Loose transition state, nucleophilic reactions

Uncatalyzed Reactions of Phosphate Monoesters. Phosphate monoesters in physiologically relevant pH ranges exist as either the monoanion or dianion. A large body of evidence indicates that uncatalyzed phosphoryl transfer reactions of both ionic forms takes place by loose transition states that are characterized by extensive bond cleavage to the leaving group and a small degree of bond formation to the nucleophile (for reviews of the evidence, see References (3,4)). Despite loose transition states, these reactions are concerted, and free metaphosphate is not formed in protic solvents (5). 

Some organic reactions can be accomplished by using two-layer systems in which phase-transfer catalysts play an important role (34). The phase-transfer reaction proceeds via ion pairs, and asymmetric induction is expected to emerge when chiral quaternary ammonium salts are used. The ion-pair interaction, however, is usually not strong enough to control the absolute stereochemistry of the reaction (35). Numerous trials have resulted in low or only moderate stereoselectivity, probably because of the loose orientation of the ion-paired intermediates or transition states. These reactions include, but are not limited to, carbene addition to alkenes, reaction of sulfur ylides and aldehydes, nucleophilic substitution of secondary alkyl halides, Darzens reaction, chlorination... 

The lower effective concentrations found in intramolecular base catalysis are due to the loose transition states of these reactions. In nucleophilic reactions, the nucleophile and the electrophile are fairly rigidly aligned so that there is a large entropy loss. In general-base or -acid catalysis, there is considerable spatial freedom in the transition state. The position of the catalyst is not as closely defined as in nucleophilic catalysis. There is consequently a smaller loss in entropy in general-base catalysis, so that the intramolecular reactions are not favored as much as their nucleophilic counterparts. 

Other phosphoryl transfer mechanisms are an associative, two-step mechanism (An + Dn) and a concerted mechanism (ANDN) with no intermediate. The AN+DN mechanism is an addition-elimination pathway in which a stable pentacoordinate intermediate, called a phosphorane, is formed. This mechanism occurs in some reactions of phosphate triesters and diesters, and has been speculated to occur in enzymatic reactions of monoesters. In the concerted ANDN mechanism, bond formation to the nucleophile and bond fission to the leaving group both occur in the transition state. This transition state could be loose or tight, depending upon the synchronicity between nucleophilic attack and leaving group departure. The concerted mechanism of Fig. 2 is drawn to indicate a loose transition state, typical of phosphate monoester reactions. 

Before leaving the discussion of possible mechanisms, it should be pointed out that they ntav not be as distinctly separated in concept as it may have appeared in their individual descriptions. The distinction between SNI and SN-2 in solvolysis reactions is blurred by the probability of varying degrees of nucleophilic solvent participation in the S, I transition slate [72]. Within SN2 (eq. 2.8) there can be different extents of bond breaking and bond making in the transition state at one extreme, a loose transition state with a nearly broken bond to I. but little bond making to Nu could be described as SNl-like (72. Second-order kinetics may also be expected if Nu reacts with an ion pair formed by rapid, reversible ionization of RL [73. ... 

This would be analogous to the change that results from alkyl substitution that is, transition states become more associative in the continuum from monoesters to triesters. Although relatively few phosphatases have been subjected to serious scrutiny of their transition states, in the cases that have been reported, this prediction has not been borne out. The reactions catalyzed by AP proceeds through loose transition states that are not significantly altered from those in solution, both in its phosphatase and in its promiscuous sulfatase activities. " Results with A-phosphatase and with calcineurin, which both catalyze phosphoryl transfer to a metal-coordinated hydroxide nucleophile, also provide no evidence of a significantly different transition state. Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), which do not contain metal ion cofactors but have a conserved arginine residue and proceed via a phosphocysteine intermediate, similarly catalyze phosphoryl transfer via a transition state similar to the one in solution. ... 

Heavy-atom isotope effects have been used to examine the transition state structures of the first phosphoryl transfer step, formation of the phosphocysteine intermediate, with the PTPs PTPl and YopH, and the DSP VHR (78). For each it was found that the transition state is very loose, resembling uncatalyzed phosphoryl transfer, and with full neutralization of the leaving group by proton transfer from the conserved aspartic acid. The transition state of the second chemical step, dephosphorylation of the intermediate, was probed in Stpl using linear free energy relationships and was found to proceed with little nucleophilic participation, suggesting that a loose transition state is operative for this reaction as well (79). 

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