Enols proton transfer

The slow keto enol proton transfer means separate signals in the NMR spectrum for the tautomers. The second exchange (ii) is responsible for the line broadening and loss of multiplet structure of the NMR signal of the enol proton. The third type of proton motion, (iii), is not resolvable by NMR so that ways around this have been sought in order to obtain a time-averaged analysis of the proton s location in the cis enol. 

Proton transfer occurs across short intramolecular hydrogen bonds in the gas or liquid phase but is rarely observed in crystalline state. Intra- and intermolecular keto-enol proton transfer C-OH- 0=C C=0-H-0-C occurs in the vapor and liquid states in /7-diketones and in /7-ketoesters where the two states are exactly symmetrically equivalent. Any configuration change which destroys this symmetry inhibits the proton transfer. 

The most interesting observation has been that in the sol-gel matrices, the keto-enol proton-transfer dynamics in photoexcited BP(OH)(2) is faster than the dynamics in pure silica sol-gel glass and even fester than in liquid solution. 

The aldehyde or ketone is called the keto form and the keto enol equilibration referred to as keto-enol isomerism or keto-enol tautomerism Tautomers are constitu tional isomers that equilibrate by migration of an atom or group and their equilibration IS called tautomerism The mechanism of keto-enol isomerism involves the sequence of proton transfers shown m Figure 9 6... 

FIGURE 9 6 Conversion of an enol to a ketone takes place by way of two solvent mediated proton transfers A proton is transferred to carbon in the first step then removed from oxygen in the second... 

Step 1 The enol is formed in aqueous acidic solution The first step of its transformation to a ketone is proton transfer to the carbon-carbon double bond... 

Enols are related to an aldehyde or a ketone by a proton transfer equilibrium known as keto-enol tautomerism (Tautomensm refers to an mterconversion between two struc tures that differ by the placement of an atom or a group)... 

The mechanism of enolization involves two separate proton transfer steps rather than a one step process m which a proton jumps from carbon to oxygen It is relatively slow m neutral media The rate of enolization is catalyzed by acids as shown by the mechanism m Figure 18 1 In aqueous acid a hydronium ion transfers a proton to the carbonyl oxygen m step 1 and a water molecule acts as a Brpnsted base to remove a proton from the a car bon atom m step 2 The second step is slower than the first The first step involves proton transfer between oxygens and the second is a proton transfer from carbon to oxygen... 

The proton transfer equilibrium that interconverts a carbonyl compound and its enol can be catalyzed by bases as well as by acids Figure 18 3 illustrates the roles of hydroxide ion and water m a base catalyzed enolization As m acid catalyzed enolization protons are transferred sequentially rather than m a single step First (step 1) the base abstracts a proton from the a carbon atom to yield an anion This anion is a resonance stabilized species Its negative charge is shared by the a carbon atom and the carbonyl oxygen... 

The slow step m base catalyzed enolization is formation of the enolate ion The second step proton transfer from water to the enolate oxygen is very fast as are almost all proton transfers from one oxygen atom to another... 

Now use the negatively charged a carbon of the enolate to form a new carbon-carbon bond to the carbonyl group Proton transfer from the solvent completes the process... 

Many nitrogen containing compounds engage in a proton transfer equilibrium that is anal ogous to keto-enol tautomensm... 

Acetophenone is the isolated product it is formed from its enol by proton transfers ... 

Equilibrium between the various enolates of a ketone can be established by the presence of an excess of the ketone, which permits proton transfer. Equilibration is also favored by the presence of dissociating solvents such as HMPA. The composition of the equilibrium enolate mixture is usually more closely balanced than for kinetically... 

In agreement with expectation for a rate-determining proton transfer, the reaction shows general acid catalysis. Base-catalyzed ketonization occurs by C-protonation of the enolate. 

FIGURE 9.6 Conversion of an enol to a ketone takes place by way of two solvent-mediated proton transfers. 

The second proposed mechanism involves initial ring opening of the phthalimide. Alkoxide attack on one of the imide carbonyls furnishes amide anion 26. Proton transfer affords enolate 27, which undergoes Diekmann type condensation followed by aromatization to afford the requisite isoquinoline 23. 

Any doubt about the existence of individual tautomers is now long past some tautomers can be crystallized separately (desmotropy), and others can be observed simultaneously in the same crystal (Section V,D,2) in summary, tautomers are not intrinsically different from isomers. Maybe it is worth mentioning that even two identical tautomers can differ. This is the case for the two intramolecular hydrogen-bonded (IMHB) enol tautomers of acetylacetone and for many NH-azoles they correspond to a doublewell profile for the proton transfer with both wells having the same energy (autotrope). 

As in the case of benzothiazoles and benzimidazoles, the excited-state proton transfer in 2-(2 -hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole was studied both experimentally and computationally. The results closely resemble the observations for the other species The cw-enol form is preferred in the Sq ground state and the cw-keto form in the 5i excited state. Moreover, the proton transfer appears to be due to vibrational relaxation rather than thermal activation, suggesting that the aromatic ring has an impact on the transfer reaction of these systems [95JPC12456, 99JST255]. 

To ensure that proton transfer takes place from the protonated catalyst 64-H and not from the acidic reagent itself, apolar solvents favoring contact rather than solvent separated ion pairs as well as a slow addition of the acidic substrate RX-H are required. In addition, it was sometimes found beneficial to lower the basicity of the catalyst, thus rendering the protonated species [catalyst-H" ] more acidic for the stereo-determining protonation of the enolate. This was accomplished by formally replacing NR2 by Me (see 64e, Fig. 36). 

The equilibrium ratios of enolates for several ketone-enolate systems are also shown in Scheme 1.1. Equilibrium among the various enolates of a ketone can be established by the presence of an excess of ketone, which permits reversible proton transfer. Equilibration is also favored by the presence of dissociating additives such as HMPA. The composition of the equilibrium enolate mixture is usually more closely balanced than for kinetically controlled conditions. In general, the more highly substituted enolate is the preferred isomer, but if the alkyl groups are sufficiently branched as to interfere with solvation, there can be exceptions. This factor, along with CH3/CH3 steric repulsion, presumably accounts for the stability of the less-substituted enolate from 3-methyl-2-butanone (Entry 3). 

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