Ionization mechanism

The Stvfl mechanism is an ionization mechanism The nucleophile does not participate until after the rate determining step has taken place Thus the effects of nucleophile and alkyl halide structure are expected to be different from those observed for reactions pro ceedmg by the 8 2 pathway How the structure of the alkyl halide affects the rate of Stvfl reactions is the topic of the next section... 

LIMS is primarily used in failure microanalysis applications, which make use of its survey capability, and its high sensitivity toward essentially all elements in the periodic table. The ability to provide organic molecular information on a microanalyt-ical scale is another distinctive feature of LIMS, one that is likely to become more important in the future, with improved knowledge of laser desorption and ionization mechanisms. 

Because of the complex situation on the surface, satisfactory theoretical description of the ionization process leading to secondary ion formation has not yet been possible. Different ionization mechanisms have been proposed ... 

The ionization mechanism for nucleophilic substitution proceeds by rate-determining heterolytic dissociation of the reactant to a tricoordinate carbocation (also sometimes referred to as a carbonium ion or carbenium ion f and the leaving group. This dissociation is followed by rapid combination of the highly electrophilic carbocation with a Lewis base (nucleophile) present in the medium. A two-dimensional potential energy diagram representing this process for a neutral reactant and anionic nucleophile is shown in Fig. 

Stereochemical analysis can add detail to the mechanistic picture of the Sj l substitution reaction. The ionization mechanism results in foimation of a caibocation intermediate which is planar because of its hybridization. If the caibocation is sufficiently long-lived under the reaction conditions to diffirse away from the leaving group, it becomes symmetrically solvated and gives racemic product. If this condition is not met, the solvation is dissymmetric, and product with net retention or inversion of configuration may be obtained, even though an achiral caibocation is formed. The extent of inversion or retention depends upon the details of the system. Examples of this effect will be discussed in later sections of the chapter. 

A further consequence of the ionization mechanism is that if the same caibocation can be generated firom more than one precursor, its subsequent reactions should be... 

Because the nucleophile is intimately involved in the rate-determining step, not only will the rate depend on its concentration, but the nature of the nucleophile will be very important in determining the rate of the reaction. This is in marked contrast to the ionization mechanism, in wiiich the identity and concentration of the nucleophile do not affect the rate of the reaction. 

Because carbocations are key intermediates in many nucleophilic substitution reactions, it is important to develop a grasp of their structural properties and the effect substituents have on stability. The critical step in the ionization mechanism of nucleophilic substitution is the generation of the tricoordinate carbocation intermediate. For this mechanism to operate, it is essential that this species not be prohibitively high in energy. Carbocations are inherently high-energy species. The ionization of r-butyl chloride is endothermic by 153kcal/mol in the gas phase. ... 

Substitution reactions by the ionization mechanism proceed very slowly on a-halo derivatives of ketones, aldehydes, acids, esters, nitriles, and related compounds. As discussed on p. 284, such substituents destabilize a carbocation intermediate. Substitution by the direct displacement mechanism, however, proceed especially readily in these systems. Table S.IS indicates some representative relative rate accelerations. Steric effects be responsible for part of the observed acceleration, since an sfp- caibon, such as in a carbonyl group, will provide less steric resistance to tiie incoming nucleophile than an alkyl group. The major effect is believed to be electronic. The adjacent n-LUMO of the carbonyl group can interact with the electnai density that is built up at the pentacoordinate carbon. This can be described in resonance terminology as a contribution flom an enolate-like stmeture to tiie transition state. In MO terminology,.the low-lying LUMO has a... 

Studies of the stereochemical course of rmcleophilic substitution reactions are a powerful tool for investigation of the mechanisms of these reactions. Bimolecular direct displacement reactions by the limSj.j2 meohanism are expected to result in 100% inversion of configuration. The stereochemical outcome of the lirnSj l ionization mechanism is less predictable because it depends on whether reaction occurs via one of the ion-pair intermediates or through a completely dissociated ion. Borderline mechanisms may also show variable stereochemistry, depending upon the lifetime of the intermediates and the extent of internal return. It is important to dissect the overall stereochemical outcome into the various steps of such reactions. 

