Enhanced nucleophilic substitution

Microwave radiation can be used in the synthesis of alkyl azides. The microwave-assisted synthesis of j8- and 7-azidoarylketones 89 from haloaryUcetones 88 and NaNs leads to acceleration in reaction rates and yields comparable to the ones using conventional heating. The microwave-enhanced nucleophilic substitution approach to alkyl azides (91, 93 and 95) in aqueous medium from halides or tosylates and NaN3 is also known. The authors observed that a variety of reactive functional groups are tolerated, namely ester, carboxylic acid and imide (Scheme 3.12). 

As is broadly true for aromatic compounds, the a- or benzylic position of alkyl substituents exhibits special reactivity. This includes susceptibility to radical reactions, because of the. stabilization provided the radical intermediates. In indole derivatives, the reactivity of a-substituents towards nucleophilic substitution is greatly enhanced by participation of the indole nitrogen. This effect is strongest at C3, but is also present at C2 and to some extent in the carbocyclic ring. The effect is enhanced by N-deprotonation. 

The large rate enhancements observed for bimolecular nucleophilic substitutions m polai aprotic solvents are used to advantage m synthetic applications An example can be seen m the preparation of alkyl cyanides (mtiiles) by the reaction of sodium cyanide with alkyl halides... 

Ring substituents show enhanced reactivity towards nucleophilic substitution, relative to the unoxidized systems, with substituents a to the fV-oxide showing greater reactivity than those in the /3-position. In the case of quinoxalines and phenazines the degree of labilization of a given substituent is dependent on whether the intermediate addition complex is stabilized by mesomeric interactions and this is easily predicted from valence bond considerations. 2-Chloropyrazine 1-oxide is readily converted into 2-hydroxypyrazine 1-oxide (l-hydroxy-2(l//)-pyrazinone) (55) on treatment with dilute aqueous sodium hydroxide (63G339), whereas both 2,3-dichloropyrazine and 3-chloropyrazine 1-oxide are stable under these conditions. This reaction is of particular importance in the preparation of pyrazine-based hydroxamic acids which have antibiotic properties. 

In the case of substituted phenazine fV-oxides some activation of substituents towards nucleophilic substitution is observed. 1-Chlorophenazine is usually very resistant to nucleophilic displacements, but the 2-isomer is more reactive and the halogen may be displaced with a number of nucleophiles. 1-Chlorophenazine 5-oxide (56), however, is comparable in its reactivity with 2-chlorophenazine and the chlorine atom is readily displaced in nucleophilic substitution reactions. 2-Chlorophenazine 5,10-dioxide (57) and 2-chlorophenazine 5-oxide both show enhanced reactivity relative to 2-chlorophenazine itself. On the basis of these observations, similar activation of 5- or 6-haloquinoxaline fV-oxides should be observed but little information is available at the present time. 

The realization that die nucleophilicity of anions is strongly enhanced in polar aprotic solvents has led to important improvements of several types of synthetic processes that involve nucleophilic substitutions or additions. 

The least squares value for the p constant obtained by this procedure is +6.2 it wiU be obviously subject to change as more meta and epi substituents become available. Only the cata-NO group was excluded from the above plot because it causes a strongly enhanced resonance effect in nucleophilic substitution (Section IV,C, l,a) and an anomalous effect of uncertain origin in the dissociation of carboxylic acids. It can be assumed that the reaction constant for 4-chloro-... 

The objective in selecting the reaction conditions for a preparative nucleophilic substitution is to enhance the mutual reactivity of the leaving group and nucleophile so that the desired substitution occurs at a convenient rate and with minimal competition from other possible reactions. The generalized order of leaving-group reactivity RSOj" I- > BF > CF pertains for most Sw2 processes. (See Section 4.2.3 of Part A for more complete data.) Mesylates, tosylates, iodides, and bromides are all widely used in synthesis. Chlorides usually react rather slowly, except in especially reactive systems, such as allyl and benzyl. 

