Electrophile, definition

An especially interesting case of oxygen addition to quinonoid systems involves acidic treatment with acetic anhydride, which produces both addition and esterification (eq. 3). This Thiele-Winter acetoxylation has been used extensively for synthesis, stmcture proof, isolation, and purification (54). The kinetics and mechanism of acetoxylation have been described (55). Although the acetyhum ion is an electrophile, extensive studies of electronic effects show a definite relationship to nucleophilic addition chemistry (56). 

When a Br nsted base functions catalytically by sharing an electron pair with a proton, it is acting as a general base catalyst, but when it shares the electron with an atom other than the proton it is (by definition) acting as a nucleophile. This other atom (electrophilic site) is usually carbon, but in organic chemistry it might also be, for example, phosphorus or silicon, whereas in inorganic chemistry it could be the central metal ion in a coordination complex. Here we consider nucleophilic reactions at unsaturated carbon, primarily at carbonyl carbon. Nucleophilic reactions of carboxylic acid derivatives have been well studied. These acyl transfer reactions can be represented by... 

Probably the most important development of the past decade was the introduction by Brown and co-workers of a set of substituent constants,ct+, derived from the solvolysis of cumyl chlorides and presumably applicable to reaction series in which a delocalization of a positive charge from the reaction site into the aromatic nucleus is important in the transition state or, in other words, where the importance of resonance structures placing a positive charge on the substituent - -M effect) changes substantially between the initial and transition (or final) states. These ct+-values have found wide application, not only in the particular side-chain reactions for which they were designed, but equally in electrophilic nuclear substitution reactions. Although such a scale was first proposed by Pearson et al. under the label of and by Deno et Brown s systematic work made the scale definitive. 

If the definitions of nucleophiles and electrophiles sound similar to those given in Section 2.11 for Lewis acids and Lewis bases, that s because there is... 

In the first instance, acidity influences the acid-base equilibria of the reactants. The amine is a Bronsted base. Aniline, a typical substrate, has pKa = 4.6, which means that the protonation shown in Scheme 3-11 is almost complete under normal conditions of diazotization (pH < 1). The base is definitely a much better reagent than the anilinium ion for nitrosation because the latter is an electrophilic substitution. One expects — simply on the basis of the equilibrium shown in Scheme 3-11 — that the rate of diazotization should decrease linearly with increasing acid concentration or, at higher acidities, with the Hammett acidity function h0 (for acidity functions see Rochester, 1970 Cox and Yates, 1983). 

Figure 6.2. (Top) Definitions of local electrophobic and local electrophilic behaviour for two reactions exhibiting global volcano-type behaviour (a) and global inverted-volcano-type behaviour (b). (Bottom) Corresponding variations in surface coverages of adsorbed electron donor (D) and electron acceptor (A) reactants. As shown in this chapter volcano-type behaviour corresponds in general to high reactant coverages, inverted-volcano-type behaviour corresponds in general to low reactant coverages.

Electronegative adsorbate see electron acceptor adsorbate Electrophilic behaviour definition of, 156 examples of, 153, 286 global, 156 local, 157 mles of, 288, 303 Electrophilic reactions definition of, 156 list of, 286... 

Whenever one compound uses its electrons to attack another compound, we call the attacker a nucleophile, and we call the compound being attacked an electrophile. It is very simple to tell the difference between an electrophile and a nucleophile. You just look at the arrows and see which compound is attacking the other. A nucleophile will always use a region of high electron density (either a lone pair or a bond) to attack the electrophile (which, by definition, has a region of low electron density that can be attacked). These are important terms, so let s make sure we know how to identify nucleophiles and electrophiles. 

An HSAB analysis of singlet carbene reactivity based on B3LYP/6-31G computations has calculated the extent of charge transfer for substituted alkenes,122 and the results are summarized in Figure 10.3 The trends are as anticipated for changes in structure of both the carbene and alkene. The charge transfer interactions are consistent with HOMO-LUMO interactions between the carbene and alkene. Similarly, a correlation was found for the global electrophilicity parameter, co, and the ANmax parameters (see Topic 1.5, Part A for definition of these DFT-based parameters).123... 

This electrophile/nucleophile dichotomy can be looked upon as a special case of the acid/base idea. The classical definition of acids and bases is that the former are proton donors, and the latter proton acceptors. This was made more general by Lewis, who defined acids as compounds prepared to accept electron pairs, and bases as substances that could provide such pairs. This would include a number of compounds not previously thought of as acids and bases, e.g. boron trifluoride (39),... 

However, in contrast to such whimsical and playful description, some metaphors developed into serious definitions that became essential to rigorous chemical classification and explanation. Indeed, the electrophilic/nucleophilic language is an example from the development of chemical theory which is the subject of later chapters of this book. Let us consider three other examples of metaphor-tumed-convention that dominated eighteenth- and nineteenth-century chemistry. 

The relevance of this mechanism to mammalian enzymes is an important question, but we are not aware of any detailed study that affords a definitive answer. Proof that reactions of hydrolytic dehalogenation ofhaloalkyl groups occur in animals is presented in the next subsection, but much remains to be discovered regarding the enzymes involved or the reaction mechanisms. Furthermore, nonenzymatic reactions remain a distinct possibility when the C-atom bearing the halogen is sufficiently electrophilic, as seen, e.g., with (2-chloroethyl)amino derivatives (see Sect. 11.4.2). 

Brown (1959) has presented a charge transfer model of the transition state for electrophilic reactions which differs appreciably from that proposed by Fukui and his collaborators and leads to the definition of a new reactivity index termed the Z value . The model is based on a more conventional formulation of the charge transfer mechanism, which avoids the complete transfer of electrons associated with v = 0,1,2 in Fukui s model. There is no dependence on the formation of a pseudo tt orbital in the transition state, nor is hyperconjugation invoked. A wave function for a charge transfer complex is written as a linear combination of a wave function < o describing the unperturbed ground state of the molecule under attack, and a function which differs from (Pq in the replacement... 

In order to gain an insight into the mechanism on the basis of the slope of a Type A correlation requires a more complicated procedure. Consider the Hammett equation. The usual statement that electrophilic reactions exhibit negative slopes and nucleophilic ones positive slopes may not be true, especially when the values of the slopes are low. The correct interpretation has to take the reference process into account, for example, the dissociation equilibrium of substituted benzoic acids at 25°C in water for which the slope was taken, by definition, as unity (p = 1). The precise characterization of the process under study is therefore that it is more or less nucleophilic than the reference process. However, one also must consider the possible influence of temperature on the value of the slope when the catalytic reaction has been studied under elevated temperatures there is disagreement in the literature over the extent of this influence (cf. 20,39). The sign and value of the slope also depend on the solvent. The situation is similar or a little more complex with the Taft equation, in which the separation of the molecule into the substituent, link, and reaction center may be arbitrary and may strongly influence the values of the slopes obtained. This problem has been discussed by Criado (33) with respect to catalytic reactions. 

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