Isotope effects examples

Other tritium isotope effects of significant magnitude have been observed in ion exchange (qv) (27) and gas chromatography (qv) (28,29). Many other examples have been described (9). 

The details of proton-transfer processes can also be probed by examination of solvent isotope effects, for example, by comparing the rates of a reaction in H2O versus D2O. The solvent isotope effect can be either normal or inverse, depending on the nature of the proton-transfer process in the reaction mechanism. D3O+ is a stronger acid than H3O+. As a result, reactants in D2O solution are somewhat more extensively protonated than in H2O at identical acid concentration. A reaction that involves a rapid equilibrium protonation will proceed faster in D2O than in H2O because of the higher concentration of the protonated reactant. On the other hand, if proton transfer is part of the rate-determining step, the reaction will be faster in H2O than in D2O because of the normal primary kinetic isotope effect of the type considered in Section 4.5. 

Bromination has been shown not to exhibit a primary kinetic isotope effect in the case of benzene, bromobenzene, toluene, or methoxybenzene. There are several examples of substrates which do show significant isotope effects, including substituted anisoles, JV,iV-dimethylanilines, and 1,3,5-trialkylbenzenes. The observation of isotope effects in highly substituted systems seems to be the result of steric factors that can operate in two ways. There may be resistance to the bromine taking up a position coplanar with adjacent substituents in the aromatization step. This would favor return of the ff-complex to reactants. In addition, the steric bulk of several substituents may hinder solvent or other base from assisting in the proton removal. Either factor would allow deprotonation to become rate-controlling. 

Consider a reactant molecule in which one atom is replaced by its isotope, for example, protium (H) by deuterium (D) or tritium (T), C by C, etc. The only change that has been made is in the mass of the nucleus, so that to a very good approximation the electronic structures of the two molecules are the same. This means that reaction will take place on the same potential energy surface for both molecules. Nevertheless, isotopic substitution can result in a rate change as a consequence of quantum effects. A rate change resulting from an isotopic substitution is called a kinetic isotope effect. Such effects can provide valuable insights into reaction mechanism. 

A kinetic isotope effect that results when the bond to the isotopic atom is not broken is called a secondary isotope effect. Here are two examples ... 

In these examples B is a base. The first example is called a secondary isotope effect of the first kind, the next one is a secondary isotope effect of the second kind. The distinction between these is that in the first kind bonds to the isotopic atom have undergone spatial (i.e., structural) change. Halevi has reviewed secondary isotope effects on equilibria and rates. 

Much evidence has been obtained in support of the El mechanism. For example, El reactions show first-order kinetics, consistent with a rate-limiting spontaneous dissociation process, l- urthermore, El reactions show- no deuterium isotope effect because rupture of the C—H (or C—D) bond occurs after the rate-limiting step rather than during it. Thus, we can t measure a rate difference between a deuterated and nondeuterated substrate. 

It is apparent from equation (16) that if k x becomes much larger than k 2, the rate will depend upon k 2 and so a kinetic isotope effect will be observed. Now kL j will become large if there is steric hindrance to formation of the intermediate, and a number of examples are now known where an electrophile which normally gives no isotope effect, does so if formation of the intermediate is hindered. 

Collisions at low ion energies (where Equation 1 can be applied) lead to a short-lived complex between the ion and the molecule—i.e., both collision partners move with the same linear velocity in the direction of the incident ion. The decay of the complex may be described by the theory of unimolecular rate processes if its excess energy can fluctuate between the various internal degrees of freedom. For example, the isotope effect in the reaction of Ar+ with HD may be explained by the properties of... 

Brown and McDonald (1966) provided another type of kinetic evidence for these size relationships by determining secondary kinetic isotope effects in reactions of pyridine-4-pyridines with alkyl iodides. For example, the isotopic rate ratio in the reaction between 4-(methyl-d3)-pyridine and methyl iodide at 25-0 C in nitrobenzene solution was determined to be kjyfk = l-OOl, while that in the corresponding reaction with 2,6-(dimethyl-d6)-pyridine was 1-095. (Brown and McDonald (1966) estimate an uncertainty of 1% in the k jk values.) Furthermore, the isotopic rate ratio in the case of the 2-(methyl-d3)-compound increased from 1 030 to 1-073 as the alkyl group in the alkyl iodide was changed from methyl to isopropyl, i.e. the isotope effect increased with increasing steric requirements of the alkyl iodide. 

The molecules most profitably studied in connection with purely steric isotope effects have been isotopically substituted biphenyl derivatives. Mislow et al. (1964) reported the first more or less clearcut example of this kind in the isotope effect in the configurational inversion of optically active 9,10-dihydro-4,5-dimethylphenanthrene (7), for which an isotopic rate ratio ( d/ h) of 1-17 at 295-2°K in benzene solution was determined. The detailed conformation of the transition state is not certain in this case, as it involves the mutual passage of two methyl groups, and thus it is difficult to compare the experimental results with... 

