Displacement reactions, nucleophilic rates

The characteristic values of AH and AS have been taken to indicate that a nucleophilic displacement reaction is rate-limiting in a multistep reaction. For instance reaction (42) occurs in two stages, but the intermediate which is detected is too reactive to be isolated and characterised. The... 

Solvent for Displacement Reactions. As the most polar of the common aprotic solvents, DMSO is a favored solvent for displacement reactions because of its high dielectric constant and because anions are less solvated in it (87). Rates for these reactions are sometimes a thousand times faster in DMSO than in alcohols. Suitable nucleophiles include acetyUde ion, alkoxide ion, hydroxide ion, azide ion, carbanions, carboxylate ions, cyanide ion, hahde ions, mercaptide ions, phenoxide ions, nitrite ions, and thiocyanate ions (31). Rates of displacement by amides or amines are also greater in DMSO than in alcohol or aqueous solutions. Dimethyl sulfoxide is used as the reaction solvent in the manufacture of high performance, polyaryl ether polymers by reaction of bis(4,4 -chlorophenyl) sulfone with the disodium salts of dihydroxyphenols, eg, bisphenol A or 4,4 -sulfonylbisphenol (88). These and related reactions are made more economical by efficient recycling of DMSO (89). Nucleophilic displacement of activated aromatic nitro groups with aryloxy anion in DMSO is a versatile and useful reaction for the synthesis of aromatic ethers and polyethers (90). 

Rates of debromination of bromonitro-thiophenes and -selenophenes with sodium thio-phenoxide and sodium selenophenoxide have been studied. Selenophene compounds were about four times more reactive than the corresponding thiophene derivatives. The rate ratio was not significantly different whether attack was occurring at the a- or /3-position. As in benzenoid chemistry, numerous nucleophilic displacement reactions are found to be copper catalyzed. Illustrative of these reactions is the displacement of bromide from 3-bromothiophene-2-carboxylic acid and 3-bromothiophene-4-carboxylic acid by active methylene compounds (e.g. AcCH2C02Et) in the presence of copper and sodium ethoxide (Scheme 77) (75JCS(P1)1390). 

Nucleophilic displacement reactions One of the most common reactions in organic synthesis is the nucleophilic displacement reaction. The first attempt at a nucleophilic substitution reaction in a molten salt was carried out by Ford and co-workers [47, 48, 49]. FFere, the rates of reaction between halide ion (in the form of its tri-ethylammonium salt) and methyl tosylate in the molten salt triethylhexylammoni-um triethylhexylborate were studied (Scheme 5.1-20) and compared with similar reactions in dimethylformamide (DMF) and methanol. The reaction rates in the molten salt appeared to be intermediate in rate between methanol and DMF (a dipolar aprotic solvent loiown to accelerate Sn2 substitution reactions). 

The nucleophilic displacement reactions of organolithium compounds with alkyl halides are second order insofar as the rates have been measured, but there are unexplained examples of autocatalysis and non-reproducable rate constants. The product of the reaction in the case of the methylallyl chlorides is the same mixture regardless of... 

In accord with general Eyring TS theory, we may consider every elementary chemical reaction to be associated with a unique A- B supramolecular complex that dictates the reaction rate. In the present section we examine representative TS complexes from two well-known classes of chemical reactions Sn2 nucleophilic displacement reactions... 

In contrast with aliphatic nucleophilic substitution, nucleophilic displacement reactions on aromatic rings are relatively slow and require activation at the point of attack by electron-withdrawing substituents or heteroatoms, in the case of heteroaromatic systems. With non-activated aromatic systems, the reaction generally involves an elimination-addition mechanism. The addition of phase-transfer catalysts generally enhances the rate of these reactions. 

A phase-transfer catalysed nucleophilic displacement reaction on chloro-acetanilides by cyanate ions, followed by ring-closure (Scheme 5.10), provides a simple and viable synthesis of hydantoins [41], The formation of the hydantoins is inhibited by substituents in the orf/to-position of the aryl ring, but the addition of potassium iodide, or tetra-n-butylammonium iodide, generally increases the overall rate of formation of the cyclic compounds, presumably by facilitating the initial nucleophilic substitution step. 

Higher yields are obtained when the reaction rate is increased by using dipolar aprotic solvents, with the possible operation of a template effect (77) of a precomplexed cation (64). Again, this shows that high dilution techniques are not necessary in many cases, but they would certainly increase the yields. Synthesis of polyether-sulfides are generally facilitated by the greater reactivity of — S compared to — O- in nucleophilic displacement reactions. However, the yield is low when path b) is followed (74). 

