction of the singlet Jtpt ) excited state of one alkene with the ground state of the other. Stereospecific reactions in which the dimers preserve the ground-state geometry occur when liquid cis- or trans-but-2-ene are irradiated at low temperature ... 

For rigid alkenes, triplet sensitisation brings about photocycloaddition via the 3(Jt,7t ) state. These reactions are neither concerted nor stereospecific. Cyclopentene produces a tricyclic dimer ... 

PA = 226 kcal moP ), the predominant formation (6.4 to 1) of the (7 ,5 )-di-2-butyl ether over the (R,R) and (5, 5 )-forms is attributed to a simple backside displacement in the proton-bound adduct of the starting 2-butanol enantiomer with inversion of configuration of the reaction site and loss of a molecule of water. When tri-n-propylamine is replaced by the less basic NH3 (PA = 196 kcal moF ), fast neutralization of the proton-bound dimers of the starting 2-butanol is prevented and, therefore, they can grow, producing aggregates that resemble solution microenvironments in which SnI pathways may be accessible as well. In them or in their primary substituted derivatives, consecutive nucleophilic displacements may take place. As a consequence, the stereospecificity of the process is lost and the [(R,S)-di-2-butyl ether]/[(7 ,7 )- and (5, 5 )-di-2-butyl ethers] ratio falls down to 1.2. In this case. 

The dimer of chloro(l,5-hexadiene)rhodium is an excellent catalyst for the room temperature hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbons at atmospheric pressure. The reaction is selective for the arene ring in the presence of ester, amide, ether and ketone functionalities (except acetophenone). The most useful phase transfer agents are tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The aqueous phase is a buffer of pH 7.6 (the constituents of the buffer are not critical). In all but one case the reaction is stereospecific giving cis products... 

Stereospecific ketone reduction was also observed (Giordano et al. 1985) with potassium, rubidium, and cesium (but not with sodium) in tertiary alcohols (but not in secondary or primary alcohols). The undesirable dimerization probably proceeds more readily in the case of sodium. Tertiary alcohols are simply more acidic than primary or secondary alcohols. It is reasonable to point out that the ketone-to-alcohol reduction of 3a-hydroxy-7-oxo-5p-cholic acid by alkali metals is a key step in the industrial synthesis of 3a,7p-dihydroxy-5p-cholic acid. 

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