Mechanism, pinacol

DimethyI-2 3-butanediol has the common name piiuicol. On heating with aqueous acid, pinacol rearranges to pinacolone, 3,3-dimethyl-2-butanone. Suggest a mechanism for this reaction. 

The above mechanism involves a-opening of the epoxysilane, followed by a 1,2-elimination of a /3-hydroxysilanc (Peterson olefination, Chapter 10). However, it has recently been shown that aj8-dihydroxysilanes, particularly t-butyldimethylsilyl species, undergo an acid-catalysed sila-pinacol rearrangement to produce /J-aldehydo- and /i-kctosilancs (5) ... 

Unsymmetrical alkenes can be prepared from a mixture of two ketones, if one is in excess. " The mechanism consists of initial coupling of two radical species to give a 1,2-dioxygen compound (a titanium pinacolate), which is then deoxygenated. " ... 

The solvent isotope effect suggests that no O-H cleavage is involved in the slow step and the effect of O-methylation indicates that a cyclic complex is involved. The induction factor is probably obscured by the reaction of Mn(III) and Mn02 with pinacol itself. The typical glycol-cleavage mechanism advocated for oxidations by Pb(IV) and I(VII) (p. 349) may well operate, viz. 

The acidity dependences of V(V) oxidations are significant. That of pinacol , which undergoes 100% C-C cleavage, is a+bh ). The first (acid-independent) term is rare in V(V) oxidations and implies that V02 is the active oxidant the second term implies, on the basis of the Zucker-Hammett hypothesis, that the transition state has the structure (J5), the mechanism being... 

A comparison of the V(V) oxidations of acetoin, CH3CH(OH)COCH3, and 3-hydroxy-3-methylbutan-2-one, (CH3)2C(OH)COCH3, shows that whilst both rate laws include first-order terms in substrate and oxidant, the acidity dependence for the former compound is purely ho but that for the latter is a+bho). The C-methyl compound consumes only 2 equivalents of V(V) to give acetone and a mechanism similar to that for the oxidation of pinacol is proposed , viz. 

The pinacol formation reaction follows a radical mechanism. Benzopinacol, benzophenone and the mixed pinacol are formed jointly with many radical species [72, 74]. In the course of the reaction, first a high-energy excited state is generated with the aid of photons. Thereafter, this excited-state species reacts with a solvent molecule 2-propanol to give two respective radicals. The 2-propanol radical reacts with one molecule of benzophenone (in the ground state, without photon aid) to lengthen the radical chain. By combination of radicals, adducts are formed, including the desired product benzopinacol. Chain termination reactions quench the radicals by other paths. 

In the illumination of a ZnS sol, containing nitrous oxide and propanol-2, hydrogen and nitrogen are the gaseous products, and acetone and pinacol the condensed products. The acetone to pinacol ratio is 4 1, and the sum of the yields of the condensed products always equals that of the gaseous products. This is explained by the following mechanism ... 

Silyl(pinacol)borane (88) also adds to terminal alkenes in the presence of a coordinate unsaturated platinum complex (Scheme 1-31) [132]. The reaction selectively provides 1,2-adducts (97) for vinylarenes, but aliphatic alkenes are accompanied by some 1,1-adducts (98). The formation of two products can be rationalized by the mechanism proceeding through the insertion of alkene into the B-Pt bond giving 99 or 100. The reductive elimination of 97 occurs very smoothly, but a fast P-hydride elimination from the secondary alkyl-platinum species (100) leads to isomerization to the terminal carbon. 

There is also a mechanism that can operate in the absence of an acidic a-hydrogen. This process, called the semibenzilic rearrangement, is closely related to the pinacol rearrangement. A tetrahedral intermediate is formed by nucleophilic addition to the carbonyl group and the halide serves as the leaving group. 

