Elimination reactions competition with substitutions

The alkyl halide must be one that reacts readily in an Sn2 process. Thus, methyl and primary alkyl halides are the most effective alkylating agents. Elimination becomes competitive with substitution when secondary alkyl halides are used and is the only reaction observed with tertiary alkyl halides. 

Elimination reactions compete with substitution reactions. The competition occurs because the nucleophile is also a base. When it reacts as a base, it removes a proton from the carbon adjacent to the leaving group, resulting in the formation of the elimination product. 

A complication of such reactions is competition from elimination reactions rather than substitution (see Section 18.5). (a) Predict the possible products from the reaction of 2-bromopentane with sodium hydroxide, (b) What can be done to favor the... 

Many secondary and tertiary halides undergo El elimination in competition with the SN1 reaction in neutral or acidic solutions. For example, when tert-butyl chloride solvolyzes in 80% aqueous ethanol at 25°, it gives 83% tert-butyl alcohol by substitution and 17% 2-methylpropene by elimination ... 

Key point. Alkyl halides are composed of an alkyl group bonded to a halogen atom (X = F, Cl, Br, I). As halogen atoms are more electronegative than carbon, the C-X bond is polar and nucleophiles can attack the slightly positive carbon atom. This leads to the halogen atom being replaced by the nucleophile in a nucleophilic substitution reaction, and this can occur by either an SN1 (two-step) mechanism or an Sn2 (concerted or one-step) mechanism. In competition with substitution is elimination, which results in the loss of HX from alkyl halides to form alkenes. This can occur by either an El (two-step) mechanism or an E2 (concerted) mechanism. The mechanism of the substitution or elimination reaction depends on the alkyl halide, the solvent and the nucleophile/base. 

Reagents with basic properties (affinity for protons) often also possess nucleophilic character (affinity to form bonds to carbon). Consequently, bi-molecular elimination reactions occur frequently in competition with substitution reactions, viz-... 

Elimination becomes more competitive with substitution as the number of alkyl substituents on the substrate increases. Table 10.2 shows rate constants for Sn2 and E2 reactions of a series of alkyl bromides with sodium ethoxide in ethanol at 55°C. The rate constant for elimination increases along the series from ethyl bromide to propyl bromide to isobutyl bromide. The more substituted alkenes formed with propyl bromide and (to a greater extent) with isobutyl bromide are more stable than the alkene formed from ethyl bromide. Because the transition structures have some double bond... 

Acetoxylation of poly(vinyl chloride) can be carried out under homogeneous conditions [167]. Crown ethers, like 18-crown-6, solubilize potassium acetate in mixtures of benzene, tetrahydrofuran, and methyl alcohol to generate unsolvated, strongly nucleophilic naked acetate anions. These react readily with the polymer under mild conditions [167]. Substitutions of the chlorine atoms on the polymeric backbones by anionic species take place by Sn2 mechanism. The reactions can also proceed by S l mechanism. That, however, requires formations of cationic centers on the backbones in the rate-determining step and substitutions are in competition with elimination reactions. It is conceivable that anionic species may (depending upon basicity) also facilitate elimination reactions without undergoing substitutions [167]. 

We have seen (Section 7-7) that strong bases may give rise to elimination through the E2 pathway. Is there some straightforward way to predict how much elimination will occur in competition with substitution in any particular situation Yes, but other factors need to be considered. Let us examine the reactions of sodium ethoxide, a strong base, with several halides, measuring the relative amounts of ether and alkene produced in each case. 

Section 8 13 When nucleophilic substitution is used for synthesis the competition between substitution and elimination must be favorable However the normal reaction of a secondary alkyl halide with a base as strong or stronger than hydroxide is elimination (E2) Substitution by the Sn2 mechanism predominates only when the base is weaker than hydroxide or the alkyl halide is primary Elimination predominates when tertiary alkyl halides react with any anion... 

