HSAB

The Hard-Soft-Add-Base (HSAB) theory was developed by Pearson in 1963. According to this theory, Lewis acids and Lewis bases are divided into two groups on one hand hard acids and bases, which are usually small, weakly polarizable species with highly localised charges, and on the other hand soft acids and bases which are large, polarizable species with delocalised charges. A selection of Lewis acids, ordered according to their hardness in aqueous solution is presented in Table 1.3. 

The theory predicts high stabilities for hard acid - hard base complexes, mainly resulting from electrostatic interactions and for soft acid - soft base complexes, where covalent bonding is also important Hard acid - soft base and hard base - soft acid complexes usually have low stability. Unfortunately, in a quantitative sense, the predictive value of the HSAB theory is limited. Thermodynamic analysis clearly shows a difference between hard-hard interactions and soft-soft interactions. In water hard-hard interactions are usually endothermic and occur only as a result of a gain in entropy, originating from a liberation of water molecules from the hydration shells of the... 

Table 1,3, Cla,ssification of the hardness in aqueous solution of some selected Lewis-acids according to the HSAB theory . ...

Several alternative attempts have been made to quantify Lewis-acid Lewis-base interaction. In view of the HSAB theory, the applicability of a scale which describes Lewis acidity with only one parameter will be unavoidably restricted to a narrow range of struchirally related Lewis bases. The use of more than one parameter results in relationships with a more general validity ". However, a quantitative prediction of the gas-phase stabilities of Lewis-acid Lewis-base complexes is still difficult. Hence the interpretation, not to mention the prediction, of solvent effects on Lewis-add Lewis-base interactions remains largely speculative. 

The HSAB pattern may also be reversed by steric effects a Japanese patent describes the preparation of 3-(4-R-thiazolyl-2)thioallophanic acid esters (151) by reaction between 2-amino-4-R-thiazoles (4-R = H or low alkyl) and isothiocyanate formic acid ester (Scheme 96) (309). 

The mesomeric anion (157 Scheme 10) reacts readily with electrophilic reagents such as alkyl or acyl halides at N-2, C-4 and the exocyclic oxygen atom. The percentages of the different products formed are controlled by the HSAB principle. The acylium ion (hard) attacks preferentially at oxygen (hard), whilst the softer alkylating agents attack the nitrogen atom. 

More complete interpretations of Diels-Alder regioselectivity have been developed. MO results can be analyzed from an electrostatic perspective by calculating potentials at the various atoms in the diene and dienophile. These results give a more quantitatively accurate estimate of the substituent effects. Diels-Alder regioselectivity can also be accounted for in terms of HSAB theory (see Section 1.2.3). The expectation would be that the most polarizable (softest) atoms would lead to bond formation and that regioselectivity would reflect the best mateh between the diene and dienophile termini. These ideas have been applied using 3-2IG computations. The results are in agreement with the ortho rule for normal-electron-demand Diels-Alder reactions. ... 

Calculations at several levels of theory (AMI, 6-31G, and MP2/6-31G ) find lower activation energies for the transition state leading to the observed product. The transition-state calculations presumably reflect the same structural features as the frontier orbital approach. The greatest transition-state stabilization should arise from the most favorable orbital interactions. As discussed earlier for Diels-Alder reactions, the-HSAB theory can also be applied to interpretation of the regiochemistry of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddi-... 

Both the Edwards equation and Pearson s HSAB concept take as primary determinants of nucleophilicity the polarizability and basicity. A two-term equation of Bartoli and Todesco" uses these ideas also, but as a measure of polarizability the... 

These concepts play an important role in the Hard and Soft Acid and Base (HSAB) principle, which states that hard acids prefer to react with hard bases, and vice versa. By means of Koopmann s theorem (Section 3.4) the hardness is related to the HOMO-LUMO energy difference, i.e. a small gap indicates a soft molecule. From second-order perturbation theory it also follows that a small gap between occupied and unoccupied orbitals will give a large contribution to the polarizability (Section 10.6), i.e. softness is a measure of how easily the electron density can be distorted by external fields, for example those generated by another molecule. In terms of the perturbation equation (15.1), a hard-hard interaction is primarily charge controlled, while a soft-soft interaction is orbital controlled. Both FMO and HSAB theories may be considered as being limiting cases of chemical reactivity described by the Fukui ftinction. 

With alkali cyanides, a reaction via a SN2-mechanism takes place the alkyl halide is attacked by cyanide with the more nucleophilic carbon center rather than the nitrogen center, and the alkylnitrile is formed. In contrast, with silver cyanide the reaction proceeds by a SnI-mechanism, and an isonitrile is formed, since the carbenium intermediate reacts preferentially with the more electronegative center of the cyanide—i.e. the nitrogen (Kornblum s rule, HSAB concept). ... 

Subsequently it was shown that the P-Pd-P angles were essentially the same as in the corresponding chloride complexes (section 3.8.3) as a result, as the P—Pd—P angle increases, concomitant upon the increase in the length of the methylene chain, steric effects enforce N-bonded thiocyanate, which is less sterically demanding that the non-linear Pd-SCN linkage (favoured on HSAB considerations since Pd2+ is a soft acid and sulphur is a soft base). 

Heterocyclic sulphoxides 65 mass spectra of 130-132 Hexahydronaphthalenols, synthesis of 310 Hofmann elimination 953 HOMO energies 1048, 1049 Homolytic substitution 1109 intramolecular 846 Horner-Wittig reaction 333 Hot electrons 892, 893 HSAB theory 282, 549 Hydrides, as reducing agents 934-941, 959 Hydrogen abstraction, photochemical 874, 876, 877, 879, 880... 

Once acids and bases have been classified as hard or soft, a simple rule can be given hard acids prefer to bond to hard bases, and soft acids prefer to bond to soft bases (the HSAB principle)P The rule has nothing to do with acid or base strength but merely says that the product A—B will have extra stability if both A and B are hard or if both are soft. Another rule is that a soft Lewis acid and a soft Lewis base... 

The HSAB principle predicts that the equilibrium should lie to the right, because the hard acid CH3CO should have a greater affinity for the hard base RO than for the soft base RS . Indeed, thiol esters are easily cleaved by OR or hydrolyzed by... 

Once acids and bases have been classified as hard or soft, a simple rule of the HSAB principle can be given hard acids prefer to bond to hard bases, and soft acids prefer to bond to soft bases. 

The concept of hard and soft acids and bases can be used to interpret many trends in chemical reactivity. These trends are summarized in the hard-soft acid-base principle (HSAB principle), an empirical summary of results collected from many chemical reactions studied through decades of research. 

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