Electronic Structure of Alkynes

The length of the carbon-carbon triple bond in acetylene is 120 pm, and its strength is approximately 835 kJ/mol (200 kcal/mol), making it the shortest and strongest known carbon-carbon bond. Experiments show that approximately 318 kJ/mol (76 kcal/mol) is needed to break a tt bond in acetylene, a value some 50 kJ/mol larger than the amount of energy needed to break an alkene tt bond (268 kJ/mol Section 6.4). 

In Section 2-4, we studied the electronic structure of a triple bond. Let s review this structure, using acetylene as the example. The Lewis structure of acetylene shows three pairs of electrons in the region between the carbon nuclei  

Each carbon atom is bonded to two other atoms, and there are no nonbonding valence electrons. Each carbon atom needs two hybrid orbitals to form the sigma bond framework. Hybridization of the 5 orbital with one p orbital gives two hybrid orbitals, directed 180° apart, for each carbon atom. Overlap of these sp hybrid orbitals with each other and with the hydrogen 5 orbitals gives the sigma bond framework. Experimental results have confirmed this linear (180°) structure. 

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Introduction 392 9-2 Nomenclature of Alkynes 393 9-3 Physical Properties of Alkynes 394 9-4 Commercial Importance of Alkynes 395 9-5 Electronic Structure of Alkynes 396 9-6 Acidity of Alkynes Formation of Acetylide Ions 397 9-7 Synthesis of Alkynes from Acetylides 399 9-8 Synthesis of Alkynes by Elimination Reactions 403 Summary Syntheses of Alkynes 404 9-9 Addition Reactions of Alkynes 405... 

The electronic structure of alkynes is related to that of alkenes, and the photochemistry of the two classes of compound reflects this similarity. Because the photochemistry of alkenes has received greater attention and has already been described in systematic form - it is not unexpected that the present account should point out the ways in which alkyne photochemistry parallels, or is markedly different from, that of alkenes. There is a considerable difference, however, in the range of compounds which has been studied in each class. Reports of photochemical reactions of alkynes very often refer to mono- or disubstituted acetylenes in which the substituents are alkyl, aryl or alkoxycarbonyl. There have been studies on diyne and enyne systems, but as yet there has emerged nothing in alkyne chemistry to match the wealth of photochemistry reported for dienes and polyenes. This reflects in part the greater tendency of the compounds containing the C=C bond to undergo photopolymerization rather than any other reaction on irradiation. Within this limitation there is a wide variety of reactions open to the excited states of alkynes, and quite a number of the processes have synthetic application or potential. 

Abstract Bimetallic catalysts are capable of activating alkynes to undergo a diverse array of reactions. The unique electronic structure of alkynes enables them to coordinate to two metals in a variety of different arrangements. A number of well-characterised bimetallic complexes have been discovered that utilise the versatile coordination modes of alkynes to enhance the rate of a bimetallic catalysed process. Yet, for many other bimetallic catalyst systems, which have achieved incredible improvements to a reactions rate and selectivity, the mechanism of alkyne activation remains unknown. This chapter summarises the many different approaches that bimetallic catalysts may be utilised to achieve cooperative activation of the alkyne triple bond. 

The electronic structure of benzyne, shown in Figure 16.19, is that of a highly distorted alkyne. Although a typical alkyne triple bond uses sp-hybridized carbon atoms, the benzyne triple bond uses sp2-hybridized carbons. Furthermore, a typical alkyne triple bond has two mutually perpendicular it bonds formed bv p-p overlap, but the benzyne triple bond has one tt bond formed by p-p overlap and one tt bond formed by sp2 sp2 overlap. The latter tt bond is in the plane of the ring and is very weak. 

A theoretical approach addresses the question of alkynes bonded to PtL2 fragments in both parallel and perpendicular geometries. With each mode of alkyne coordination there is required a different coordination geometry at platinum. The authors use the isolobal analogy to calculate the electronic structures of complexes, and propose several unknown complexes to be stable.842... 

Benzyne has the electronic structure of a distorted alkyne and has one very weak n bond. 

All these observations can be accounted for by considering the electronic structure of a carbene. Carbenes have 2-coordinate carbon atoms you might therefore expect them to have a linear (diagonal) structure—like that of an alkyne—with an sp hybridized carbon atom. 

Now consider the alkynes, hydrocarbons with carbon-carbon triple bonds. The Lewis structure of the linear molecule ethyne (acetylene) is H—O C- H. To describe the bonding in a linear molecule, we need a hybridization scheme that produces two equivalent orbitals at 180° from each other this is sp hybridization. Each C atom has one electron in each of its two sp hybrid orbitals and one electron in each of its two perpendicular unhybridized 2p-orbitals (43). The electrons in the sp hybrid orbitals on the two carbon atoms pair and form a carbon—carbon tr-bond. The electrons in the remaining sp hybrid orbitals pair with hydrogen Ls-elec-trons to form two carbon—hydrogen o-bonds. The electrons in the two perpendicular sets of 2/z-orbitals pair with a side-by-side overlap, forming two ir-honds at 90° to each other. As in the N2 molecule, the electron density in the o-bonds forms a cylinder about the C—C bond axis. The resulting bonding pattern is shown in Fig. 3.23. 

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