Lewis-acid reactivity

Fig. 8.14. Footprint catalysts prepared with sulphonamide and phosphonamide templates. Both generate tetrahedral reactions centres but differ in the placement of the Lewis acid reactive centre resulting in large differences in catalytic rate. Adapted from [49].

Complexation of copper salts with both achiral and chiral ligands offers additional potential for modulation of Lewis acidity, reactivity, and control of stereochemistry. Most notably, the application of chiral copper complexes in enantioselective transformations has steadily increased over the past 15 years. From the extensive investigations of Cu(II)-chiral bisoxazoline complexes to more recent combinations of Cu(I) and Cu(ll) salts with chiral ligands, chiral copper Lewis acids continue to attract considerable attention for several reasons, [3]. The first of which is their ready availability and/or accessibility. Second, chiral copper Lewis acids are moderately Lewis acidic, but more importantly, their Lewis acidity is easily modified by choice of oxidation state, counterion, and ligand. Finally, chiral Cu(l) and Cu(ll) complexes offer predictable and tunable coordination geometries about... 

Cl increases the Lewis acidity of boron making it a more reactive reagent... 

The effect of substituents on the rate of the reaction catalysed by different metal ions has also been studied Correlation with resulted in perfectly linear Hammett plots. Now the p-values for the four Lewis-acids are of comparable magnitude and do not follow the Irving-Williams order. Note tlrat the substituents have opposing effects on complexation, which is favoured by electron donating substituents, and reactivity, which is increased by electron withdrawirg substituents. The effect on the reactivity is clearly more pronounced than the effect on the complexation equilibrium. 

In summary, we have demonstrated that it is possible to extend the scope of Lewis-acid catalysis of Diels-Alder reactions in water, by employing a chelating auxiliary. We envisage that analogues of 4.39 capable of undergoing a Mamrich reaction with 4.50 can be treated with reactive dienes in the presence of a Lewis-acid catalyst in water. 

Apart from Bronsted acid activation, the acetyl cation (and other acyl ions) can also be activated by Lewis acids. Although the 1 1 CH3COX-AIX3 Friedel-Crafts complex is inactive for the isomerization of alkanes, a system with two (or more) equivalents of AIX3 was fonnd by Volpin to be extremely reactive, also bringing abont other electrophilic reactions. 

Halogenation (Section 12 5) Chlorination and bromination of arenes are carried out by treatment with the appropriate halogen in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst Very reactive arenes undergo halogenation in the absence of a catalyst... 

The metal-ion complexmg properties of crown ethers are clearly evident m their effects on the solubility and reactivity of ionic compounds m nonpolar media Potassium fluoride (KF) is ionic and practically insoluble m benzene alone but dissolves m it when 18 crown 6 is present This happens because of the electron distribution of 18 crown 6 as shown m Figure 16 2a The electrostatic potential surface consists of essentially two regions an electron rich interior associated with the oxygens and a hydrocarbon like exterior associated with the CH2 groups When KF is added to a solution of 18 crown 6 m benzene potassium ion (K ) interacts with the oxygens of the crown ether to form a Lewis acid Lewis base complex As can be seen m the space filling model of this... 

Fluorochloro, fluorobromo, and fluoroiodoalkanes react selectively with aromatics under boron trifluoride catalysis to provide chloro-, bromo- and iodoalkylated products (48). The higher reactivity of the C—F bond over C—Cl, C—Br, and C—I bonds under Lewis acid catalysis results in the observed products. 

Mote stable catalysts ate obtained by using fluorinated graphite or fluorinated alumina as backbones, and Lewis acid halides, such as SbF, TaF, and NbF, which have a relatively low vapor pressure. These Lewis acids ate attached to the fluorinated soHd supports through fluorine bridging. They show high reactivity in Friedel-Crafts type reactions including the isomerization of straight-chain alkanes such as / -hexane. 

Cationic polymerization of coal-tar fractions has been commercially achieved through the use of strong protic acids, as well as various Lewis acids. Sulfuric acid was the first polymerization catalyst (11). More recent technology has focused on the Friedel-Crafts polymerization of coal fractions to yield resins with higher softening points and better color. Typical Lewis acid catalysts used in these processes are aluminum chloride, boron trifluoride, and various boron trifluoride complexes (12). Cmde feedstocks typically contain 25—75% reactive components and may be refined prior to polymerization (eg, acid or alkali treatment) to remove sulfur and other undesired components. Table 1 illustrates the typical components found in coal-tar fractions and their corresponding properties. 

The conversion of aromatic monomers relative to C-5—C-6 linear diolefins and olefins in cationic polymerizations may not be proportional to the feedblend composition, resulting in higher resin aromaticity as determined by nmr and ir measurements (43). This can be attributed to the differing reactivity ratios of aromatic and aHphatic monomers under specific Lewis acid catalysis. Intentional blocking of hydrocarbon resins into aromatic and aHphatic regions may be accomplished by sequential cationic polymerization employing multiple reactors and standard polymerization conditions (45). 

A second type of uv curing chemistry is used, employing cationic curing as opposed to free-radical polymerization. This technology uses vinyl ethers and epoxy resins for the oligomers, reactive resins, and monomers. The initiators form Lewis acids upon absorption of the uv energy and the acid causes cationic polymerization. Although this chemistry has improved adhesion and flexibility and offers lower viscosity compared to the typical acrylate system, the cationic chemistry is very sensitive to humidity conditions and amine contamination. Both chemistries are used commercially. 

Often the requisite THF oxonium ion is generated m situ by using a combination of reagents based on the Meerwein syntheses of trialkyl oxonium salts (150). These combinations include epichlorohydrin or a reactive haUde with a Lewis acid, a reactive hahde with a metal salt, or sometimes just a Lewis acid alone. The epoxide portion is often referred to as a promoter. 

The epoxidation is generally conducted in two steps (/) the polyol is added to epichlorohydrin in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst (stannic chloride, boron triduoride) to produce the chlorohydrin intermediate, and (2) the intermediate is dehydrohalogenated with sodium hydroxide to yield the aliphatic glycidyl ether. A prominent side-reaction is the conversion of aliphatic hydroxyl groups (formed by the initial reaction) into chloromethyl groups by epichlorohydrin. The aliphatic glycidyl ether resins are used as flexibilizers for aromatic resins and as reactive diluents to reduce viscosities in resin systems. 

In the preceding parts of Section 4.04.2.1.3 the electrophilic attack on pyrazolic nitrogen with the concomitant formation of different classes of N—R bond has been examined N—H (iv, v), N—metal (vi), N—C(sp ) (vii, viii, xi), N—C(sp ) (be, x, xi), N—SO2R (x), N—halogen (xii), N—O (xiii) and N—-N (xiv). In this last part the reaction with other Lewis acids leading to the formation of pyrazole N—metalloid bonds will be discussed, and the study of their reactivity will be dealt with in Section 4.04.2.3.lO(viii). 

Diels-Alder reactions in the presence of Lewis acids represent a case in which the Lewis acid is often used in catalytic quantities. The complexed ester (ethyl acrylate in the example given below) is substantially more reactive than the uncomplexed molecule, and the reaction proceeds through the complex. The reactive complex is regenerated by exchange of the Lewis acid from the adduct. 

There is another important factor in the low reactivity of pyridine derivatives toward electrophilic substitution. The —N=CH— unit is basic because the electron pair on nitrogen is not part of the aromatic n system. The nitrogen is protonated or complexed with a Lewis acid under many of the conditions typical of electrophilic substitution reactions. The formal positive charge present at nitrogen in such species further reduces the reactivity toward electrophiles. 

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