Electrophilic aromatic substitution resonance effects

This led to the introduction of the concepts of inductive and resonance effects and to the establishment of the mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution. 

There were two schools of thought concerning attempts to extend Hammett s treatment of substituent effects to electrophilic substitutions. It was felt by some that the effects of substituents in electrophilic aromatic substitutions were particularly susceptible to the specific demands of the reagent, and that the variability of the polarizibility effects, or direct resonance interactions, would render impossible any attempted correlation using a two-parameter equation. - o This view was not universally accepted, for Pearson, Baxter and Martin suggested that, by choosing a different model reaction, in which the direct resonance effects of substituents participated, an equation, formally similar to Hammett s equation, might be devised to correlate the rates of electrophilic aromatic and electrophilic side chain reactions. We shall now consider attempts which have been made to do this. 

Resonance effects are the primary influence on orientation and reactivity in electrophilic substitution. The common activating groups in electrophilic aromatic substitution, in approximate order of decreasing effectiveness, are —NR2, —NHR, —NH2, —OH, —OR, —NO, —NHCOR, —OCOR, alkyls, —F, —Cl, —Br, —1, aryls, —CH2COOH, and —CH=CH—COOH. Activating groups are ortho- and para-directing. Mixtures of ortho- and para-isomers are frequently produced the exact proportions are usually a function of steric effects and reaction conditions. 

We will address this issue further in Chapter 10, where the polar effects of the substituents on both the c and n electrons will be considered. For the case of electrophilic aromatic substitution, where the energetics of interaction of an approaching electrophile with the 7t system determines both the rate of reaction and position of substitution, simple resonance arguments are extremely useful. 

The effect of monofluorination on alkene or aromatic reactivity toward electrophiles is more difficult to predict Although a-fluonne stabilizes a carbocation relative to hydrogen, its opposing inductive effect makes olefins and aromatics more electron deficient. Fluorine therefore is activating only for electrophilic reactions with very late transition states where its resonance stabilization is maximized The faster rate of addition of trifluoroacetic acid and sulfuric acid to 2-fluoropropene vs propene is an example [775,116], but cases of such enhanced fluoroalkene reactivity in solution are quite rare [127] By contrast, there are many examples where the ortho-para-dueeting fluorine substituent is also activating in electrophilic aromatic substitutions [128]... 

Two of three nitrofluorobenzene isomers react with methoxide, but the third is unreactive. Obtain energies of methoxide anion (at left), ortho, meta and para-nitrofluorobenzene, and the corresponding ortho, meta and para-methoxide anion adducts (so-called Meisenheimer complexes). Calculate the energy of methoxide addition to each of the three substrates. Which substrate is probably unreactive What is the apparent directing effect of a nitro group Does a nitro group have the same effect on nucleophilic aromatic substitution that it has on electrophilic aromatic substitution (see Chapter 13, Problem 4) Examine the structures and electrostatic potential maps of the Meisenheimer complexes. Use resonance arguments to rationalize what you observe. 

The aromatic ring is deactivated toward electrophilic aromatic substitution by the combined electron-withdrawing inductive effect of electronegative nitrogen and oxygen. The lone pair of electrons of nitrogen can, however, stabilize by resonance the ortho and para substituted intermediates but not the meta intermediate. 

The spectroscopic manifestation of symmetry effects in cyclic hyperconjugation was reported in electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra. " Symmetric LUMOs show cooperative effects to hyperconjugative interactions, while interactions with antisymmetric LUMOs are cancelled by symmetry (Figure 8.28). Such effects can be extended to spin-paired molecules, Wheland intermediates of electrophilic aromatic substitution, metal cation/arene complexes, and n -cyclopentadieneylmetal compounds. ... 

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