Methyl iodide, solvent effect

Lin, C.C. (1968). The Isotopic Exchange of Iodine Atoms between Methyl Iodide and Tetrabutylammonium Iodide. Solvent Effects, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Chemistry, University of New Mexico. 

The leaving group in the alkylating reagent has a major effect on whether C- or O-alkylation occurs. In the case of the lithium enolate of acetophenone, for example, C-alkylation is predominant with methyl iodide, but C- and O-alkylation occur to approximately equal extents with dimethyl sulfate. The C- versus O-alkylation ratio has also been studied for the potassium salt of ethyl acetoacetate as a function of both solvent and leaving group. ... 

Other measures of nucleophilicity have been proposed. Brauman et al. studied Sn2 reactions in the gas phase and applied Marcus theory to obtain the intrinsic barriers of identity reactions. These quantities were interpreted as intrinsic nucleo-philicities. Streitwieser has shown that the reactivity of anionic nucleophiles toward methyl iodide in dimethylformamide (DMF) is correlated with the overall heat of reaction in the gas phase he concludes that bond strength and electron affinity are the important factors controlling nucleophilicity. The dominant role of the solvent in controlling nucleophilicity was shown by Parker, who found solvent effects on nucleophilic reactivity of many orders of magnitude. For example, most anions are more nucleophilic in DMF than in methanol by factors as large as 10, because they are less effectively shielded by solvation in the aprotic solvent. Liotta et al. have measured rates of substitution by anionic nucleophiles in acetonitrile solution containing a crown ether, which forms an inclusion complex with the cation (K ) of the nucleophile. These rates correlate with gas phase rates of the same nucleophiles, which, in this crown ether-acetonitrile system, are considered to be naked anions. The solvation of anionic nucleophiles is treated in Section 8.3. 

Then, ethyl methyl(3-benzoylphenyl)cyanoacetate employed as an intermediate material is prepared as follows The sodium derivative of ethyl (3-benzoylphenyl)cyanoacetate (131 g) is dissolved in anhydrous ethanol (2 liters). Methyl iodide (236 g) is added and the mixture is heated under reflux for 22 hours, and then concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure (10 mm Hg). The residue is taken up in methylene chloride (900 cc) and water (500 cc) and acidified with 4N hydrochloric acid (10 cc). The methylene chloride solution is decanted, washed with water (400 cc) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The methylene chloride solution is filtered through a column containing alumina (1,500 g). Elution is effected with methylene chloride (6 liters), and the solvent is evaporated under reduced pressure (10 mm Hg) to give ethyl methyl(3-benzoylphenyl)cyano-acetate (48 g) in the form of an oil. 

The beneficial effect of added phosphine on the chemo- and stereoselectivity of the Sn2 substitution of propargyl oxiranes is demonstrated in the reaction of substrate 27 with lithium dimethylcyanocuprate in diethyl ether (Scheme 2.9). In the absence of the phosphine ligand, reduction of the substrate prevailed and attempts to shift the product ratio in favor of 29 by addition of methyl iodide (which should alkylate the presumable intermediate 24 [8k]) had almost no effect. In contrast, the desired substitution product 29 was formed with good chemo- and anti-stereoselectivity when tri-n-butylphosphine was present in the reaction mixture [25, 31]. Interestingly, this effect is strongly solvent dependent, since a complex product mixture was formed when THF was used instead of diethyl ether. With sulfur-containing copper sources such as copper bromide-dimethyl sulfide complex or copper 2-thiophenecarboxylate, however, addition of the phosphine caused the opposite effect, i.e. exclusive formation of the reduced allene 28. Hence the course and outcome of the SN2 substitution show a rather complex dependence on the reaction partners and conditions, which needs to be further elucidated. 

The reaction of alcohols with CO can also be catalysed by palladium iodides, and various ligands or solvents. Acetic acid is prepared by the reaction of MeOH with CO in the presence of a catalyst system comprising a palladium compound, an ionic iodide compound, a sulfone solvent at conditions similar to those of the rhodium system (180 °C, 60 bar), and, in some cases, traces of a nickel-bipyridine compound were added. Sulfones or phosphine oxides play a stabilising role in preventing metal precipitation [26], Palladium(II) salts catalyse the carbonylation of methyl iodide in methanol to methyl acetate in the presence of an excess of iodide, even without amine or phosphine co-ligands platinum(II) salts are less effective [27],... 

A calculated transition energy used to assess the polarity of a solvent. The solvent ionizing capability directly affects the position of a peak, easily measured, in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum of the complex of an iodide ion with 2-methyl- or l-ethyl-4-carbomethoxypyridinium ion. Water has a Z value of 94.6, ethanol has a value of 79.6, dimethyl sulfoxide s value is 71.1, and benzene has a value of 54. A similar polarity scale, known as x(30) values, is related to the Z value scale Z = 1.41 t(30) -E 6.92. See Solvent Effects... 

The polarity of the solvent will influence different types of reactions in different ways, depending upon whether they involve ions, dipoles or polarisable molecules. At the simplest level, we can analyse the effects of the solvent in terms of the different degrees of solvation of species in the initial state and the transition state. For example, in the reaction between pyridine and methyl iodide (Equation 3.24) the reactants are separate neutral molecules, the products are separate fully formed ions, but the transition structure is a single molecular entity with an appreciable degree of polarity. 

Sometimes the effects of solvent may not be very great. 3-t-Butyl-6-dimethylaminopyridazine reacted with methyl iodide in acetonitrile to give a 63 37 ratio of 1- and 2-methiodides. The results in hexane, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and acetone were similar, and only in ethers [dimethoxy-methane, 79 21 tetrahydrofuran (THF), 84 16] did the product ratios vary to any extent, perhaps because the methylating agent in ethers is an oxonium salt (73ACS383). 

The role of solvent effects in quaternization is one of the first physical organic studies and this is due to Menschutkin (1879LA334). It shows an increase in relative rate from 1 to 742 on going from benzene to benzyl alcohol, which suggests no simple explanation. Typical ranges of solvent-dependent rate ratios are 15,700/1 (nitromethane/cyclohexane) in the alkylation of triethylamine by methyl iodide (68BSF2678), 1660/1 [dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)/carbon tetrachloride] in the reaction of l,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]-octane (DABCO) (5) with (2-bromoethyl)benzene (75JA7433) (Scheme 5),... 

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