Lewis base interactions

This chapter introduces the experimental work described in the following chapters. Some mechanistic aspects of the Diels-Alder reaction and Lewis-acid catalysis thereof are discussed. This chapter presents a critical survey of the literature on solvent ejfects on Diels-Alder reactions, with particular emphasis on the intriguing properties of water in connection with their effect on rate and selectivity. Similarly, the ejfects of water on Lewis acid - Lewis base interactions are discussed. Finally the aims of this thesis are outlined. 

Several alternative attempts have been made to quantify Lewis-acid Lewis-base interaction. In view of the HSAB theory, the applicability of a scale which describes Lewis acidity with only one parameter will be unavoidably restricted to a narrow range of struchirally related Lewis bases. The use of more than one parameter results in relationships with a more general validity ". However, a quantitative prediction of the gas-phase stabilities of Lewis-acid Lewis-base complexes is still difficult. Hence the interpretation, not to mention the prediction, of solvent effects on Lewis-add Lewis-base interactions remains largely speculative. 

In the final chapter ofi this thesis, the work described in the preceding chapters is evaluated. Furthermore, two pivotal themes ofi this work, Lewis acid - Lewis base interactions in water and hydrophobic fiects, are reviewed. Finally, the prospects ofi Lewis-acid catalysis in aqueous solution are discussed. 

Lewis acid - Lewis base interactions in water. Implications for catalysis... 

Analogously, water is extremely efficient in weakening hard Lewis add - hard Lewis base interactions. Consequently, when aiming at catalysis by hard Lewis adds, the inefficiency of the interaction between the catalyst and the substrate is a serious problem. Strangely enough, this characteristic of water is not recognised by many researchers working with hard Lewis acids in... 

In Chapter 1 mechanistic aspects of Are Diels-Alder reaction are discussed. The literature on the effects of solvents and Lewis-acid catalysts on this reaction is surveyed. The special properties of water are reviewed and the effects of water on the Diels-Alder reaction is discussed. Finally, the effect of water on Lewis acid - Lewis base interactions is described. 

In Chapter 6 we survey what has been accomplished and indicate directions for future research. Furthermore, we critically review the influence of water on Lewis acid - Lewis base interactions. This influence has severe implications for catalysis, in particular when hard Lewis acids and bases are involved. We conclude that claims of Lewis-acid catalysis should be accompanied by evidence for a direct interaction between catalyst and substrate. 

These mechanisms ascribe in jortance to the Lewis acid-Lewis base interaction between the allyl halide and the organolithium reagent. When substitution is complete, the halide ion is incorporated into the lifliium cluster in place of one of the carbon ligands. 

Most other studies have indicated considerably more complex behavior. The rate data for reaction of 3-methyl-l-phenylbutanone with 5-butyllithium or n-butyllithium in cyclohexane can be fit to a mechanism involving product formation both through a complex of the ketone with alkyllithium aggregate and by reaction with dissociated alkyllithium. Evidence for the initial formation of a complex can be observed in the form of a shift in the carbonyl absorption band in the IR spectrum. Complex formation presumably involves a Lewis acid-Lewis base interaction between the carbonyl oxygen and lithium ions in the alkyllithium cluster. 

The Lewis acid-Lewis base interaction outlined in Scheme 43 also explains the formation of alkylrhodium complexes 414 from iodorhodium(III) meso-tetraphenyl-porphyrin 409 and various diazo compounds (Scheme 42)398), It seems reasonable to assume that intermediates 418 or 419 (corresponding to 415 and 417 in Scheme 43) are trapped by an added nucleophile in the reaction with ethyl diazoacetate, and that similar intermediates, by proton loss, give rise to vinylrhodium complexes from ethyl 2-diazopropionate or dimethyl diazosuccinate. As the rhodium porphyrin 409 is also an efficient catalyst for cyclopropanation of olefins with ethyl diazoacetate 87,1°°), stj bene formation from aryl diazomethanes 358 and carbene insertion into aliphatic C—H bonds 287, intermediates 418 or 419 are likely to be part of the mechanistic scheme of these reactions, too. 

These observations may be rationalized by assuming that the polar functional group coordinates to the metal center in one or more intermediates along the RCM pathway (Scheme 17) [30b]. Such a Lewis-acid/Lewis-base interaction may assemble the reacting sites within the coordination sphere of the ruthenium and hence provide internal bias for cyclization (e.g. structure I). However, if such an... 

