Nucleophiles negatively charged

Two general mechanisms are usually drawn for nucleophilic addition, depending on the nucleophile (negatively charged versus neutral) and the presence or absence of an acid catalyst. With negatively charged nucleophiles, nucleophilic addition follows the two-step process first discussed in Chapter 20—nucleophilic attack followed by protonation, as shown in Mechanism 21.1. 

In common with some other molecules, water can be either a nucleophile or an electrophile. In cases like this you can work out which it must be by looking at the other reagent here, the anion has to be a nucleophile. Negatively charged molecules are never electrophiles. 

An interesting case are the a,/i-unsaturated ketones, which form carbanions, in which the negative charge is delocalized in a 5-centre-6-electron system. Alkylation, however, only occurs at the central, most nucleophilic position. This regioselectivity has been utilized by Woodward (R.B. Woodward, 1957 B.F. Mundy, 1972) in the synthesis of 4-dialkylated steroids. This reaction has been carried out at high temperature in a protic solvent. Therefore it yields the product, which is formed from the most stable anion (thermodynamic control). In conjugated enones a proton adjacent to the carbonyl group, however, is removed much faster than a y-proton. If the same alkylation, therefore, is carried out in an aprotic solvent, which does not catalyze tautomerizations, and if the temperature is kept low, the steroid is mono- or dimethylated at C-2 in comparable yield (L. Nedelec, 1974). 

Surprisingly carbonyl-substituted carbanions of phosphonates, in which the negative charge is delocalized over two oxygen atoms, are much more nucleophilic than the corresponding phosphoranes. This effea has first been observed by Homer, and has often been utilized in the synthesis of acylated olefins (R.D. Clark, 1975). 

CycJohexyl free radicals, generated by photolysis of t-butyl peroxide in excess cyclohexane, also possess nucleophilic character (410). Their attack on thiazole in neutral medium leads to an increase of the 2-isomer and a decrease of 5-isomer relative to the phenylation reaction, in agreement with the positive charge of the 2-position and the negative charge of the 5-position (6). 

Cyanide ion ( C = N ) The negatively charged carbon atom of cyanide ion IS usually the site of its nucleophilic character Use of cyanide ion as a nucleophile permits the extension of a carbon chain by carbon-carbon bond formation The product is an alkyl cyanide or nitrile... 

Neutral Lewis bases such as water alcohols and carboxylic acids are much weaker nucleophiles than their conjugate bases When comparing species that have the same nucleophilic atom a negatively charged nucleophile is more reactive than a neutral one... 

The properties of organometallic compounds are much different from those of the other classes we have studied to this point Most important many organometallic com pounds are powerful sources of nucleophilic carbon something that makes them espe cially valuable to the synthetic organic chemist For example the preparation of alkynes by the reaction of sodium acetylide with alkyl halides (Section 9 6) depends on the presence of a negatively charged nucleophilic carbon m acetylide ion... 

A key step in the reaction mechanism appears to be nucleophilic attack on the alkyl halide by the negatively charged copper atom but the details of the mechanism are not well understood Indeed there is probably more than one mechanism by which cuprates react with organic halogen compounds Vinyl halides and aryl halides are known to be very unreactive toward nucleophilic attack yet react with lithium dialkylcuprates... 

Step 1 Nucleophilic attack by the negatively charged carbon of cyanide ion at the... 

Phthalimide with a of 8 3 can be quantitatively converted to its potassium salt with potassium hydroxide The potassium salt of phthalimide has a negatively charged nitrogen atom which acts as a nucleophile toward primary alkyl halides m a bimolecu lar nucleophilic substitution (Sn2) process... 

Nitrogen bears a portion of the negative charge in the anionic intermediate formed m the nucleophilic addition step m 4 chloropyndme but not m 3 chloropyndme... 

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