In the tetrahedral mechanism

As is the case in the tetrahedral mechanism, it is also possible for the electrophilic species to attack first, in which case it goes to the heteroatom. This species is most... 

Chapter 9, on entropy and molecular rotation in crystals and liquids, is concerned mostly with statistical mechanics rather than quantum mechanics, but the two appear together in SP 74. Chapter 9 contains one of Pauling s most celebrated papers, SP 73, in which he explains the experimentally measured zero-point entropy of ice as due to water-molecule orientation disorder in the tetrahedrally H-bonded ice structure with asymmetric hydrogen bonds (in which the bonding proton is not at the center of the bond). This concept has proven fully valid, and the disorder phenomenon is now known to affect greatly the physical properties of ice via the... 

Several studies have been made of the directionality of approach by the nucleophile. ° Menger ° has proposed for reactions in general, and specifically for those hat proceed by the tetrahedral mechanism, that there is no single definable preferred transition state, but rather a cone of trajectories. All approaches within this cone lead to reaction at comparable rates it is only when the approach comes outside of the cone that the rate falls. 

Of course, we have seen (p. 430) that SnI reactions at vinylic substrates can be accelerated by a substituents that stabilize that cation, and that reactions by the tetrahedral mechanism can be accelerated by P substituents that stabilize the carbanion. Also, reactions at vinylic substrates can in certain cases proceed by addition-elimination or elimination-addition sequences (pp. 428, 430). 

In contrast to such systems, substrates of the type RCOX are usually much more reactive than the corresponding RCH2X. Of course, the mechanism here is almost always the tetrahedral one. Three reasons can be given for the enhanced reactivity of RCOX (1) The carbonyl carbon has a sizable partial positive charge that makes it very attractive to nucleophiles. (2) In an Sn2 reaction a cr bond must break in the rate-determining step, which requires more energy than the shift of a pair of n electrons, which is what happens in a tetrahedral mechanism. (3) A trigonal carbon offers less steric hindrance to a nucleophile than a tetrahedral carbon. 

Table 10.6 is an approximate listing of groups in order of SnI and Sn2 reactivity. Table 10.7 shows the main reactions that proceed by the Sn2 mechanism (if R = primary or, often, secondary alkyl) Table 10.8 shows the main reactions that proceed by the tetrahedral mechanism. 

Not all the reactions in this chapter are actually nucleophilic substitutions. In some cases the mechanisms are not known with enough certainty even to decide whether a nucleophile, an electrophile, or a free radical is attacking. In other cases (such as 10-79), conversion of one compound to another can occur by two or even all three of these possibilities, depending on the reagent and the reaction conditions. However, one or more of the nucleophilic mechanisms previously discussed do hold for the overwhelming majority of the reactions in this chapter. For the alkylations, the Sn2 is by far the most common mechanism, as long as R is primary or secondary alkyl. For the acylations, the tetrahedral mechanism is the most common. 

Ion 21 can either lose a proton or combine with chloride ion. If it loses a proton, the product is an unsaturated ketone the mechanism is similar to the tetrahedral mechanism of Chapter 10, but with the charges reversed. If it combines with chloride, the product is a 3-halo ketone, which can be isolated, so that the result is addition to the double bond (see 15-45). On the other hand, the p-halo ketone may, under the conditions of the reaction, lose HCl to give the unsaturated ketone, this time by an addition-elimination mechanism. In the case of unsymmetrical alkenes, the attacking ion prefers the position at which there are more hydrogens, following Markovnikov s rule (p. 984). Anhydrides and carboxylic acids (the latter with a proton acid such as anhydrous HF, H2SO4, or polyphosphoric acid as a catalyst) are sometimes used instead of acyl halides. With some substrates and catalysts double-bond migrations are occasionally encountered so that, for example, when 1 -methylcyclohexene was acylated with acetic anhydride and zinc chloride, the major product was 6-acetyl-1-methylcyclohexene. ... 

The first step is usually, but not always, rate determining. It can be seen that this mechanism greatly resembles the tetrahedral mechanism discussed in Chapter 10 and, in another way, the arenium ion mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution. In all three cases, the attacking species forms a bond with the... 

As with the tetrahedral mechanism at an acyl carbon, nucleophilic catalysis (p. 427) has been demonstrated with an aryl substrate, in certain cases. 

Reactivity factors in additions to carbon-hetero multiple bonds are similar to those for the tetrahedral mechanism of nucleophilic substitution. If A and/or B are electron-donating groups, rates are decreased. Electron-attracting substituents increase rates. This means that aldehydes are more reactive than ketones. Aryl groups are somewhat deactivating compared to alkyl, because of resonance that stabilizes the substrate molecule but is lost on going to the intermediate ... 

The rate constants and k represent rate constants for a surface reaction and have units m mol s and s respectively. The accelerative effects are about 10 -10 fold. They indicate that both reactants are bound at the surface layer of the micelle (surfactant-water interface) and the enhanced rates are caused by enhanced reactant concentration here and there are no other significant effects. Similar behavior is observed in an inverse micelle, where the water phase is now dispersed as micro-droplets in the organic phase. With this arrangement, it is possible to study anion interchange in the tetrahedral complexes C0CI4 or CoCl2(SCN)2 by temperature-jump. A dissociative mechanism is favored, but the interpretation is complicated by uncertainty in the nature of the species present in the water-surfactant boundary, a general problem in this medium. 

Mechanism of esterification of carboxylic acids The esterification of carboxylic acids with alcohols is a kind of nncleophilic acyl snbstitntion. Protonation of the carbonyl ojq gen activates the carbonyl gronp towards nncleophilic addition of the alcohol. Proton transfer in the tetrahedral intermediate converts the hydrojq l group into - 0H2 group, which, being a better leaving group, is eliminated as neutml water molecule. The protonated ester so formed finally loses a proton to give the ester. 

Many such examples are known. In most cases where the stereochemistry has been investigated, retention of configuration is observed,225 but stereoconvergence (the same product mixture from an E or Z substrate) has also been observed,226 especially where the carbanionic carbon bears two electron-withdrawing groups. It is not immediately apparent why the tetrahedral mechanism should lead to retention, but this behavior has been ascribed, on the basis of molecular orbital calculations, to hyperconjugation involving the carbanionic electron pair and the substituents on the adjacent carbon.227... 

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