General reactivity regioselectivity

Discussions about reactivity, regioselectivity and stereoselectivity are mostly based on a more qualitative application of equation 15. To that aim, the following general considerations given by Fleming51 and Houk52 can be used to evaluate the influence of substituents on the reacting it systems ... 

While there are no extensive reports on the relative aromaticity of the heterocycles covered in this chapter, the general reactivity of these systems can be predicted based on first principles. By assuming that these fused systems are comprised of a five-membered rc-excessive heterocyclic system and a five-membered -deficient heterocyclic system, electrophilic agents are expected to react on the n-excessive subunit. Ab initio calculations on the thienothiazoles and furothiazoles predicted that electrophilic substitutions should occur exclusively on the furan or thiophene subunit with the regioselectivity being a function of the resonance-stabilization of the reactive intermediates <76KGS1202>. A priori, C-H deprotonation by a nonnucleophilic base should occur preferentially on the -deficient heterocyclic component. 

Frequently, Pd(PPh3)4 (or another Pd" complex) is used as a catalyst for the displacement of aUyUc acetates or halides by nucleophiles. A general catalytic cycle is depicted in Scheme 30. If chloride ions are present, no ( 7r-allyl)PdL2 forms. Instead, a ((( -allyl)PdL2Cl intermediate is formed. Thus, different precursors (such as aUylic chlorides or aUylic acetates) or different reaction conditions can lead to different reactivities, regioselectivities, and enantioselectivities. 

In general alkyl substituents increase the reactivity of a double bond toward elec trophilic addition Alkyl groups are electron releasing and the more electron rich a dou ble bond the better it can share its tt electrons with an electrophile Along with the observed regioselectivity of addition this supports the idea that carbocation formation rather than carbocation capture is rate determining... 

The hydroboration is a regioselective reaction. In general the addition will lead to a product, where the boron is connected to the less substituted or less sterically hindered carbon center. If the olefinic carbons do not differ much in reactivity or their sterical environment, the regioselectivity may be low. It can be enhanced by use of a less reactive alkylborane—e.g. disiamylborane 8 ... 

More general processes rely on variations of the Guareschi-Thorpe reaction [14] where condensations between 1,3-dicarbonyls and cyanoacetamide yield functionalized monocyclic 2(lff)-pyridones (a and b. Scheme 2) [15, 16]. Unless the carbonyls are sufficiently different in reactivity, the reaction suffers from poor regioselectivity. The use of 3-alkoxy or 3-amino enones instead of 1,3-dicarbonyls has proven to be a versatile and reliable synthetic methodology where the 1,4-addition controls the regioselective outcome (c and d. Scheme 2) [17-19]. 

Hoesch reaction. In most cases, a Lewis acid is necessary zinc chloride is the most common. The reaction is generally useful only with phenols, phenolic ethers, and some reactive heterocyclic compounds (e.g., pyrrole), but it can be extended to aromatic amines by the use of BCls. Acylation in the case of amines is regioselectively ortho. Monohydric phenols, however, generally do not give ketones " but are attacked at the oxygen to produce imino esters. Many nitriles... 

A few further general examples of zinc catalytic activity or reactivity include the following. Other zinc-containing systems include a zinc phenoxide/nickel(0) catalytic system that can be used to carry out the chemo- and regioselective cyclotrimerization of monoynes.934 Zinc homoenolates have been used as novel nucleophiles in acylation and addition reactions and shown to have general utility.935,936 Iron/zinc species have been used in the oxidation of hydrocarbons, and the selectivity and conditions examined.362 There are implications for the mechanism of metal-catalyzed iodosylbenzene reactions with olefins from the observation that zinc triflate and a dizinc complex catalyze these reactions.937... 

The most useful and important application of Fukui function and local softness resides in the interpretation and thereby, prediction of reaction mechanism, especially in the site selectivity or regioselectivity. Since long FMO theory has generally been used to probe the regioselective nature of a reaction, in particular of organic compounds, but the DFT-based local reactivity parameters have emerged as... 

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