Mechanism reagents

Simmons-Smith reagent Named after the duPont chemists who discovered that diiodo-mechane would react with an active zinc-copper couple in ether to give a reagent with molecular formula ICHiZnl. The reagent adds stereospecifically cis- to alkenes to give cyclopropanes in high yields. 

This is connnonly known as the transition state theory approximation to the rate constant. Note that all one needs to do to evaluate (A3.11.187) is to detennine the partition function of the reagents and transition state, which is a problem in statistical mechanics rather than dynamics. This makes transition state theory a very usefiil approach for many applications. However, what is left out are two potentially important effects, tiiimelling and barrier recrossing, bodi of which lead to CRTs that differ from the sum of step frmctions assumed in (A3.11.1831. 

Note on the mechanism of some syntheses with the Grignard reagent... 

The halogen carriers or aromatic halogenation catalysts are usually all electrophilic reagents (ferric and aluminium haUdes, etc.) and their function appears to be to increase the electrophilic activity of the halogen. Thus the mechanism for the bromination of benzene in the presence of iron can be repre-sfflited by the following scheme ... 

In general, benzoylation of aromatic amines finds less application than acetylation in preparative work, but the process is often employed for the identification and characterisation of aromatic amines (and also of hydroxy compounds). Benzoyl chloride (Section IV, 185) is the reagent commonly used. This reagent is so slowly hydrolysed by water that benzoylation can be carried out in an aqueous medium. In the Schotten-Baumann method of benzoylation the amino compound or its salt is dissolved or suspended in a slight excess of 8-15 per cent, sodium hydroxide solution, a small excess (about 10-15 per cent, more than the theoretical quantity) of benzoyl chloride is then added and the mixture vigorously shaken in a stoppered vessel (or else the mixture is stirred mechanically). Benzoylation proceeds smoothly and the sparingly soluble benzoyl derivative usually separates as a solid. The sodium hydroxide hydrolyses the excess of benzoyl chloride, yielding sodium benzoate and sodium chloride, which remain in solution ... 

The mechanism of the Fries reaction is not known with certainty. One mechanism regards it as a true intramolecular rearrangement in which the acyl group migrates directly from the oxygen atom to the carbon atoms of the ring. Another scheme postulates that the ester is cleaved by the reagent... 

In a 500 ml. wide-mouthed reagent bottle place a cold solution of 25 g. of sodium hydroxide in 250 ml. of water and 200 ml. of alcohol (1) equip the bottle with a mechanical stirrer and surround it with a bath of water. Maintain the temperature of the solution at 20-25°, stir vigorously and add one-half of a previously prepared mixture of 26-5 g. (25 -5 ml.) of purebenzaldehyde (Section IV,115) and 7 -3 g. (9-3 ml.) of A.R. acetone. A flocculent precipitate forms in 2-3 minutes. After 15 minutes add the remainder of the benzaldehyde - acetone mixture. Continue the stirring for a further 30 minutes. Filter at the pump and wash with cold water to eliminate the alkali as completely as possible. Dry the solid at room temperature upon filter paper to constant weight 27 g. of crude dibenzalacetone, m.p. 105-107°, are obtained. Recrystallise from hot ethyl acetate (2-5 ml. per gram) or from hot rectified spirit. The recovery of pure dibenzalacetone, m.p. 112°, is about 80 per cent. 

Method 2. Equip a 1 htre thre necked flask with a double surface reflux condenser, a mechanical stirrer and a separatory funnel, and place 12 -2 g. of dry magnesium turnings, a crystal of iodine, 50 ml. of sodium-dried ether and 7-5 g. (5 ml.) of a-bromonaphthalene (Section IV,20) in the flask. If the reaction does not start immediately, reflux gently on a water bath until it does remove the water bath. Stir the mixture, and add a solution of 96 g. (65 ml.) of a-bromonaphthalene in 250 ml. of anhydrous ether from the separatory funnel at such a rate that the reaction is vmder control (1 -5-2 hours). Place a water bath under the flask and continue the stirring and refluxing for a further 30 minutes. The Grignard reagent collects as a heavy oil in the bottom of the flask ... 

A mixture of an acid anhydride and a ketone is saturated with boron trifluoride this is followed by treatment with aqueous sodium acetate. The quantity of boron trifluoride absorbed usually amounts to 100 mol per cent, (based on total mola of ketone and anhydride). Catalytic amounts of the reagent do not give satisfactory results. This is in line with the observation that the p diketone is produced in the reaction mixture as the boron difluoride complex, some of which have been isolated. A reasonable mechanism of the reaction postulates the conversion of the anhydride into a carbonium ion, such as (I) the ketone into an enol type of complex, such as (II) followed by condensation of (I) and (II) to yield the boron difluoride complex of the p diketone (III) ... 

The same disconnection can be used with simple epoxides when the sulphur ylid (A) is used a reagent for the synthon CH2. Draw a mechanism for the reaetion ... 

Nitration can be effected under a wide variety of conditions, as already indicated. The characteristics and kinetics exhibited by the reactions depend on the reagents used, but, as the mechanisms have been elucidated, the surprising fact has emerged that the nitronium ion is preeminently effective as the electrophilic species. The evidence for the operation of other electrophiles will be discussed, but it can be said that the supremacy of one electrophile is uncharacteristic of electrophilic substitutions, and bestows on nitration great utility as a model reaction. 

