Hydration, acid-catalyzed

Some people think that 48% aq, HBr is good enough and, until recently, some underground chemistry texts agreed. But it is not The 48% is only strong enough to promote what is called acid catalyzed hydration (don t ask) when the medium it is in is water. That means that a water molecule (an OH) will add instead of a Br. 

We can extend the general principles of electrophilic addition to acid catalyzed hydration In the first step of the mechanism shown m Figure 6 9 proton transfer to 2 methylpropene forms tert butyl cation This is followed m step 2 by reaction of the car bocation with a molecule of water acting as a nucleophile The aUcyloxomum ion formed m this step is simply the conjugate acid of tert butyl alcohol Deprotonation of the alkyl oxonium ion m step 3 yields the alcohol and regenerates the acid catalyst... 

FIGURE 6 9 Mechanism of acid catalyzed hydration of 2 methylpropene... 

Relative Rates of Acid-Catalyzed Hydration of Some Representative Alkenes... 

You may have noticed that the acid catalyzed hydration of an alkene and the acid catalyzed dehydration of an alcohol are the reverse of each other... 

IS reversible with respect to reactants and products so each tiny increment of progress along the reaction coordinate is reversible Once we know the mechanism for the for ward phase of a particular reaction we also know what the intermediates and transition states must be for the reverse In particular the three step mechanism for the acid catalyzed hydration of 2 methylpropene m Figure 6 9 is the reverse of that for the acid catalyzed dehydration of tert butyl alcohol m Figure 5 6... 

Acid catalyzed hydration converts alkenes to alcohols with regioselectivity according to Markovnikov s rule Frequently however one needs an alcohol having a structure that corresponds to hydration of an alkene with a regioselectivity opposite to that of Markovnikov s rule The conversion of 1 decene to 1 decanol is an example of such a transformation... 

Oxidation of tridecylborane gives 1 decanol The net result is the conversion of an alkene to an alcohol with a regioselectivity opposite to that of acid catalyzed hydration... 

Although 2 methylpropene undergoes acid catalyzed hydration m dilute sulfuric acid to form tert butyl alcohol (Section 6 10) a different reaction occurs m more concentrated solutions of sulfuric acid Rather than form the expected alkyl hydrogen sulfate (see Sec tion 6 9) 2 methylpropene is converted to a mixture of two isomeric C Hig alkenes... 

On the basis of the mechanism of acid catalyzed hydration can you suggest a reason why the reaction... 

In general ketones are more stable than their enol precursors and are the products actually isolated when alkynes undergo acid catalyzed hydration The standard method for alkyne hydration employs aqueous sulfuric acid as the reaction medium and mer cury(II) sulfate or mercury(II) oxide as a catalyst... 

Acid catalyzed hydration (Section 9 12) Water adds to the triple bond of alkynes to yield ketones by way of an unstable enol intermediate The enol arises by Markovnikov hydration of the alkyne Enol formation is followed by rapid isomerization of the enol to a ketone... 

Acid catalyzed hydration of alkenes (Section 6 10) Water adds to the double bond in accordance with Markovnikov s rule... 

Epoxidation of an alkene followed by lithium aluminum hydride reduction of the result mg epoxide gives the same alcohol that would be obtained by acid catalyzed hydration (Section 610) of the alkene... 

Mechanism of Acid-Catalyzed Hydration Three steps are involved m acid catalyzed hydration (Figure 17 7 on page 718) The first and last are rapid proton transfers between... 

Steps 1-3 Acid catalyzed nucleophilic addition of 1 mole of ethanol to the carbonyl group The details of these steps are analogous to the three steps of acid catalyzed hydration in Figure 17 7 The product of these three steps is a hemiacetal... 