Substitution and elimination reactions are almost always in competition with each other. In order to predict the products of a reaction, you must determine which mechanism(s) win the competition. In some cases, there is one clear winner. For example, consider a case in which a tertiary alkyl halide is treated with a strong base, such as hydroxide ... 

Reactions of (ii)-l-decenyl(phenyl)iodonium salt (6a) with halide ions have been examined under various conditions. The products are those of substitution and elimination, usually (Z)-l-halodec-l-ene (6b) and dec-l-yne (6c), as well as iodobenzene (6d), but F gives exclusively elimination. In kinetic studies of secondary kinetic isotope effects, leaving-group substituent effects, and pressure effects on the rate, the results are compatible with the in-plane vinylic mechanism for substitution with inversion. The reactions of four ( )-jS-alkylvinyl(phenyl)iodonium salts with CP in MeCN and other solvents at 25 °C have been examined. Substitution with inversion is usually in competition with elimination to form the alk-l-yne. 

Reactions of propynyl alcohols and their derivatives with metal hydrides, such as lithium aluminum hydride, constitute an important regio- and stereoselective approach to chiral allenes of high enantiomeric purity63-69. Formally, a hydride is introduced by net 1,3-substitution, however, when leaving groups such as amines, sulfonates and tetrahydropyranyloxy are involved, it has been established that the reaction proceeds by successive trans-1,2-addition and preferred anti-1,2-elimination reactions. The conformational mobility of the intermediate results in both syn- and ami- 1,2-elimination, which leads to competition between overall syn- and anti-1,3-substitution and hence lower optical yields and/or a reversal of the stereochemistry. 

Alkyl halides undergo not only nucleophilic substitution but also elimination, and both reactions are carried out in basic reagents. Often substitution and elimination reactions occur in competition with each other. In general, most nucleophiles can also act as bases, therefore the preference for elimination or substitution is determined by the reaction conditions and the alkyl halide used. 

In another example710, the phosphonium salt 76 decomposes competitively by the two mechanisms of substitution and elimination (reaction 211). This salt behaves in a manner intermediate between salts 74 and 75 indeed, the SN(P) mechanism is not completely excluded as for the salt 74 but the EHfi mechanism is still favoured with regard to the salt 75 since the alkene formed is stabilized. 

An important feature of many elimination reactions is that they occur with the same combinations of reagents that cause nucleophilic substitution. In fact, elimination and substitution often are competitive reactions. Therefore it should be no surprise that substitution and elimination have closely related mechanisms. 

Solvolysis of the R,R and R,S isomers of 2-bromo-9-(l-X-ethyl)fluorenes, X = Cl, Br, I, or OBs, in 25% (v/v) acetonitrile in water has been studied with respect to rates of formation of elimination products and of substitution products (X = OH or NHCOMe).142 The parent 9-(l-X-ethyl)fluorenes and the 2,2/-dibromo-9-(l-X-ethyl)-fluorenes were also studied. Various effects of leaving group and of the presence of nucleophiles on the competition between the reactions were observed and the Bronsted equation was applied to the results for the elimination reactions. A related study of solvolysis of 9-(X-methyl)fluorenes, X = I, Br, or Bs, was also carried out, in which the Swain-Scott equation was applied to nucleophilic selectivities in the S 2 reactions.143... 

When ArNH2 is o-phenylenediamine (80), the reaction is poorly catalysed by the second amino group, but it is mainly catalysed by an external molecule of amine. As a consequence, internal catalysis by an intramolecular complex such as 81 is unlikely. In competition with the substitution (Scheme 34), when the nucleophile (or a base) attacks a hydrogen atom in a fi position with respect to the leaving group, an elimination reaction takes place. 

Predicting products can be challenging when you have to consider substitution and elimination reactions simultaneously. So far, we have seen substitution and elimination reactions separately. But now the truth comes out—substitution and elimination reactions are generally in competition with each other. To predict the products properly, you need to compare all factors for substitution and elimination reactions, and you then need to decide which of the four mechanisms predominates (S l or Sn2 or El or E2). 