Since the ratio of the two sulfones 2 and 3 increases with the polarity of the solvent (from 1 4 in benzene to 16 1 in formamide) a possible concerted [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement for the formation of sulfone 3 was first considered. However, other evidence such as the effects of solvent and added salts seem to support an ionization mechanism, with the formation of the two sulfones by recombination from two different ion-pair species40. 

Ejfect ofSolvent. In addition to the solvent effects on certain SeI reactions, mentioned earlier (p. 764), solvents can influence the mechanism that is preferred. As with nucleophilic substitution (p. 448), an increase in solvent polarity increases the possibility of an ionizing mechanism, in this case SeI, in comparison with the second-order mechanisms, which do not involve ions. As previously mentioned (p. 763), the solvent can also exert an influence between the Se2 (front or back) and SeI mechanisms in that the rates of Se2 mechanisms should be increased by an increase in solvent polarity, while Sni mechanisms are much less affected. 

The rate of solvolysis of the phosphinic chlorides (83a, b) in trifluoro-acetic acid and aqueous acetone (the composition of the latter solvent being chosen such that the rate of S nI solvolysis of Bu Cl was the same in both) have been examined to assess the possible operation of an 5 n1(P) ionization mechanism. In the more nucleophilic aqueous acetone solvent,... 

The basicities of some phosphinamides (84) have been measured and the acid-catalysed hydrolysis studied. Unsubstituted and A -alkyl derivatives follow an A2 mechanism of reversible protonation followed by ratedetermining water attack. However, the rates for the A -aryl derivatives follow Hq (but with a slope of 0.5), and an A mechanism was suggested as most consistent with this fact and the solvent isotope effect. The anomalous dependence on Ho, together with the large negative value of A5, while not necessarily excluding an ionization mechanism, leaves the question in some doubt. 

As a result of the inductive and hyperconjugative effects it is to be expected that tertiary carbonium ions will be more stable than secondary carbonium ions, which in turn will be more stable than primary ions. The stabilization of the corresponding transition states for ionization should be in the same order, since the transition state will somewhat resemble the ion. Thus the first order rate constant for the solvolysis of tert-buty bromide in alkaline 80% aqueous ethanol at 55° is about 4000 times that of isopropyl bromide, while for ethyl and methyl bromides the first order contribution to the hydrolysis rate is imperceptible against the contribution from the bimolecular hydrolysis.217 Formic acid is such a good ionizing solvent that even primary alkyl bromides hydrolyze at a rate nearly independent of water concentration. The relative rates at 100° are tertiary butyl, 108 isopropyl, 44.7 ethyl, 1.71 and methyl, 1.00.218>212 One a-phenyl substituent is about as effective in accelerating the ionization as two a-alkyl groups.212 Thus the reactions of benzyl compounds, like those of secondary alkyl compounds, are of borderline mechanism, while benzhydryl compounds react by the unimolecular ionization mechanism. 

Gas discharge Discharge Atomic ions First ionization mechanism to be used in MS... 

T. J. Kauppila, T. Kuuranne, E. C. Meurer, M. N. Eberlin, T. Kotiaho, and R. Kostiainen. Atmospheric Pressure Photoionization Mass Spectrometry Ionization Mechanism and the Effect of Solvent on the Ionization of Naphthalenes. Anal. Chem., 74(2002) 5470-5479. 

Karas, M. KriigCT, R. Ion Formation in MALDI The Cluster Ionization Mechanism. Chem. Rev. 2003,103,427-439. 

Karas, M. Bahr, U. Fournier, L Gltick-mann, M. Pfenninger, A. The Initial Ion Velocity As a Marker for Different Desorption-Ionization Mechanisms in MALDI. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 2003, 226, 239-248. 

Vestal, M.L. Studies of Ionization Mechanisms Involved in Thermospray LC-MS. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 1983, 46, 193-196. 

---