Lewis acids methyl cation

The second group of reactions is called vicinal difunctionalization. They embrace the C2 and C3 positions of the furan ring simultaneously. Thus, complex 3 (X = O, R = R = R = H) reacts with benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal to give 4H-furanium cation (the product of electrophile addition at C4), which experiences further attack by the methoxide group with formation of the acetal 8 (950M2861). This reaction is possible in the presence of the Lewis acid (BF3—OEt2). Reaction with methyl vinyl ketone in methanol, when run in identical conditions. 

It is believed that clay minerals promote organic reactions via an acid catalysis [2a]. They are often activated by doping with transition metals to enrich the number of Lewis-acid sites by cationic exchange [4]. Alternative radical pathways have also been proposed [5] in agreement with the observation that clay-catalyzed Diels-Alder reactions are accelerated in the presence of radical sources [6], Montmorillonite K-10 doped with Fe(III) efficiently catalyzes the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene (1) with methyl vinyl ketone at room temperature [7] (Table 4.1). In water the diastereoselectivity is higher than in organic media in the absence of clay the cycloaddition proceeds at a much slower rate. 

The coupling photolysis Lewis acid is also sometimes effective in promoting a Diels-Alder reaction. Thus, cationic (R,S)-(ON)Ru-salen homochiral complex 71 catalyzed the Diels-Alder reaction between Danishefsky s diene and benzaldehyde when the reagents were exposed to direct sunlight through a window or to incandescent light in t-butyl methyl ether (TBME)[49] (Equation 4.8). The reaction in the dark was very slow and only 3 % ee was detected. 

The Lewis acidity and reactivity of these alkyl aluminum cocatalysts and activators with Lewis basic polar monomers such as acrylates make them impractical components in the copolymerization of ethylene with acrylates. To address this shortcoming, Brookhart et al. developed well-defined cationic species such as that shown in Fig. 2, in which the counterion (not illustrated) was the now-ubiquitous fluorinated arylborate family [34] such as tetrakis(pentaflurophenyl)borate. At very low methyl acrylate levels the nickel catalysts gave linear copolymers but with near-zero levels of acrylate incorporation. 

Diels—Alder reactivity was also reported for a cationic zirconocene alkoxide (A Scheme 8.46) at a 10 mol% level for the substrate combination methyl acrylate/isoprene [84]. Whereas the regioselectivity (para/meta = 96.2 3.8) in this process compared favorably to that with traditional Lewis acids (A1C13 in C6H6 regioselectivity = 95 5), the activity was quite low. The substrates methyl acrylate and cydopentadiene (Scheme 8.46 R =... 

Protonated cyclopropane has been considered to be a real intermediate since the work of Aboderin and Baird (1964), and protonated alkylcyclopropanes have also recently come to be considered intermediates as opposed to transition states in many rearrangements occurring in strong acid media where SbFs is the Lewis acid. Thus Brouwer and Oelderik (1968a) suggested that protonated methyl-cyclopropane is an intermediate in the isomerization of sec-butyl-1- C to sec-butyl-2- cations in the HF-SbFj system, and Saunders et al. (1968) implicated this species in the rearrangement of... 

We note that while tin reagents have often been employed for the organoboron halides/ the use of organostannanes as starting materials can also be applied to the synthesis of heavier group 13 derivatives. In the context of polyfunc-tional Lewis acid chemistry, this type of reaction has been employed for the preparation of ort/ o-phenylene aluminum derivatives. Thus, the reaction of 1,2-bis(trimethylstannyl)benzene 7 with dimethylaluminum chloride, methylaluminum dichloride or aluminum trichloride affords l,2-bis(dimethylaluminum)phenylene 37, l,2-bis(chloro(methyl)aluminum)phenylene 38 and 1,2-bis(dichloroalumi-num)phenylene 39, respectively (Scheme 16). Unfortunately, these compounds could not be crystallized and their identities have been inferred from NMR data only. In the case of 39, the aluminum derivative could not be separated from trimethyltin chloride with which it reportedly forms a polymeric ion pair consisting of trimethylstannyl cations and bis(trichloroaluminate) anions 40. 

However, although we invoked a Lewis acid complex to provide the halonium electrophile, there is considerable evidence that, where appropriate, the electrophile in Friedel-Crafts alkylations is actually the dissociated carbocation itself. Of course, a simple methyl or ethyl cation is unlikely to be formed, so there we should assume a Lewis acid complex as the electrophilic species. On the other hand, if we can get a secondary or tertiary carbocation, then this is probably what happens. There are good stereochemical reasons why a secondary or tertiary complex cannot be attacked. Just as we saw with Sn2 reactions (see Section 6.1), if there is too much steric hindrance, then the reaction becomes SnI type. 

Ionic polymerization may also occur with cationic initiations such as protonic acids like HF and H2SO4 or Lewis acids like BF3, AICI3, and SnC. The polymerization of isobutylene is a common example, shown in Fig. 14.5. Note that the two inductively donating methyl groups stabilize the carbocation intermediate. Chain termination, if it does occur, usually proceeds by loss of a proton to form a terminal double bond. This regenerates the catalyst. 

The side reaction of hydrogenolysis of the methyl-ruthenium intermediate to methane also may become predominant when the carbonyl insertion-methyl migration step of the process (Scheme 1) proceeds at a low rate. To reduce this drawback some Lewis acid promoters (i.e. metal alkali cations, classical Lewis acids such as AII3, SbCl etc.)... 

Williams group observed low enantioselectivities for the Michael addition of a prochiral nucleophile, ethyl 2-cyanopropionate 623, to methyl vinyl ketone 624 catalyzed by chiral platinum complexes (Scheme 8.196)." The NMR analysis indicated that these cationic Pt complexes act as Lewis acids toward nitriles. The X-ray crystal structure as well NMR analysis showed that the solvent ligand that is readily displaced by an organic substrate is situated cis to the nitrogen donor in the Pt complex and, therefore, is in a chiral pocket created by the oxazoline ring. 

Figure 3.5-3 The hydrogen bond (Lewis acid) interaction of an imidazolium cation with the carbonyl oxygen of methyl acrylate in the activated complex of the DIels-Alder reaction. 

By using the aluminum porphyrin-Lewis acid system, we attempted the synthesis of a narrow MWD block copolymer from oxetane and methyl methacrylate (MMA). Methacrylic monomers can be polymerized radically and anioni-cally but not cationically, so a block copolymer of oxetane and methyl methacrylate has never been synthesized. As already reported, methacrylic monomers undergo accelerated living anionic polymerization with the (TPP)AlMe (1, X= Me)-3e system via a (porphinato)aluminum enolate as the growing species. 

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