A number of different mechanisms have been proposed to account for the fact that this product is not observed. Recently, however, a report appeared that described the formation of the mixed pinacol from the photoreduction of benzophenone with isopropyl alcohol and the photoreduction of acetone with benzhydrol. The data from this study are presented in Table 3.10.(73)... 

Since the mixed pinacol is formed in the presence of the ketyl radical scavenger camphorquinone, its formation must occur under conditions where the ketyl radicals are not available for scavenging, that is, in a solvent cage. Since benzpinacol is not observed under these conditions, its formation must occur outside of the initial solvent cage. The following mechanism is proposed ... 

The ESR detection of benzophenone-ketyl radical coupled with the formation of pinacols as byproducts (in Scheme 9) provides the basis for an electron-transfer mechanism between carbonyl acceptors and various Grignard reagents48 (equation 23). 

The stereoselective 1,4-addition of lithium diorganocuprates (R2CuLi) to unsaturated carbonyl acceptors is a valuable synthetic tool for creating a new C—C bond.181 As early as in 1972, House and Umen noted that the reactivity of diorganocuprates directly correlates with the reduction potentials of a series of a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds.182 Moreover, the ESR detection of 9-fluorenone anion radical in the reaction with Me2CuLi, coupled with the observation of pinacols as byproducts in equation (40) provides the experimental evidence for an electron-transfer mechanism of the reaction between carbonyl acceptors and organocuprates.183... 

Termination is principally via radical coupling forming hexabutylditin, or to a lesser degree via the coupling of ketyl radicals. In the case of the mr ketones a different mechanism is proposed. The rate of abstraction of H from the tributyltinhydride by benzylic radicals is slower than the corresponding abstraction by alkyl radicals. Since the rate at which the tributyltin radical will add to aromatic carbonyls is similar to the addition rate to aliphatic carbonyls, the dominant radical species for the tttt systems is the ketyl radical. The primary termination process involves the coupling of the predominant radical species resulting in pinacol formation. 

A. 1,1-Dibromo-2,2-bis(chloromethyl)cyclopropane (1). Into a 1-L, threenecked, round-bottomed flask, equipped with an efficient mechanical stirrer, a thermometer, and a condenser equipped with a potassium hydroxide drying tube, are placed 54.1 g (0.403 mol) of 3-chloro-2-(chloromethyl)propene (Note 1), 212 g (0.805 mol) of bromoform (Note 2), 1.70-2.00 g (14.4-16.9 mmol) of pinacol (Note 3), and 1.45 g (3.94 mmol) of dibenzo-18-crown-6 (Note 4). With very vigorous stirring (Note 5), 312 g of an aqueous 50% sodium hydroxide solution that has been cooled to 15°C is added in one portion. The reaction mixture turns orange, then brown, then black within 5 min, and the temperature of the reaction mixture begins to rise. Within 20 min, the internal reaction temperature is 49-50°C at which point the reaction flask is cooled with a room-temperature water bath, and the reaction temperature decreases to ca. 

Instead of the borohydrido pinacol ester one can also use the boron dimer. Several metals, intermediates as the one shown in Figure 19.10 have been isolated. They may contain 1-3 Bpin units and 3-1 hydrides. For the mechanism... 

For further contributions on the dia-stereoselectivity in electropinacolizations, see Ref. [286-295]. Reduction in DMF at a Fig cathode can lead to improved yield and selectivity upon addition of catalytic amounts of tetraalkylammonium salts to the electrolyte. On the basis of preparative scale electrolyses and cyclic voltammetry for that behavior, a mechanism is proposed that involves an initial reduction of the tetraalkylammonium cation with the participation of the electrode material to form a catalyst that favors le reduction routes [296, 297]. Stoichiometric amounts of ytterbium(II), generated by reduction of Yb(III), support the stereospecific coupling of 1,3-dibenzoylpropane to cis-cyclopentane-l,2-diol. However, Yb(III) remains bounded to the pinacol and cannot be released to act as a catalyst. This leads to a loss of stereoselectivity in the course of the reaction [298]. Also, with the addition of a Ce( IV)-complex the stereochemical course of the reduction can be altered [299]. In a weakly acidic solution, the meso/rac ratio in the EHD (electrohy-drodimerization) of acetophenone could be influenced by ultrasonication [300]. Besides phenyl ketone compounds, examples with other aromatic groups have also been published [294, 295, 301, 302]. 

