Kinetic isotope effects deuterium effect

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. 

Secondary Deuterium Kinetic Isotope Effects. Deuterium substitution has been employed to probe for bridging in the transition state of 2-norbornyl brosy-late solvolyses. The secondary a-, (3-, and 7-deuterium kinetic isotope effects for exo-and endo-norbornyl brosylate are shown in formulas 721) and (722), respectively. The overall pattern for the mfo-compounds (722), with an a-effect close to the limiting value (1.22, cf. Section 7.2.3)506), with nil effect of C(1)-DS07 a modest... 

Just as in the case of the kinetic isotope effect, deuterium substitution is felt only in those vibrational modes that change on going from reactants to products. 

Consider now a reaction that is the opposite from above—that i.s, one that involves rehybridization from sp to sp (Figure 8.7 B). Now the force constant for the bending motion is getting larger at the transition state because the vibration is becoming stiffer. In this scenario the ZPE difference is larger at the transition state than at the reactant, which means that the reaction actually proceeds faster with deuterium than with hydrogen. This is an inverse kinetic isotope effect. Isotope effect values of around 0.8 to 0.9 are common in these cases. 

Finally, the involvement of deoxy-Breslow species as intermediates and related to the reactivity profile of acrylates under NHC catalysis has been reported twice. The first report dealt with detailed mechanistic studies of the well-known tail-to-tail dimerization of methyl acrylate. By means of complementary and robust experiments (including kinetic isotope effects, deuterium-labelling studies and competitive reactions), the formation of the dimer (148) has been unambiguously rationalized. The second report has described/or the first time the NHC-catalysed cyclotetramerization of acrylates. Using imidazolium chloride (135) as NHC source, various trisubstituted cyclopen-tenones (149), thus resulting from the cyclotetramerization of acrylates, have been obtained in moderate yields. 

Kinetic isotope effects are an important factor in the biology of deuterium. Isotopic fractionation of hydrogen and deuterium in plants occurs in photosynthesis. The lighter isotope is preferentially incorporated from water into carbohydrates and tipids formed by photosynthesis. Hydrogen isotopic fractionation has thus become a valuable tool in the elucidation of plant biosynthetic pathways (42,43). 

A special type of substituent effect which has proved veiy valuable in the study of reaction mechanisms is the replacement of an atom by one of its isotopes. Isotopic substitution most often involves replacing protium by deuterium (or tritium) but is applicable to nuclei other than hydrogen. The quantitative differences are largest, however, for hydrogen, because its isotopes have the largest relative mass differences. Isotopic substitution usually has no effect on the qualitative chemical reactivity of the substrate, but often has an easily measured effect on the rate at which reaction occurs. Let us consider how this modification of the rate arises. Initially, the discussion will concern primary kinetic isotope effects, those in which a bond to the isotopically substituted atom is broken in the rate-determining step. We will use C—H bonds as the specific topic of discussion, but the same concepts apply for other elements. 

Fig. 4.9. DifiBoing zero-point energies ofprotium- and deuterium-substituted molecules as the cause of primary kinetic isotope effects.

A number of studies of the acid-catalyzed mechanism of enolization have been done. The case of cyclohexanone is illustrative. The reaction is catalyzed by various carboxylic acids and substituted ammonium ions. The effectiveness of these proton donors as catalysts correlates with their pK values. When plotted according to the Bronsted catalysis law (Section 4.8), the value of the slope a is 0.74. When deuterium or tritium is introduced in the a position, there is a marked decrease in the rate of acid-catalyzed enolization h/ d 5. This kinetic isotope effect indicates that the C—H bond cleavage is part of the rate-determining step. The generally accepted mechanism for acid-catalyzed enolization pictures the rate-determining step as deprotonation of the protonated ketone ... 

The distribution of a-bromoketones formed in the reaction of acetylcyclopentane with bromine was studied as a function of deuterium substitution. On the basis of the data given below, calculate the primaiy kinetic isotope effect for enolization of... 

When one of the ortho hydrogens is replaced by deuterium, the rate drops from 1.53 X 10 " s to 1.38 X lO s. What is the kinetic isotope effect The product from such a reaction contains 60% of the original deuterium. Give a mechanism for this reaction that is consistent with both the kinetic isotope effect and the deuterium retention data. 

Indicate mechanisms that would account for the formation of each product. Show how the isotopic substitution could cause a change in product composition. Does your mechanism predict that the isotopic substitution would give rise to a primary or secondary deuterium kinetic isotope effect Calculate the magnitude of the kinetic isotope effect from the data given. 

Table 6-5. Calculated Hydrogen/Deuterium Primary Kinetic Isotope Effects" ...