Methyl Isopropyl Ketone. Methyl isopropyl ketone [563-80-4] (3-methyl-2-butanone) is a colorless Hquid with a characteristic odor of lower ketones. It can be produced by hydrating isoprene over an acidic catalyst at 200—300°C (150,151) or by acid-catalyzed condensation of methyl ethyl ketone and formaldehyde to 2-methyl-l-buten-3-one, foUowed by hydrogenation to the product (152). Other patented preparations are known (155,156). Methyl isopropyl ketone is used as an intermediate in the production of pharmaceuticals and fragrances (see Perfumes), and as a solvent (157). It is domestically available from Eastman (Longview, Texas) (47). 

Direct Hydration. The acid-catalyzed direct hydration of propylene is exothermic and resembles the preparation of ethyl alcohol from ethylene (qv). 

Uses ndReactions. a-Pinene (8) is useful for synthesizing a wide variety of terpenoids. Hydration to pine oil, acid-catalyzed isomerization to camphene, thermal isomerization to ocimene and aHoocimene, and polymerization to terpene resins are some of its direct uses. Manufacture of linalool, nerol, and geraniol has become an economically important use of a-pinene. 

Synthetic pine oil is produced by the acid-catalyzed hydration of a-pinene (Fig. 1). Mineral acids, usually phosphoric acid, are used in concentrations of 20—40 wt % and at temperatures varying from 30—100°C. Depending on the conditions used, alcohols, chiefly a-terpineol (9), are produced along with /)-menthadienes and cineoles, mainly limonene, terpinolene, and 1,4- and 1,8-cineole (46—48). Various grades of pine oil can be produced by fractionation of the cmde products. Formation of terpin hydrate (10) from a-terpineol gives P-terpineol (11) and y-terpineol (12) as a consequence of the reversible... 

Another synthesis of Lyral (51) consists of the reaction of myrcene with acrolein to give the myrac aldehyde [37677-14-8] (52). The aldehyde group, which is sensitive to acid hydration conditions with strong acids, has to be protected by formation of the morpholine enamine. The enamine is then hydrolyzed on workup after the acid-catalyzed hydration to produce Lyral (93—95). 

Acid-Catalyzed Hydration and Related Addition Reactions... 

Alkynes react when heated with trifluoroacetic acid to give addition products. Mixtures of syn and anti addition products are obtained. Similar addition reactions occur with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid. These reactions are analogous to acid-catalyzed hydration and proceed through a vinyl cation intermediate. 

This elimination reaction is the reverse of acid-catalyzed hydration, which was discussed in Section 6.2. Because a carbocation or closely related species is the intermediate, the elimination step would be expected to favor the more substituted alkene as discussed on p. 384. The El mechanism also explains the general trends in relative reactivity. Tertiary alcohols are the most reactive, and reactivity decreases going to secondary and primary alcohols. Also in accord with the El mechanism is the fact that rearranged products are found in cases where a carbocation intermediate would be expected to rearrange ... 

Arrange the following compounds in order of increasing rate of acid-catalyzed hydration ethylene, 2-cyclopropylpropene, 2-methylpropene, propene, 1-cyclopro-pyl-l-methoxyefliene. Explain the basis of your prediction. 

The hydration reaction has been extensively studied because it is the mechanistic prototype for many reactions at carbonyl centers that involve more complex molecules. For acetaldehyde, the half-life of the exchange reaction is on the order of one minute under neutral conditions but is considerably faster in acidic or basic media. The second-order rate constant for acid-catalyzed hydration of acetaldehyde is on the order of 500 M s . Acid catalysis involves either protonation or hydrogen bonding at the carbonyl oxygen. 

The mechanistic pattern established by study of hydration and alcohol addition reactions of ketones and aldehydes is followed in a number of other reactions of carbonyl compounds. Reactions at carbonyl centers usually involve a series of addition and elimination steps proceeding through tetrahedral intermediates. These steps can be either acid-catalyzed or base-catalyzed. The rate and products of the reaction are determined by the reactivity of these tetrahedral intermediates. 

The following data give the dissociation constants for several acids that catalyze hydration of acetaldehyde. Also given are the rate constants for the hydration reaction catalyzed by each acid. Treat the data according to the Bronsted equation, and comment on the mechanistic significance of the result. 

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