Hydrogenation steric factor

Scheme 1.1 shows data for the regioselectivity of enolate formation for several ketones under various reaction conditions. A consistent relationship is found in these and related data. Conditions of kinetic control usually favor formation of the less-substituted enolate, especially for methyl ketones. The main reason for this result is that removal of a less hindered hydrogen is faster, for steric reasons, than removal of a more hindered hydrogen. Steric factors in ketone deprotonation are accentuated by using bulky bases. The most widely used bases are LDA, LiHMDS, and NaHMDS. Still more hindered disilylamides such as hexaethyldisilylamide9 and bis-(dimethylphenylsilyl)amide10 may be useful for specific cases. 

Steric Factors. Initially, most of the coUisions of fluorine molecules with saturated or aromatic hydrocarbons occur at a hydrogen site or at a TT-bond (unsaturated) site. When coUision occurs at the TT-bond, the double bond disappears but the single bond remains because the energy released in initiation (eq. 4) is insufficient to fracture the carbon—carbon single bond. Once carbon—fluorine bonds have begun to form on the carbon skeleton of either an unsaturated or alkane system, the carbon skeleton is somewhat stericaUy protected by the sheath of fluorine atoms. Figure 2, which shows the crowded hehcal arrangement of fluorine around the carbon backbone of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), is an example of an extreme case of steric protection of carbon—carbon bonds (29). 

Amines can also swell the polymer, lea ding to very rapid reactions. Pyridine, for example, would be a fairly good solvent for a VDC copolymer if it did not attack the polymer chemically. However, when pyridine is part of a solvent mixture that does not dissolve the polymer, pyridine does not penetrate into the polymer phase (108). Studies of single crystals indicate that pyridine removes hydrogen chloride only from the surface. Kinetic studies and product characterizations suggest that the reaction of two units in each chain-fold can easily take place further reaction is greatiy retarded either by the inabiUty of pyridine to diffuse into the crystal or by steric factors. 

The size of the group attached to the main chain carbon atom can influence the glass transition point. For example, in polytetrafluoroethylene, which differs from polyethylene in having fluorine instead of hydrogen atoms attached to the backbone, the size of the fluorine atoms requires the molecule to take up a twisted zigzag configuration with the fluorine atoms packed tightly around the chain. In this case steric factors affect the inherent flexibility of the chain. 

The direction of elimination is also affected by steric effects, and if both the base and die reactant are highly branched, steric factors may lead to preferential removal of the less hindered hydrogen. Thus, when 4-methyl-2-pentyl iodide reacts with very hindered bases such as potassium tricyclohexylmethoxide, there is preferential formation of the... 

With other acetylenes steric factors may be operative which render the selective reduction somewhat difficult. In the aldosterone intermediates (53) and (54), for instance, selective hydrogenation is obtained only with the 14 -acetylenic ether " (hydroxyl group effect). 

In addition to the intramolecular effects, steric factors are of considerable influence. The most usual one consists of steric hindrance to attack on the lactam nitrogen atom. Certain examples of this will be given. By comparison with uracil, it would be expected that uric acid (10) would be iV-methylated in the pyrimidine ring, but that in the imidazole ring 0-methylation should also be possible. However, the experiments of Biltz and Max show that all uric acid derivatives which carry a hydrogen atom in the 9-position are converted by ethereal diazomethane into l,3,7-trimethyl-8-methoxyxanthine (11). The following are examples uric acid and its 1-methyl, 3-methyl, 7-methyl, 1,3-dimethyl, 1,7-dimethyI, 3,7-dimethyl, and 1,3,7-trimethyl derivatives. Uric acid derivatives which arc substituted by alkyl groups in the 3- and 9-positions (e.g., 3,9-dimethyl-, 1,3,9-trimethyl-, and 3,7,9-trimethyl-uric acid)do not react at all with diazomethane, possibly because of insufficient acidity. Uric acids which are alkylated... 

The regioselectivity of the addition of complex 4 to a substituted alkene is mainly influenced by steric factors. The substitution of hydrogen occurs preferentially at the carbon center which has the larger number of hydrogens. The Heck reaction... 

In the reactions of the fluoro-olefins, steric factors are of lesser importance because of the relatively small size of the fluoro-substitucnt.3 Fluorine and hydrogen are of similar bulk. In these circumstances, it should be expected that polar factors could play a role in determining regiospecificity. Application of the usual rules to vinylidene fluoride leads to a prediction that, for nucleophilic... 

However, the situation is not as clear-cut as it might at first seem since a variety of other factors may also contribute to the above-mentioned trend. Abuin et a/.141 pointed out that the transition state for addition is sterically more demanding than that for hydrogen-atom abstraction. Within a given series (alkyl or alkoxy), the more nucleophilic radicals are generally the more bulky (i.e. steric factors favor the same trends). It can also be seen from Tabic 1.6 that, for alkyl radicals, the values of D decrease in the series primary>secondary>tertiary (i.e. relative bond strengths favor the same trend). 

The triisopropylmethyl radical (33) is another example of a persistent radical. In this case, both disproportionation and combination are substantially retarded by steric factors.168 169 In the preferred conformation shown, the (3-hydrogens lie in a plane orthogonal to the orbital bearing the free spin. 

Hydrogenations in most cases are carried out at room temperature and just above atmospheric pressure, but some double bonds are more resistant and require higher temperatures and pressures. The resistance is usually a function of increasing substitution and is presumably caused by steric factors. Trisubstituted double bonds require, say, 25°C and 100 atm, while tetrasubstituted double bonds may require 275°C and 1000 atm. Among the double bonds most difficult to hydrogenate... 

Scheme 2) [1], Since acetoxy moiety is much larger than hydrogen, the steric factor due to the substituent was obviously overwhelmed by other factors. 

Other particular theories are confined to diffusion-controlled reactions (109), to the so called cooperative processes (113), in which the reactivity depends on the previous state, or to resistance of semiconductors (102), while those operating with hydrogen bridges (131), steric factors (132), or electrostatic effects (133, 175) are capable of being generalized less or more. 

Hydroboration is highly regioselective and stereospecific. The boron becomes bonded primarily to the less-substituted carbon atom of the alkene. A combination of steric and electronic effects works to favor this orientation. Borane is an electrophilic reagent. The reaction with substituted styrenes exhibits a weakly negative p value (-0.5).156 Compared with bromination (p+ = -4.3),157 this is a small substituent effect, but it does favor addition of the electrophilic boron at the less-substituted end of the double bond. In contrast to the case of addition of protic acids to alkenes, it is the boron, not the hydrogen, that is the more electrophilic atom. This electronic effect is reinforced by steric factors. Hydroboration is usually done under conditions in which the borane eventually reacts with three alkene molecules to give a trialkylborane. The... 

To summarize the key points, D-A reactions are usually concerted processes. The regio- and stereoselectivity can be predicted by applying FMO analysis. The reaction between electron donor dienes and electron acceptor dienophiles is facilitated by Lewis acids, polar solvents, and favorable hydrogen-bonding interactions. The D-A reaction is quite sensitive to steric factors, which can retard the reaction and also influence the stereoselectivity with respect to exo or endo approach. 

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