Modena

Few other reactions of series of substituted pyridines have been investigated extensively. Dondoni, Modena, and Todesco have measured the rate of N-oxidation of a limited series of pyridines and found a good correlation with normal u-values with a p-value of — 2.23. The A-alkylation of pyridines with alkyl iodides in nitrobenzene has been studied by Brown and Cahn and by Clarke and Rothwell. Unfortunately, the only data available are for the parent compound and for alkyl derivatives, and, since the a-values for the various alkyl groups in a given position are substantially constant, this leaves a correlation of only three independent points. However, the rates of A-alkylation of the j8- and y-alkyl derivatives are so nearly equal that it appears as if no correlation existed. Clarke and Rothwell have also studied the alkylation with allyl bromide in nitromethane at various temperatures, and in this case a more extensive series is available. The authors state that no overall Hammett correlation is obtained however, the j8-substituted derivatives fall on one straight line and the y-derivatives on another one with a different slope. The data are shown in Fig. 2. The line for the j8-compounds, p = — 2.53 0.31, r = 0.95, is seen not to be very good the line for the y-derivatives, p = — 1.42 0.06, r = 0.99, is much more satisfactory. It does not seem likely that the discrepancy is due to the intervention of resonance effects, since in this case one would expect the correlation for the y-derivatives to be poorer than that for the j8-analogs. More extensive studies with a wider variety of substituents would seem very desirable. 

Italian cities of Genoa and Parma are lighted by kerosine from an oil well in Modena. 

Significant improvements in asymmetric oxidations were made by Modena and, especially, by Kagan, and their coworkers. Both groups used chiral peroxotitanium complexes patterned after the Sharpless reagent as the oxidants. 

A closely related asymmetric synthesis of chiral sulphoxides, which involves a direct oxidation of the parent sulphides by t-butylhydroperoxide in the presence of metal catalyst and diethyl tartrate, was also reported by Modena and Di Furia and their coworkers-28-7,288 jjje effect 0f the reaction parameters such as metal catalyst, chiral tartrate and solvent on the optical yield does not follow a simple pattern. Generally, the highest optical purities (up to 88%) were observed when reactions were carried out using Ti(OPr-i)4 as a metal catalyst in 1,2-dichloroethane. 

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