Ene Reaction. Kinetic Isotope Effects

The ene reaetion involves addition of an eleetrophilie double bond to an alkene with an allylie hydrogen. The allylie hydrogen is transferred and a new earbon-earbon bond is formed, e.g., the addition of maleic anhydride and propene. 

Compare the geometry of maleic anhydride+propene, the ene transition state, to those of the reactants (maleic anhydride and propene). Is bond making and breaking occurring at once In particular, is the migrating hydrogen partially bonded to two carbons (rather than being fully bonded to one carbon ) Draw a Lewis structure to represent the transition state. Use dashed lines (.. and to represent partial bonds. 

Compare atomic charges and electrostatic potential maps between reactants and transition state. Is there charge transfer from one of the reactants to the other (count the migrating hydrogen as part of propene) If so, what is the direction of the transfer Why (See also Chapter 21, Problem 3.) 

Electrostatic potential map for maleic anhydride+propene, the transition state for the ene reaction, shows negatively-charged regions (in red) and positively-charged regions (in blue). 

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Song and Beak161 have used intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen-deuterium kinetic isotope effects to investigate the mechanism of the tin tetrachloride catalysed ene-carbonyl enophile addition reaction between diethyloxomalonate and methylenecy-clohexane (equation 105). These ene reactions with carbonyl enophiles can occur by a concerted (equation 106) or a stepwise mechanism (equation 107), where the formation of the intermediate is either fast and reversible and the second step is slow k- > k-i), or where the formation of the intermediate (the k step) is rate-determining. 

Song and Beak found intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen-deuterium kinetic isotope effects of 1.1 0.2 and 1.2 0.1, respectively, for the tin tetrachloride catalysed ene reaction. Since significant intramolecular and intermolecular primary deuterium kinetic isotope effects of between two and three have been found for other concerted ene addition reactions161, the tin-catalysed reaction must proceed by the stepwise pathway with the k rate determining step (equation 107). 

An enantioselective imino-ene reaction was developed by Lectka to provide ct-amino acid derivatives.27 Aryl alkenes (cr-methyl styrene, tetralene), aliphatic alkenes (methylene cyclohexane), and heteroatom-containing enes, all gave high yields and high ee s of the homoallylic amides (Equation (17)). The mechanism of this reaction has been proposed to proceed through a concerted pathway. This mechanism is evidenced by a large kinetic isotope effect observed in the transfer of H(D). 

Lectka and co-workers (252) subsequently extended this system to the catalysis of the imino ene reaction. This reaction proceeds in low conversion albeit good selectivity in dichloromethane. The optimal solvent proved to be benzotrifluoride (BTF), possessing solubility properties similar to dichloromethane while accelerating the rate of the ene reaction presumably due to its aromaticity. A variety of 1,1-disubstituted alkenes participated in the ene reaction, providing amino acid derivatives in high yields and selectivities (85-99% ee). Evidence for the concerted nature of this reaction was provided by a high primary kinetic isotope effect (ku/kr) = 4.4). 

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. 

The effect of steric hindrance on the rates and kinetic isotope effects for reactions of l-nitro-l-(4-nitrophenyl)alkanes and their deuterated analogues with two bicyclic guanidines of comparable basicity (l,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene, TBD, and its 7-methyl derivative, MTBD) in THF has been studied. The results disagree with the notion that deuterium kinetic isotope effects are enhanced by steric hindrance, since for the reactions of MTBD with various carbon acids the KIEs decrease with steric hindrance in the carbon acid but the converse is true for reactions of TBD. 

The effect of ring substituents on the rate constants, deuterium kinetic isotope effects and Arrhenius parameters for ene-additions of acetone to 1,1-diphenylsilane have been explained in terms of a mechanism involving fast, reversible formation of a zwitterionic silene-ketone complex, followed by a rate-limiting proton transfer between the a-carbonyl and silenic carbon. A study of the thermal and Lewis acid-catalysed intramolecular ene reactions of allenylsilanes with a variety of... 

A great deal of work has been focused on whether the ene reaction proceeds through a concerted or a stepwise mechanism. The initially proposed synchronous pathway was challenged by a biradical , zwitterionic or a perepoxide intermediate. Kinetic isotope effects in the photooxygenation of tetrasubstituted, trisubstituted and cis-disubstituted alkenes supported the irreversible formation of an intermediate perepoxide,... 

The mechanism and kinetic aspects of the retro-ene reaction of the allyl n-propyl sulfide and its deuterated derivatives have been studied using four different types of DFT methods with eight different levels of the basis sets.7 The mechanistic studies revealed that the reaction proceeds through an asynchronous concerted mechanism. Theoretical calculations have indicated that the reaction displays a kinetic isotope effect of 2.86 at 550.65 K. 

