Methanol substituents determining reaction

Substituents on the 2- and 6-positions of phenol rings greatly influence QM reactivity. Reaction rates for QMs derived from several of the phenols, shown in Fig. 10.1, were determined in methanolic or aqueous solutions and are listed in Table 10.1. Replacing a tert-butyl substituent of BHT by a methyl group (i.e., BDMP-QM) increased the rate of hydration by 60-70-fold at pH 7.4 and this... 

The nucleophile in the S.v2 reactions between benzyldimethylphenylammonium nitrate and sodium para-substituted thiophenoxides in methanol at 20 °C (equation 42) can exist as a free thiophenoxide ion or as a solvent-separated ion-pair complex (equation 43)62,63. The secondary alpha deuterium and primary leaving group nitrogen kinetic isotope effects for these Sjv2 reactions were determined to learn how a substituent on the nucleophile affects the structure of the S.v2 transition state for the free ion and ion-pair reactions64. 

Structures have been determined for [Fe(gmi)3](BF4)2 (gmi = MeN=CHCF[=NMe), the iron(II) tris-diazabutadiene-cage complex of (79) generated from cyclohexanedione rather than from biacetyl, and [Fe(apmi)3][Fe(CN)5(N0)] 4F[20, where apmi is the Schiff base from 2-acetylpyridine and methylamine. Rate constants for mer fac isomerization of [Fe(apmi)3] " were estimated indirectly from base hydrolysis kinetics, studied for this and other Schiff base complexes in methanol-water mixtures. The attenuation by the —CH2— spacer of substituent effects on rate constants for base hydrolysis of complexes [Fe(sb)3] has been assessed for pairs of Schiff base complexes derived from substituted benzylamines and their aniline analogues. It is generally believed that iron(II) Schiff base complexes are formed by a template mechanism on the Fe " ", but isolation of a precursor in which two molecules of Schiff base and one molecule of 2-acetylpyridine are coordinated to Fe + suggests that Schiff base formation in the presence of this ion probably occurs by attack of the amine at coordinated, and thereby activated, ketone rather than by a true template reaction. ... 

Figure 2.5. Nucleophile selectivities determined from product analysis for the reactions of ring-suhstituted 1-phenylethyl derivatives (X-l-Y) with azide ion, acetate ion and methanol in 50 50 (v/v) water/trifluoroethanol. The selectivities are plotted against the appropriate Hammett substituent constant or a. Leaving group Y ( ) ring-suhstituted benzoates ( ) chloride (T) dimethyl sulfide (A) tosylate.

The effects of polar substituents on the alkaline hydrolysis of esters are well-established. Since the rate of the reaction is determined largely by the rate of addition of hydroxide ion to the carbonyl group of the ester, any substituent which withdraws electrons from the carbonyl group will increase the reactivity of the ester. The most accessible quantitative measure of the effect is the Hammett or Taft reaction constant, and a large number of measurements are available. Taft et al.2i0 found p = 2.53 for the base-catalyzed methanolysis of meta- and para-substituted (/)-menthyl benzoates, closely similar to the known value of p = 2.37 for the alkaline hydrolysis of substituted ethyl benzoates. Jones and Sloane s value239, obtained with five esters, of p = 2.41 for the methoxyl exchange reaction of substituted methyl benzoates in methanol, is almost identical. 

Experiments on the bromination of equilibrated ketone-acetal systems in methanol were also recently performed for substituted acetophenones (El-Alaoui, 1979 Toullec and El-Alaoui, 1979). Lyonium catalytic constants fit (57), but for most of the substituents the (fcA)m term is negligible and cannot be obtained with accuracy. However, the relative partial rates for the bromination of equilibrated ketone-acetal systems can be estimated. For a given water concentration, it was observed that the enol path is more important for 3-nitroacetophenone than for 4-methoxyacetophenone. In fact, the smaller the proportion of free ketone at equilibrium, the more the enol path is followed. From these results, it can be seen that the enol-ether path is predominant even if the acetal form is of minor importance. The proportions of the two competing routes must only depend on (i) the relative stabilities of the hydroxy-and alkyoxycarbenium ions, (ii) the relative reactivities of these two ions yielding enol and enol ether, respectively, and (iii) the ratio of alcohol and water concentrations which determines the relative concentrations of the ions at equilibrium. Since acetal formation is a dead-end in the mechanism, the amount of acetal has no bearing on the relative rates. Bromination, isotope exchange or another reaction can occur via the enol ether even in secondary and tertiary alcohols, i.e. when the acetal is not stable at all because of steric hindrance. 

The pattern you saw for epoxidation with peroxy-acids (more substituted alkenes react faster) is followed by bromination reactions too. The bromonium ion is a reactive intermediate, so the rate-determining step of the brominations is the bromination reaction itself. The chart shows the effect on the rate of reaction with bromine in methanol of increasing the number of alkyl substituents from none (ethylene) to four. Each additional alkene substituent produces an enormous increase in rate. The degree of branching (Me versus n-Bu versus t-Bu) within the substituents has a much smaller, negative effect (probably of steric origin) as does the geometry (E versus Z) and substitution pattern (1.1- S... 

When imidazole or methanol was introduced to the dichloromethane solution of 36, instantaneous decomposition of 36 and the epoxide formation were observed. Thus, in the presence of either methanol or imidazole, the rate-determining step in the reaction of 14 and olefin was changed to the formation of 36. Under these conditions, secondary deuterium kinetic isotope effects on epoxi-dation were examined by a- and /3-deuterio-p-chlorostyrenes. For both the a- and the /3-positions of styrene, kn/fco = 1 was observed. The isotope effect and substituent effect on the formation of 36 suggest that both the a- and /8-carbons remain planar (sp hybridized) at the transition state and that a positive charge forms on the a-carbon. Accordingly, the formation of an olefin cation radical by an electron transfer from the olefin to 14 is indicated in the formation of 36 (Scheme XX). 

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