Because of the chemical similarity between benzoyl nitrate and the acetyl nitrate which is formed in solutions of nitric acid in acetic anhydride, it is tempting to draw analogies between the mechanisms of nitration in such solutions and in solutions of benzoyl nitrate in carbon tetrachloride. Similarities do exist, such as the production by these reagents of higher proportions of o-substituted products from some substrates than are produced by nitronium ions, as already mentioned and further discussed below. Further, in solutions in carbon tetrachloride of acetyl nitrate or benzoyl nitrate, the addition of acetic anhydride and benzoic anhydride respectively reduces the rate of reaction, implying that dinitrogen pentoxide may also be involved in nitration in acetic anhydride. However, for solutions in which acetic anhydride is also the solvent, the analogy should be drawn with caution, for in many ways the conditions are not comparable. Thus, carbon tetrachloride is a non-polar solvent, in which, as has been shown above,... 

Certain features of the addition of acetyl nitrate to olefins in acetic anhydride may be relevant to the mechanism of aromatic nitration by this reagent. The rapid reaction results in predominantly cw-addition to yield a mixture of the y -nitro-acetate and y5-nitro-nitrate. The reaction was facilitated by the addition of sulphuric acid, in which case the 3rield of / -nitro-nitrate was reduced, whereas the addition of sodium nitrate favoured the formation of this compound over that of the acetate. As already mentioned ( 5.3. i), a solution of nitric acid (c. i 6 mol 1 ) in acetic anhydride prepared at — 10 °C would yield 95-97 % of the nitric acid by precipitation with urea, whereas from a similar solution prepared at 20-25 °C and cooled rapidly to —10 °C only 30% of the acid could be recovered. The difference between these values was attributed to the formation of acetyl nitrate. A solution prepared at room... 

Stereoselectivities of 99% are also obtained by Mukaiyama type aldol reactions (cf. p. 58) of the titanium enolate of Masamune s chired a-silyloxy ketone with aldehydes. An excess of titanium reagent (s 2 mol) must be used to prevent interference by the lithium salt formed, when the titanium enolate is generated via the lithium enolate (C. Siegel, 1989). The mechanism and the stereochemistry are the same as with the boron enolate. 

Antithetical connections (the reversal of synthetic cleavages) and rearrangements are indicated by a con or rcarr on the double-lined arrow. Here it is always practical to draw right away the reagents instead of synthons. A plausible reaction mechanism may, of course, always be indicated. 

Lithiation at C2 can also be the starting point for 2-arylatioii or vinylation. The lithiated indoles can be converted to stannanes or zinc reagents which can undergo Pd-catalysed coupling with aryl, vinyl, benzyl and allyl halides or sulfonates. The mechanism of the coupling reaction involves formation of a disubstituted palladium intermediate by a combination of ligand exchange and oxidative addition. Phosphine catalysts and salts are often important reaction components. 

Few examples of reactivity involving the electrophilic character of the Cn atom are reported. In some cases, a catalyst or reagent convens the neutral thione into a quaternary- salt (Scheme 40), the Ct of which is clearly electrophilic (205. 206), The mechanism of Raney Ni desul-... 

When unsubstituted, C-5 reacts with electrophilic reagents. Thus phosphorus pentachloride chlorinates the ring (36, 235). A hydroxy group in the 2-position activates the ring towards this reaction. 4-Methylthiazole does not react with bromine in chloroform (201, 236), whereas under the same conditions the 2-hydroxy analog reacts (55. 237-239. 557). Activation of C-5 works also for sulfonation (201. 236), nitration (201. 236. 237), Friede 1-Crafts reactions (201, 236, 237, 240-242), and acylation (243). However, iodination fails (201. 236). and the Gatterman or Reimer-Tieman reactions yield only small amounts of 4-methyl-5-carboxy-A-4-thiazoline-2-one. Recent kinetic investigations show that 2-thiazolones are nitrated via a free base mechanism. A 2-oxo substituent increases the rate of nitration at the 5-position by a factor of 9 log... 

The use of a reagent bearing a basic center or the addition of a base to the reaction mixture was recognized as necessary to prevent the acid-catalyzed elimination of the elements of water from the intermediates. Since the publication of this work, a number of similar intermediates have been isolated from thioamides and a-halogeno carbonyl compounds (608, 609, 619, 739, 754, 801), and as a result of kinetic studies, the exact mechanism of this reaction has been well established (739, 821). 

In many cases, the a-haloketone does not appear to be an intermediate in this reaction, since reagents such as sulfur trioxide, sulfuric, or 60% nitric add lead to 2-aminothiazole but with lower yields (11 to 43%). Formamidine disulfide [-S-C(=NH)NH2]2, a product of the oxidation of thiourea, seems to be the intermediate in this reaction, since upon treatment with ketones, it gives 2-aminothiazole (604). However, the true mechanism of this reaction has not yet been completely elucidated. 

Thionyl chloride and phosphorus tribromide are specialized reagents used to bring about particular functional group transformations For this reason we won t present the mechanisms by which they convert alcohols to alkyl halides but instead will limit our selves to those mechanisms that have broad applicability and enhance our knowledge of fundamental principles In those instances you will find that a mechanistic understand mg IS of great help m organizing the reaction types of organic chemistry... 

The scope of electrophilic aromatic substitution is quite large both the aromatic com pound and the electrophilic reagent are capable of wide variation Indeed it is this breadth of scope that makes electrophilic aromatic substitution so important Elec trophilic aromatic substitution is the method by which substituted derivatives of benzene are prepared We can gam a feeling for these reactions by examining a few typical exam pies m which benzene is the substrate These examples are listed m Table 12 1 and each will be discussed m more detail m Sections 12 3 through 12 7 First however let us look at the general mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution... 

The electrophilic site of an acyl cation is its acyl carbon An electrostatic poten tial map of the acyl cation from propanoyl chloride (Figure 12 8) illustrates nicely the concentration of positive charge at the acyl carbon as shown by the blue color The mechanism of the reaction between this cation and benzene is analogous to that of other electrophilic reagents (Figure 12 9)... 

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