There are two other approaches to enhancing reactivity in nucleophilic substitutions by exploiting solvation effects on reactivity the use of crown ethers as catalysts and the utilization of phase transfer conditions. The crown ethers are a family of cyclic polyethers, three examples of which are shown below. 

The addition of a nucleophile to an aromatic ring, followed by elimination of a substituent, results in nucleophilic substitution. The major energetic requirement for this mechanism is formation of the addition intermediate. The addition step is greatly facilitated by strongly electron-attracting substituents, and nitroaromatics are the best reactants for nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Other EWGs such as cyano, acetyl, and trifluoromethyl also enhance reactivity. 

The solvent dependence of the reaction rate is also consistent with this mechanistic scheme. Comparison of the rate constants for isomerizations of PCMT in chloroform and in nitrobenzene shows a small (ca. 40%) rate enhancement in the latter solvent. Simple electrostatic theory predicts that nucleophilic substitutions in which neutral reactants are converted to ionic products should be accelerated in polar solvents (23), so that a rate increase in nitrobenzene is to be expected. In fact, this effect is often very small (24). For example, Parker and co-workers (25) report that the S 2 reaction of methyl bromide and dimethyl sulfide is accelerated by only 50% on changing the solvent from 88% (w/w) methanol-water to N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) at low ionic strength this is a far greater change in solvent properties than that investigated in the present work. Thus a small, positive dependence of reaction rate on solvent polarity is implicit in the sulfonium ion mechanism. 

A similar approach has been described by the same authors for the synthesis of related cyclic peptidomimetics [44]. A set often nucleophiles was employed for the substitution of the chlorine atom of the cyclic triazinyl-peptide bound to the cellulose membrane. By virtue of the aforementioned rate enhancement effects for nucleophilic substitution of the solid-supported monochlorotriazines, these reactions could be rapidly carried out by microwave heating. All products were obtained in high purity, enabling systematic modification of the molecular properties of the cyclic peptidomimetics. 

The enhanced reactivity of 5-halogeno-l,2,4-thiadiazoles over 3-halogeno-l,2,4-thiadiazoles has been mentioned before (see Section 5.08.7.1). Nucleophilic substitution at this center is a common route to other 1,2,4-thiadiazoles, including 5-hydroxy, alkoxy, mercapto, alkylthio, amino, sulfonamido, hydrazino, hydroxylamino, and azido derivatives. Halogens in the 3-position of 1,2,4-thiadiazoles are inert toward most nucleophilic reagents, but displacement of the 3-halogen atom can be achieved by reaction with sodium alkoxide in the appropriate alcohol <1996CHEC-II(4)307>. 

Displacement by cyanide works particularly well, and many other nucleophilic substitution reactions are enhanced by PTC. Most monovalent anions can be transferred, including alkoxides, phenoxides, thiocyanates, nitrates, nitrites, superoxides and all of the halides. Divalent anions are usually too hydrophilic to be transferred into the organic phase. 

In contrast with aliphatic nucleophilic substitution, nucleophilic displacement reactions on aromatic rings are relatively slow and require activation at the point of attack by electron-withdrawing substituents or heteroatoms, in the case of heteroaromatic systems. With non-activated aromatic systems, the reaction generally involves an elimination-addition mechanism. The addition of phase-transfer catalysts generally enhances the rate of these reactions. 

The utilization of polar polymers and novel N-alkyl-4-(N, N -dialklamino)pyridinium sedts as stable phase transfer catalysts for nucleophilic aromatic substitution are reported. Polar polymers such as poly (ethylene glycol) or polyvinylpyrrolidone are thermally stable, but provide only slow rates. The dialkylaminopyridininium salts are very active catalysts, and are up to 100 times more stable than tetrabutylammonium bromide, allowing recovery and reuse of catalyst. The utilization of b is-dialkylaminopypridinium salts for phase-transfer catalyzed nucleophilic substitution by bisphenoxides leads to enhanced rates, and the requirement of less catalyst. Experimental details are provided. 

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