Probably the most familiar radical reactions leading to 1,2-D systems are the so called acyloin condensation and the different variants of the "pinacol condensation". Both types of condensation involve an electron-transfer from a metal atom to a carbonyl compound (whether an ester or an aldehyde or a ketone) to give a radical anion which either dimerises directly, if the concentration of the species is very high, or more generally it reacts with the starting neutral carbonyl compound and then a second electron is transferred from the metal to the radical dimer species (for an alternative mechanism of the acyloin condensation, see Bloomfield, 1975 [29]). 

The shape of this wave and the variation with pH are both consistent with fast equ-librium reactions In the pH region lower than the value of pK, for the hydroxyl radical, the reactions of this hydroxyl radical dominate the electrochemical process. Controlled potential reduction at the potential of this first wave indicates a IF process and the principal products are dimers of the hydroxyl radical. The second wave in this acidic region is due to addition of an electron and a proton to the neutral radical. This process competes with dimerization in the mid-pH range where the two polarographic waves merge. Over the pH range 7-9, monohydric alcohol is the principal product. At pH <3 or >12, pinacols are the main products. Unsymmet-rical carbonyl compounds afford mixtures of ( )- and meso-pinacols. Data (Table 10.3) for the ( ) / meso isomer ratio for pinacols from acetophenone and propio-phenone indicate different dimerization mechanisms in acid and in alkaline solutions. 

A new semipinacol rearrangement mediated by Sn(IV) was proposed by Bates and to explain the formation of 579 from 578 (equation 256). As stated by the authors, the mechanism of formation of 579 most likely involves an intermediate hydroxylamine 580 (equation 257). Nucleophilic addition of the hydroxylamine to the ketonic carbonyl leads to 581, which may undergo a tin-mediated pinacol-type rearrangement with preferred migration of the phenyl substituent to produce amide 582. 

To elucidate the reaction pathway, deuterium-labeled allenyl pinacol boronate 10 was prepared, and the addition reaction with hydrazonoester 6 was conducted in the presence of Bi(OH)3 and Cu(OH)2 (Scheme 4). In both Bi- and Cu-catalyzed cases, the reactions proceeded smoothly (in quantitative yields in both cases). In the Bi(OH)3-catalyzed reaction, a major product was allenyl compound 11, in which the internal position was deuterized. It was assumed that a propargyl bismuth was formed via transmetalation from boron to bismuth, followed by addition to hydrazonoester via y-addition to afford allenyl compound 11. Thus, two y-additions could selectively provide a-addition products [75, 76, 105, 106]. It was confirmed that isomerization of 10 did not occur. Recently, we reported Ag20-catalyzed anti-selective a-addition of a-substituted allyltributyltin with aldehydes in aqueous media [107], On the other hand, in the Cu(OH)2-catalyzed reaction, a major product was propargyl compound 12, in which the terminal position was deuterized. A possible mechanism is that Cu(OH)2 worked as a Lewis acid catalyst to activate hydrazonoester 6 and that allenyl boronate 10 [83-85] reacted with activated 6 via y-addition to afford 12. 

Based on the labeling experiments, a plausible mechanism involving mthenium vinylidene intermediates SS is proposed in Scheme 6.21. Cydization of this vinylidene intermediate leads to the formation of the epoxy carbenium 56, which then undergoes an epoxide opening to form l,4-dien-3-ol 57. A subsequent pinacol rearrangement of this alcohol furnishes ketone 58, providing the required skeleton for the observed phenol product 54. 

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