H H non-bonded interactions are of great importance in organic compoimds, and thus it was of interest to attempt to investigate H H non-bonded potential functions via the determination of a steric isotope effect in the configurational inversion of an unsubstituted biaryl. In view of the extensive work of Harris and her co-workers in the 1,1 -binaphthyl series (see, for example, Badar et al., 1965 Cooke and Harris, 1963), and since the parent compound is one of the simplest hydrocarbons that may be obtained in enantiomeric forms, the determination of the isotope effect in the inversion of l,l -binaphthyl-2,2 -d2 (9) was... 

Deuterium isotope effects have been found even where it is certain that the C—H bond does not break at all in the reaction. Such effects are called secondary isotope effectsf" the term primary isotope effect being reserved for the type discussed previously. Secondary isotope effects can be divided into a and P effects. In a P secondary isotope effect, substitution of deuterium for hydrogen p to the position of bond breaking slows the reaction. An example is solvolysis of isopropyl bromide ... 

While the A1 mechanism shown above operates in most acetal hydrolyses, it has been shown that at least two other mechanisms can take place with suitable substrates. In one of these mechanisms the second and third of the above steps are concerted, so that the mechanism is Sn2cA (or A2). This has been shown, for example, in the hydrolysis of 1,1-diethoxyethane, by isotope effect studies ... 

However, a number of examples have been found where addition of bromine is not stereospecifically anti. For example, the addition of Bf2 to cis- and trans-l-phenylpropenes in CCI4 was nonstereospecific." Furthermore, the stereospecificity of bromine addition to stilbene depends on the dielectric constant of the solvent. In solvents of low dielectric constant, the addition was 90-100% anti, but with an increase in dielectric constant, the reaction became less stereospecific, until, at a dielectric constant of 35, the addition was completely nonstereospecific.Likewise in the case of triple bonds, stereoselective anti addition was found in bromination of 3-hexyne, but both cis and trans products were obtained in bromination of phenylacetylene. These results indicate that a bromonium ion is not formed where the open cation can be stabilized in other ways (e.g., addition of Br+ to 1 -phenylpropene gives the ion PhC HCHBrCH3, which is a relatively stable benzylic cation) and that there is probably a spectrum of mechanisms between complete bromonium ion (2, no rotation) formation and completely open-cation (1, free rotation) formation, with partially bridged bromonium ions (3, restricted rotation) in between. We have previously seen cases (e.g., p. 415) where cations require more stabilization from outside sources as they become intrinsically less stable themselves. Further evidence for the open cation mechanism where aryl stabilization is present was reported in an isotope effect study of addition of Br2 to ArCH=CHCHAr (Ar = p-nitrophenyl, Ar = p-tolyl). The C isotope effect for one of the double bond carbons (the one closer to the NO2 group) was considerably larger than for the other one. ... 

Among the evidence for the existence of the E2 mechanism are (1) the reaction displays the proper second-order kinetics (2) when the hydrogen is replaced by deuterium in second-order eliminations, there is an isotope effect of from 3 to 8, consistent with breaking of this bond in the rate-determining step. However, neither of these results alone could prove an E2 mechanism, since both are compatible with other mechanisms also (e.g., see ElcB p. 1308). The most compelling evidence for the E2 mechanism is found in stereochemical smdies. As will be illustrated in the examples below, the E2 mechanism is stereospecific the five atoms involved (including the base) in the transition state must be in one plane. There are two ways for this to happen. The H and X may be trans to one another (A) with a dihedral angle... 

One way to determine just where a given reaction stands on the El-E2-ElcB spectrum is to study isotope effects, which ought to tell something about the behavior of bonds in the transition state. For example, CH3CH2NMe3 showed a nitrogen isotope effect of 1.017, while PhCH2CH2NMe3" gave a corres-... 

In addition to the magnetic differences between the deuteron and proton, however, their mass difference may also cause observable effects. A well known example is found in the theory of chemical reactions, where the so called kinetic isotope effects (KIE s) are an important source of information about reaction mechanisms. Also in the field of ESR, such effects may arise, although these have been much less studied than the KIE s. 

Transition state theory has been useful in providing a rationale for the so-called kinetic isotope effect. The kinetic isotope effect is used by enzy-mologists to probe various aspects of mechanism. Importantly, measured kinetic isotope effects have also been used to monitor if non-classical behaviour is a feature of enzyme-catalysed hydrogen transfer reactions. The kinetic isotope effect arises because of the differential reactivity of, for example, a C-H (protium), a C-D (deuterium) and a C-T (tritium) bond. 

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