The affinity of the polymer-bound catalyst for water and for organic solvent also depends upon the structure of the polymer backbone. Polystyrene is nonpolar and attracts good organic solvents, but without ionic, polyether, or other polar sites, it is completely inactive for catalysis of nucleophilic reactions. The polar sites are necessary to attract reactive anions. If the polymer is hydrophilic, as a dextran, its surface must be made less polar by functionalization with lipophilic groups to permit catalytic activity for most nucleophilic displacement reactions. The % RS and the chemical nature of the polymer backbone affect the hydrophilic/lipophilic balance. The polymer must be able to attract both the reactive anion and the organic substrate into its matrix to catalyze reactions between the two mutually insoluble species. Most polymer-supported phase transfer catalysts are used under conditions where both intrinsic reactivity and intraparticle diffusion affect the observed rates of reaction. The structural variables in the catalyst which control the hydrophilic/lipophilic balance affect both activity and diffusion, and it is often not possible to distinguish clearly between these rate limiting phenomena by variation of active site structure, polymer backbone structure, or % RS. 

Effects of polymer structure on reaction of phenylacetonitrile with excess 1-bromo-butane and 50% NaOH have been studied under conditions of constant particle size and 500 rpm stirring to prevent mass transfer limitations I03). All experiments used benzyltrimethylammonium ion catalysts 2 and addition of phenylacetonitrile before addition of 1-bromobutane as described earlier. With 16-17% RS the rate constant with a 10 % CL polymer was 0.033 times that with a 2 % CL polymer. Comparisons of 2 % CL catalysts with different % RS and Amberlyst macroporous ion exchange resins are in Table 6. The catalysts with at least 40% RS were more active that with 16 % RS, opposite to the relative activities in most nucleophilic displacement reactions. If the macroporous ion exchange resins were available in small particle sizes, they might be the most active catalysts available for alkylation of phenylacetonitrile. 

Complexation constants of crown ethers and cryptands for alkali metal salts depend on the cavity sizes of the macrocycles 152,153). ln phase transfer nucleophilic reactions catalyzed by polymer-supported crown ethers and cryptands, rates may vary with the alkali cation. When a catalyst 41 with an 18-membered ring was used for Br-I exchange reactions, rates decreased with a change in salt from KI to Nal, whereas catalyst 40 bearing a 15-membered ring gave the opposite effect (Table 10)l49). A similar rate difference was observed for cyanide displacement reactions with polymer-supported cryptands in which the size of the cavity was varied 141). Polymer-supported phosphonium salt 4, as expected, gave no cation dependence of rates (Table 10). 

The equilibrium of nucleophilic displacements favors the side with the weaker Bronsted base the stronger Bronsted base displaces the weaker Bronsted base. The rate of the displacement reaction on the C of a given substrate depends on the nucleophilicity of the attacking base. Basicity and nucleophilicity differ as shown ... 

Notes A polar, aprotic solvent miscible in water and many organic solvents. Efficiently solvates cations. Can greatly enhance the rates of nucleophilic displacement reactions. 

The purines and pyrimidines are relatively stable compounds with considerable aromatic character. Nevertheless, they react with many different reagents and, under some relatively mild conditions, can be completely degraded to smaller molecules. The chemistry of these reactions is complex and is made more so by the fact that a reaction at one site on the ring may enhance the reactivity at other sites. The reactions of nucleic acids are largely the same as those of the individual nucleosides or nucleotides, the rates of reaction are often influenced by the position in the polynucleotide chain and by whether the nucleic acid is single or double stranded. The reactions of nucleosides and nucleotides are best understood in terms of the electronic properties of the various positions in the bases.26 33 Most of the chemical reactions are nucleophilic addition or displacement reactions of types that are discussed in Chapters 12 and 13. 

Thus, owing to their tendency toward polymerization and the difficulties often encountered in their preparation, systematic investigation of the chemistry of epiBulfvdea have been rate indeed. The nucleophilic displacement reactions reviewed in this section are often by necessity related to specific examples. Generalization of a given reaction should be viewed Cautiously until more detailed investigations are reported. 

An important application for the crown ethers in synthetic work is for solubilization of salts such as KCN in nonpolar solvents for use in SN2 displacements. If the solvent has a low anion-solvating capability, then the reactivity of the anion is enhanced greatly. Consequently many displacement reactions that proceed slowly at elevated temperatures will proceed at useful rates at room temperatures, because the energy of desolvating the anion before it undergoes SN2 displacement is low (Section 8-7F). For example, potassium fluoride becomes a potent nucleophilic reagent in nonpolar solvents when complexed with 18-crown-6 ... 

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