Nakai, T. Tanaka, K. Ishikawa, N. The reaction of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl iodide with sodium phenolate. A novel competition between substitution and elimination reactions. /. Fluorine Chem. 1977, 9, 89-93. 

The competition between elimination and substitution channels when an alkyl halide is allowed to react with a nucleophile in the gas phase is a difficult problem to tackle, since in most gas-phase experiments only the ionic products of reaction are monitored (a few exceptions are reported below). Thus, for example, when w-propyl bromide is allowed to react with methoxide ion in the gas phase, the bromide ion produced can arise either by elimination (a) or by substitution (b) and the two pathways cannot be distinguished from the ions alone (Scheme 34). In this specific case it was possible to establish that the reaction follows exclusively the elimination channel through collection and analysis of the neutral products246. The experiments were performed on a FA apparatus configured with a novel cold finger trap coupled to a GC/MS system. Material collected by the trap was separated by capillary gas chromatography and the individual components identified by their retention times and El mass spectra246. 

Russell and coworkers62,109,110 have shown that simple enolates undergo free radical-chain nucleophilic substitution reactions with a-chloronitroalkanes by an SRN2 rather than an S l mechanism, and competition with a chain dimerization process was also observed. Using two equivalents of the enolate anion in the reaction allows complete elimination of HN02 to yield a,/i-unsaturated ketones. The synthetic potential of these reactions has also been reported110. 

As we saw in Chapter 8, elimination reactions often compete with nucleophilic substitution reactions. Both reactions can be useful in synthesis if this competition can be controlled. This chapter discusses the two common mechanisms by which elimination reactions occur, the stereochemistry of the reactions, the direction of the elimination, and the factors that control the competition between elimination and substitution. Based on these factors, procedures are presented that can be used to minimize elimination if the substitution product is the desired one or to maximize elimination if the alkene is the desired product. 

Elimination reactions are a useful method for the preparation of alkenes, provided that certain limitations are recognized. One problem is the competition between substitution and elimination. The majority of eliminations are done under conditions that favor the E2 mechanism. In these cases, steric hindrance can be used to slow the competing SN2 pathway. Tertiary substrates and most secondary substrates give good yields of the elimination product when treated with strong bases. Sterically hindered bases can be employed with primary substrates to minimize substitution. 

Scheme 6.4 SN2 Substitution reactions can occur in competition with E2 elimination reactions.

Examples of the solvent-dependent competition between nucleophilic substitution and / -elimination reactions [i.e. SnI versus Ei and Sn2 versus E2) have already been given in Section 5.3.1 [cf. Table 5-7). A nice example of a dichotomic y9-elimination reaction, which can proceed via an Ei or E2 mechanism depending on the solvent used, is shown in Eq. (5-140a) cf. also Eqs. (5-20) and (5-21) in Section 5.3.1. The thermolysis of the potassium salt of racemic 2,3-dibromo-l-phenylpropanoic acid (A), prepared by bromine addition to ( )-cinnamic acid, yields, in polar solvents [e.g. water), apart from carbon dioxide and potassium bromide, the ( )-isomer of l-bromo-2-phenylethene, while in solvents with low or intermediate polarity e.g. butanone) it yields the (Z)-isomer [851]. 

Katritzky and coworkers have extensively developed the activation of amines by reaction with pyry-lium salts to provide (V-alkyl (or N-aryl) pyridinium compounds. When buttressing substituents were present to discourage attack on the pyridine ring, the N-alkyl substituent was subject to displacement and elimination processes. In general, primary alkyl substituents reacted with most nucleophiles in a normal 5n2 process as shown in Scheme 12, whereas competition between substitution and elimination took place with the secondary analogs, with elimination dominating the reactions starting from cycloalkyl-amines. 

Elimination reactions are closely related mechanistically to substitution reactions, and are often in competition with them in the reaction mixture. 

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