Hydrogen stabilizing transition states

Scheme 5. Stabilization of dinuclear species in aqueous solution by intramolecular hydrogen-bond formation (VI) is well established. Stabilization of the mononuclear species in aqueous solution by intermolecular hydrogen bonds (IV) may be important in some systems. Interconversion between mononuclear and dinuclear species may occur via non-hydrogen-bonded and hydrogen-bonded transition states, respectively, as schematically shown in II and V. Dashed lines denote hydrogen bonds dotted lines denote bond making and bond breaking.

The different solvents, additives, and cosolvents present in the reaction media can assist in the stabilization of the transition state and favor one facial preference for the approaching of the substrates as depicted in proposed transition state D [52b] (Fig. 2.10) for the 32-catalyzed Michael addition of ketones to nitrostyrene. In this case, a cooperative hydrogen-bond solvent participation (represented by H O) takes place resembling the oxyanion hole commonly found in enzymes for stabilizing transition states. It seems then very clear that intra- and intermolecular hydrogenbonding interactions play a key role in the organocatalytic cycle. 

Amino acid side chains can stabilize transition states and intermediates— by van der Waals interactions, electrostatic interactions, and hydrogen bonding—which makes them easier to form (Figure 23.1b). 

Extensive molecular dynamic simulations of proline-catalysed asymmetric aldol condensation of propionaldehyde in water have revealed that the stereoselectivity can be attributed to differences in transition-state solvation pattems. " The hydrogen bond concept has been applied to design new proline-based organocatalysts. " 4-Hydroxyproline derivatives bearing hydrophobic groups in well-defined orientations have been explored as catalysts in water an advantage of aromatic substituents syn to the carboxylic acid moiety has been attributed to a stabilizing transition-state hydrophobic interaction and this is supported by quantum mechanics (QM) calculations. " Catalysts and solvents were screened for reaction between cyclohexanone andp-nitrobenzaldehyde. 

The single mutation Asp 32-Ala reduces the catalytic reaction rate by a factor of about lO compared with wild type. This rate reduction reflects the role of Asp 32 in stabilizing the positive charge that His 64 acquires in the transition state. A similar reduction of kcat and kcat/ m (2.5 x 10 ) is obtained for the single mutant Asn 155-Thr. Asn 155 provides one of the two hydrogen bonds to the substrate transition state in the oxyanion hole of subtilisin. 

Model building shows that the OH group of Thr in the mutant is too far away to provide such a hydrogen bond. The loss of this feature of the stabilization of the transition state thus reduces the rate by more than a thousandfold. 

The oxyanion binding site stabilizes the transition state by forming two hydrogen bonds to a negatively charged oxygen atom of the substrate. Mutations that prevent formation of one of these bonds in subtilisin decrease the rate by a factor of about 10. ... 

Important differences are seen when the reactions of the other halogens are compared to bromination. In the case of chlorination, although the same chain mechanism is operative as for bromination, there is a key difference in the greatly diminished selectivity of the chlorination. For example, the pri sec selectivity in 2,3-dimethylbutane for chlorination is 1 3.6 in typical solvents. Because of the greater reactivity of the chlorine atom, abstractions of primary, secondary, and tertiary hydrogens are all exothermic. As a result of this exothermicity, the stability of the product radical has less influence on the activation energy. In terms of Hammond s postulate (Section 4.4.2), the transition state would be expected to be more reactant-like. As an example of the low selectivity, ethylbenzene is chlorinated at both the methyl and the methylene positions, despite the much greater stability of the benzyl radical ... 

This behavior stems from the greater stability of secondar y compared with primary free radicals. The transition state for the step in which a chlorine atom abstracts a hydrogen from carbon has free-radical character at carbon. 

X-ray crystallographic studies of serine protease complexes with transition-state analogs have shown how chymotrypsin stabilizes the tetrahedral oxyanion transition states (structures (c) and (g) in Figure 16.24) of the protease reaction. The amide nitrogens of Ser and Gly form an oxyanion hole in which the substrate carbonyl oxygen is hydrogen-bonded to the amide N-H groups. 

In bicyclic azines, as in the monocyclic azines already discussed, the faster of two nucleophilic substitutions proceeds via the transition state which has the lower free energy (with respect to the reactants) due to the stabilizing effects of resonance, hydrogen bonding, or electrostatic attractions. Different nucleophiles and different leaving... 

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