Mechanism acetylide alkylation

McLafferty, Fred Warren, 732 McLafferty rearrangement. 416, 732 Mechanism (reaction), 139 acetal formation, 717-718 acetylide alkylation, 272 acid chloride formal ion with SOCl2, 795... 

Next an alkyl halide (the alkylating agent) is added to the solution of sodium acetylide Acetylide ion acts as a nucleophile displacing halide from carbon and forming a new carbon-carbon bond Substitution occurs by an 8 2 mechanism... 

Condensatron between lithium acetylides and dibromodifluoromethane [124] or dichlorofluoromethane [125] leads to fluorohaloacetylenes (equation 107) Sodium alkyl malonates are also alkylated by dihalogenodifluoromethanes [124] (equation 108) These reactions involve difluorocarbene as intermediate (for the mechanism of the Cp2Br2 condensation, see equation 15)... 

Active Figure 8.6 MECHANISM A mechanism for the alkylation reaction of acetylide anion with bromomethane to give propyne. Sign in afwww.thomsonedu.com to see a simulation based on this figure and to take a short quiz. 

Primary alkyl halides can also be alkynylated by silver acetylides. Isabelle and coworkers reported the reaction of methyl iodide, ethyl iodide and <7rmethyl iodide with several silver acetylides to give disubstituted alkynes.116 The authors preferred a non-radical-mediated mechanism for this reaction, as neither methane nor ethane, expected byproducts of a radical reaction, were observed. 

Because acetylide anions are strong nucleophiles, the mechanism of nucleophilic substitution is S 2, and thus the reaction is fastest with CH3X and 1° alkyl halides. Terminal alkynes (Reaction [1]) or internal alkynes (Reaction [2]) can be prepared depending on the identity of the acetylide anion. 

Although nucleophilic substitution with acetylide anions is a very valuable carbon-carbon bondforming reaction, it has the same limitations as any Sn2 reaction. Steric hindrance around the leaving group causes 2° and 3° alkyl halides to undergo elimination by an E2 mechanism, as shown with 2-bromo-2-methylpropane. Thus, nucleophilic substitution with acetylide anions forms new carbon-carbon bonds in high yield only with unhindered CH3X and 1 ° alkyl halides. 

A mechanism for the alkylation reaction of acetylide anion with bromomethane to give propyne. 

In the synthesis of propargylic alcohols, we saw the reaction of an alkynyl nucleophile (either the anion RC=CNa or the Grignard RC CMgBr, both prepared from the alkyne RC CH) with a carbonyl electrophile to give an alcohol product. Such acetylide-type nucleophiles will undergo Sn2 reactions with alkyl halides to give more substituted alkyne products. With this two-step sequence (deprotonation followed by alkylation), acetylene can be converted to a terminal alkyne, and a terminal alkyne can be converted to an internal alkyne. Because acetylide anions are strong bases, the alkyl halide used must be methyl or 1° otherwise, the E2 elimination is favored over the Sn2 substitution mechanism. 

Internal alkynes can be made from terminal alkynes by converting the terminal alkyne to an acetylide anion and then treating the anion with a primary alkyl halide. Propose a mechanism for the alkylation. (See Section 8.15.)... 

---