Lewis acids activity

First, a simple model which incorporates only the zinc chloride and the chloromethylzinc chloride is considered to probe the nature of the Lewis acid activation. 

This study suggests a radically new explanation for the nature of Lewis acid activation in the Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation. The five-centered migration of the halide ion from the chloromethylzinc group to zinc chloride as shown in TS2 and TS4 has never been considered in the discussion of a mechanism for this reaction. It remains to be seen if some experimental support can be found for this unconventional hypothesis. The small energy differences between all these competing transition states demand caution in declaring any concrete conclusions. 

One of the problems related to the Lewis acid activation of a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds for the reaction with a nitrone is the competitive coordination of the nitrone and the a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compound to the Lewis acid [30]. Calculations have shown that coordination of the nitrone to the Lewis acid can be more feasible than a monodentate coordination of a carbonyl compound. However, this problem could be circumvented by the application of alkenes which allow a bidentate coordination to the Lewis acid which is favored over the monodentate coordination. 

Titanium-IV compounds with their Lewis acid activity may catalyze an interfering rearrangement of the starting allylic alcohol or the epoxy alcohol formed. In order to avoid such side-reactions, the epoxidation is usually carried out at room temperature or below. 

These TMS-carbamate-mediated NCA polymerizations resemble to some extent the group-transfer polymerization (GTP) of acrylic monomers initiated by organo-silicon compounds [40]. Unlike GTPs that typically require Lewis acid activators or nucelophilic catalysts to facilitate the polymerization [41], TMS-carbamate-mediated NCA polymerizations do not appear to require any additional catalysts or activators. However, it is still unclear whether the TMS transfer proceeds through an anionic process as in GTP [41] or through a concerted process as illustrated in Scheme 14. 

Apart from the hardness and softness, two reactivity-related features need to be pointed out. First, iron salts (like most transition metal salts) can operate as bifunctional Lewis acids activating either (or both) carbon-carbon multiple bonds via 71-binding or (and) heteroatoms via a-complexes. However, a lower oxidation state of the catalyst increases the relative strength of coordination to the carbon-carbon multiple bonds (Scheme 1). 

Second, apart from a different mode of activation, different modes of reactivity are observed. Hence, for FeCls reactions like oxidative C-C but also nonoxidative C-C couplings are as well observed as bond formation via Lewis-acid activation (Scheme 2) [11-16]. Depending on the reaction type, one or more mechanistic pathways are accessible at the same time, which makes it difficult to shed light into mechanistic details. 

The Lewis acid activates the acid chloride by forming an adduct with a chlorine atom bridge between carbon and aluminum. This chlorine bridge is similar to the one found in AI2 Clg ... 

The controlled polymerization of (meth)acrylates was achieved by anionic polymerization. However, special bulky initiators and very low temperatures (- 78 °C) must be employed in order to avoid side reactions. An alternative procedure for achieving the same results by conducting the polymerization at room temperature was proposed by Webster and Sogah [84], The technique, called group transfer polymerization, involves a catalyzed silicon-mediated sequential Michael addition of a, /f-unsaluralcd esters using silyl ketene acetals as initiators. Nucleophilic (anionic) or Lewis acid catalysts are necessary for the polymerization. Nucleophilic catalysts activate the initiator and are usually employed for the polymerization of methacrylates, whereas Lewis acids activate the monomer and are more suitable for the polymerization of acrylates [85,86]. 

Compound 10 has also been used to quantify double Lewis acid activation by two cobalt (HI) ions [37]. In 12, the RNA analogue 2-hydroxypropyl-phenyl phosphate (HPPP) is coordinated to the dinu-clear cobalt site. It is well known that in this substrate the hydroxypropyl group is an efficient intramolecular nucleophile. Release of phenol by intramolecular cyclization is much faster than the reaction by nucleophilic attack of bridging oxide, as observed in 11. At pH >8, transesterification rate is linearly dependent on hydroxide concentration since OH" acts as an intermolecular base for the deprotonation of the hydroxypropyl group. The second order rate constant for the hydroxide-dependent cleavage is 4 x 105 times larger than the second-order rate constant for the hydroxide-dependent spontaneous transesterification of hy-droxypropyl-phenyl phosphate. 

Chin at al. have also demonstrated [52] notable bimetallic cooperativ-ity with the same substrate by the Cu(II) complex 34. The dimer complex is 26 times more active (at pH = 7 and T = 298 K) than the corresponding mononuclear species 35. Based on the crystal structure of the dibenzyl phosphate bridged complex, the authors have proposed double Lewis-acid activation, as in the preceding case. 

Even more efficient bimetallic cooperativity was achieved by the dinuclear complex 36 [53]. It was demonstrated to cleave 2, 3 -cAMP (298 K) and ApA (323 K) with high efficiency at pH 6, which results in 300-500-fold rate increase compared to the mononuclear complex Cu(II)-[9]aneN at pH 7.3. The pH-metric study showed two overlapped deprotonations of the metal-bound water molecules near pH 6. The observed bell-shaped pH-rate profiles indicate that the monohydroxy form is the active species. The proposed mechanism for both 2, 3 -cAMP and ApA hydrolysis consists of a double Lewis-acid activation of the substrates, while the metal-bound hydroxide acts as general base for activating the nucleophilic 2 -OH group in the case of ApA (36a). Based on the 1000-fold higher activity of the dinuclear complex toward 2, 3 -cAMP, the authors suggest nucleophilic catalysis of the Cu(II)-OH unit in 36b. The latter mechanism is comparable to those of protein phosphatase 1 and fructose 1,6-diphosphatase. 

Their activity compared to those of the Cu(II)-terpyridine and Cu(II)-bipyridine complexes indicate notable cooperativity between the metal centers (k mJ2 kmanoaet = 18-26 at pH = 7 and ca. 10 at the pH optimum of the given complex). The pH-rate profile of both complexes shows a bell-shaped structure. Thus, the postulated double general-base catalysis for both complexes is not fully justified. In case of 38 this was explained by possible inhibition by the buffer used. While double Lewis-acid activation is proposed for 37, single Lewis-acid activation is favored for 38. 

Even more interesting is the observed regioselectivity of 37 its reaction with 2, 3 -cCMP and 2, 3 -cUMP resulted in formation of more than 90% of 2 -phosphate (3 -OH) isomer. The postulated mechanisms for 37 consists of a double Lewis-acid activation, while the metal-bound hydroxide and water act as nucleophilic catalyst and general acid, respectively (see 39). The substrate-ligand interaction probably favors only one of the depicted substrate orientations, which may be responsible for the observed regioselectivity. Complex 38 may operate in a similar way but with single Lewis-acid activation, which would explain the lower bimetallic cooperativity and the lack of regioselectivity. Both proposed mechanisms show similarities to that of the native phospho-monoesterases (37 protein phosphatase 1 and fructose 1,6-diphosphatase, 38 purple acid phosphatase). 

The chemistry of hafnium is mostly known for Lewis acid activation, even though transmetallation from tin or zinc to hafnium has been suggested in one case.151... 

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