Only within the past few years have serious attempts been made to estimate quantitatively the differences in reactivity between thiophene and benzene and between the 2- and 3-position of thiophene. Careful investigation on the acid-induced exchange of deuterium and tritium have shown that the ratios of the exchange rates in the 2- and 3-positions are 1045 61 for deuterium and 911 60 for tritium in 57% by weight aqueous sulfuric acid at 24.6°C. A kinetic isotope effect in the isotopic exchange has been found to be k-r/kr, = 0.51 0.03 in the 2-position and kr/kjy — 0.59 0.04 in the... 

It is clear from the results that there is no kinetic isotope effect when deuterium is substituted for hydrogen in various positions in hydrazobenzene and 1,1 -hydrazonaphthalene. This means that the final removal of hydrogen ions from the aromatic rings (which is assisted either by the solvent or anionic base) in a positively charged intermediate or in a concerted process, is not rate-determining (cf. most electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions47). The product distribution... 

Calculated primary kinetic isotope effects for hydrogen/deuterium at 298 K... 

Leffek, Llewellyn and Robertson (1960a, b) made careful conductometric determinations of deuterium kinetic isotope effects on the solvolysis rates (in water) of some ethyl, isopropyl and n-propyl sulphonates and halides. In the case of the n-propyl compoimds,... 

What concerns us here are three topics addressing the fates of bromonium ions in solution and details of the mechanism for the addition reaction. In what follows, we will discuss the x-ray structure of the world s only known stable bromonium ion, that of adamantylideneadamantane, (Ad-Ad, 1) and show that it is capable of an extremely rapid degenerate transfer of Br+ in solution to an acceptor olefin. Second, we will discuss the use of secondary a-deuterium kinetic isotope effects (DKie) in mechanistic studies of the addition of Br2 to various deuterated cyclohexenes 2,2. Finally, we will explore the possibility of whether a bromonium ion, generated in solution from the solvolysis of traAU -2-bromo-l-[(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)oxy]cyclohexane 4, can be captured by Br on the Br+ of the bromonium ion, thereby generating olefin and Br2. This process would be... 

The use of secondary deuterium kinetic isotope effects in mechanistic studies of olefin bromination... 

Apart from a few studies (ref. 7), the use of deuterium kinetic isotope effects (kie s) appears to have had limited use in mechanistic studies of electrophilic bromination of olefins. Secondary alpha D-kie s have been reported for two cases, trans-stilbene fi and p-substituted a-d-styrenes 2, these giving relatively small inverse kie s of... 

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. 

A disadvantage of this technique is that isotopic labeling can cause unwanted perturbations to the competition between pathways through kinetic isotope effects. Whereas the Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surfaces are not affected by isotopic substitution, rotational and vibrational levels become more closely spaced with substitution of heavier isotopes. Consequently, the rate of reaction in competing pathways will be modified somewhat compared to the unlabeled reaction. This effect scales approximately as the square root of the ratio of the isotopic masses, and will be most pronounced for deuterium or... 

The oxidation by Cr(VI) of aliphatic hydrocarbons containing a tertiary carbon atom has been studied by several groups of workers. Sager and Bradley showed that oxidation of triethylmethane yields triethylcarbinol as the primary product with a primary kinetic isotope effect of about 1.6 (later corrected by Wiberg and Foster to 3.1) for deuterium substitution at the tertiary C-H bond. Oxidations... 

The first term was found to correspond to the rate of enolisation (measured by an NMR study of hydrogen-deuterium exchange at the methylene group). The second term predominates at [Cu(II)] > 10 M and is characterised by a primary kinetic isotope effect of 7.4 (25 °C) and a p value of 1.24. Addition of 2,2 -bipridyl (bipy) caused an increase in 2 up to a bipy Cu(II) ratio of 1 1 but at ratios greater than this 2 fell gradually until the enolisation term dominated. The oxidation of a-methoxyacetophenone is much slower but gives a similar rate... 

Based on C-H versus C-D zero point vibrational differences, the authors estimated maximum classical kinetic isotope effects of 17, 53, and 260 for h/ d at -30, -100, and -150°C, respectively. In contrast, ratios of 80,1400, and 13,000 were measured experimentally at those temperatures. Based on the temperature dependence of the atom transfers, the difference in activation energies for H- versus D-abstraction was found to be significantly greater than the theoretical difference of 1.3kcal/mol. These results clearly reflected the smaller tunneling probability of the heavier deuterium atom. 

The hydrogenation of nitroacetophenones has been studied and considerable kinetic and mechanistic information obtained. Differences in reaction rate, bonding and selectivity have been observed. The formation of 1-indolinone from 2-NAP was unexpected and revealed the presence of a surface nitrene. This intermediate has not been postulated in nitroaromatic hydrogenation previously. Hydrogenation in the presence of deuterium revealed, as well as a kinetic isotope effect, that it is likely that... 

The deuterium kinetic isotope effect between BH3-THF and BD3-THF was obtained by measuring the reaction rate constants of the two reactions with the unsaturated sulfoxide (Sj-40 independently via React-IR. The k(BH3)/k(BD3) is 1.4, consistent with hydrogen transfer not being the rate-limiting step [15, 16]. 

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