The absolute rate constants for ene-addition of acetone to the substituted 1,1-diphenyl-silenes 19a-e at 23 °C (affording the silyl enol ethers 53 equation 46) correlate with Hammett substituent parameters, leading to p-values of +1.5 and +1.1 in hexane and acetonitrile solution, respectively41. Table 8 lists the absolute rate constants reported for the reactions in isooctane solution, along with k /k -, values calculated as the ratio of the rate constants for reaction of acetone and acctonc-rff,. In acetonitrile the kinetic isotope effects range in magnitude from k /k y = 3.1 (i.e. 1.21 per deuterium) for the least reactive member of the series (19b) to A hA D = 1.3 (i.e. 1.04 per deuterium) for the most reactive (19e)41. Arrhenius plots for the reactions of 19a and 19e with acetone in the two solvents are shown in Figure 9, and were analysed in terms of the mechanism of equation 46. 

Achmatowicz, O., Jr. Szymoniak, J. Mechanism of the dimethyl mesoxalate-aUcene ene reaction. Deuterium kinetic isotope effects, J. Org. Chem. 1980, 45, 4774-4776. 

Kresze and coworkers have found about a three order of magnitude rate increase in imino ene reactions when an N-tosyl group is replaced with an N-perfluoroalkanesulfonyl moiety [87]. Thus, with the glyoxylate ester-derived imine and the one from chloral 255 as the enophiles, reactions with acyclic olefins are very rapid and occur at room temperature [Eq. (60)]. In these ene reactions one stereoisomeric homoallylic amine 256 was typically generated, although the stereochemistry was not elucidated. However, in one reported case a 1 1 mixture of diastereomers was obtained. Mechanistic studies based upon kinetic isotope effects seem to indicate that this reaction may in fact be a two-step process rather than a concerted one [87b]. 

The effect of steric hindrance on the rates and kinetic isotope effects for reactions of l-nitro-l-(4-nitrophenyl)alkanes and their deuterated analogues with two bicyclic guanidines of comparable basicity (l,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene, TBD, and its... 

Perfluorocyclobutanone, probably the most powerful enophile yet discovered, has been used by investigators " probing the mechanism of the ene reaction through the agency of kinetic isotope effects results obtained for thermal reactions between the ketone and 1,1- or 1,3-dideuterioallene and allene-tetradeuterioallene mixtures were felt to be most consistent with a concerted mechanism passing through a dipolar transition state (34) (Scheme 39). 

In contrast to the aromatic counterpart, very few works have been devoted to the mechanism of the aliphatic Friedel-Crafts acylation. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the reaction of 1-methylcyclohexene in acetic acid with zinc chloride catalyst that exclusively gives the 6-acetyl-l-methylcyclohexene. Early discussions by Deno suggest a carbo-cation intermediate. Finally, the observations by Beak of a product isotope effect in the absence of a corresponding kinetic isotope effect in the series of deuterated cyclenes is compelling evidence for a reaction intermediate, such as carbocation species. In the meantime, H.M.R. Hoffmann observed that the acylation of various olefins with acetyl hexachloroantimonate in methylene chloride in the presence of hindered amines affords 8,T-unsaturated ketones. He suggested that the non-conjugated enone is formed via an ene reaction. 

We have used inter- and intramolecular kinetic isotope effects to examine the mechanism of these Lewis acid catalyzed ene reactions. The Lewis acid catalyzed ene reaction has traditionally been though to proceed through either a concerted pericyclic mechanism or a stepwise reaction with a zwitterionic intermediate. We found that the intermolecular isotope effect in the Me2AlQ catalyzed ene reaction of formaldehyde is 1.3 with methylenecyclohexane and methylenecyclohex-ane-2,2,6,6- 4 and 1.4 with 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene- /i2. Since secondary iotope effects could be responsible for these results, these values are consistent with either a stepwise or concerted mechanism. Intramolecular isotope effects were determined to be 2.9 and 2.7 with 2 and 3, respectively. These substantial intramolecular isotope effects coupled with the small intermolecular isotope effects indicate that the reaction is stepwise with proton transfer following the rate determining step. In an intramolecular competition such as the ene reactions of formaldehyde with 2 and 3 an isotope effect will still be observed if the hydrogen transfer occurs... 

Figure 2. Mechanism of Lewis acid catalyzed ene reactions as detemiined by inter- and intramolecular kinetic isotope effects.

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