Based on the same strategy, Denmark and coworkers developed a vinylogous aldol reaction using enolate activation with a catalyst derived from SiCl4 and dimeric phosphoramide 47 [24,25]. This strategy relies on the observation that not all Lewis acid - Lewis base interactions diminish the Lewis acidity [26-28]. Due to the formation of a pentacoordinated silicon cation (48), both the enolate and the substrate can be assembled in a closed transition state, giving rise to the observed high selectivities (Scheme 19) [29,30]. 

The Dewar-Chatt-Duncanson model of the binding of an olefin in a transition metal complex involves two types of interactions. Transfer of electron density from the relatively high-lying olefinic ic-orbital to the metal (cf. 20) represents a Lewis acid Lewis base interaction (a-bonding). A metal-olefin jr-bond due to interaction... 

Since the metal-alkene association preceding the peroxymetalation reaction in mechanism (B) is a pure Lewis acid/Lewis base interaction, it would be expected that compounds having alkylperoxy groups bonded to a Lewis acid center should be active for the epoxidation of alkenes. This is indeed found for boron compounds, which are active as catalysts for the epoxidation of alkenes by alkyl hydroperoxides.246,247 Isolated boron tris(alkyl peroxides), B(OOR)3, have been shown to epoxidize alkenes stoichiometrically, presumably through alkylperoxyboration of the double bond (equation 76).248... 

Secondary isotope effects on Lewis acid-Lewis base interactions 144... 

The binding of alkenes to transition metals, to form n complexes or r 2 complexes or metallacyclopropanes, is a Lewis acid-Lewis base interaction that is made more elaborate by back bonding from the metal to the alkene. There are many examples of deuterium IEs on complexation. One that was studied extensively is the binding of ethylene, propylene, and 2-butene to Ag+, where the deuterated alkene binds more strongly.88 For example, Acd,=cd,/Ac[ i, [Pg.145]

The formation of covalent substrate-catalyst adducts might occur, e.g., by single-step Lewis-acid-Lewis-base interaction or by multi-step reactions such as the formation of enamines from aldehydes and secondary amines. The catalysis of aldol reactions by formation of the donor enamine is a striking example of common mechanisms in enzymatic catalysis and organocatalysis - in class-I aldolases lysine provides the catalytically active amine group whereas typical organocatalysts for this purpose are secondary amines, the most simple being proline (Scheme 2.2). 

The bonds formed between germanium and elements of Group VA can be divided into two categories those in which the element is bonded via a covalent bond and others in which a Lewis acid-Lewis base interaction between the two elements results in coordinate bond formation. The same classification of bond types is also appropriate when discussing organogermanium derivatives of Groups VIA and VII A. 

A very interesting technique that has been used widely in the MTO-catalyzed olefin oxidation reaction is the microencapsulation technique. This technique uses poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PVP), either 2% or 25% cross-linked with divinylbenzene (PVP-2% or PVP-25%, Fig. 4), as well as poly(4-vinylpyridine-/V-oxide) (PVPN-2%, Fig. 4). In addition, 2% cross-linked PS (PS-2%, Fig. 4, X = CH2) and a mixture of PS-2% and PVP-2% (5 1, Fig. 4, X = N) have been used as support polymers. This approach is based on the physical envelopment of the Lewis-acidic MTO by the PS polymer, enhanced by interactions of the 7t-electrons of the phenyl rings with MTO. In the case of the pyridine-containing polymers, Lewis acid-Lewis base interactions between the pyridine moiety and MTO obviously play an important role. In the case of the PVP and PVPN polymers, MTO can be incorporated in the support matrix by mixing the polymer and MTO in ethanol to obtain the desired immobilized catalyst. 

Fig. 12.12 Different types of nonbonding Lewis acid-Lewis base interactions...

FIGURE 4. Molecular structure of stannylene 29, showing weak Lewis acid/Lewis base interactions of lone-pairs on N with empty p-orbital of Sn... 

FIGURE 13. Molecular structure of the chloro(alkyl)stannylene 61a (left) and of chloro(alkyl)plum-bylene 62b (right) in the crystal, both forming asymmetric halogen-bridged dimers due to competitive intramolecular Lewis acid/Lewis base interactions. These are depicted as dashed lines (----) and the longer E—Cl bonds as thin solid lines... 

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