Nucleophilicity steric hindrance

The behavior of the different amines depends on at least four factors basicity, nucleophilicity, steric hindrance and solvation. In the literature (16), 126 aliphatic and aromatic amines have been classified by a statistical analysis of the data for the following parameters molar mass (mm), refractive index (nD), density (d), boiling point (bp), molar volume, and pKa. On such a premise, a Cartesian co-ordinate graph places the amines in four quadrants (16). In our preliminary tests, amines representative of each quadrant have been investigated, and chosen by consideration of their toxicity, commercial availability and price (Table 1). 

In Summary We have identified three principal factors that affect the competition between substitution and elimination basicity of the nucleophile, steric hindrance in the haloalkane, and steric bulk around the nucleophilic (basic) atom. 

A DMG requires a contrasting mix of properties while it needs to co-ordinate effectively to the strong base used e.g., allg llithium reagents), it also needs to be resistant to nucleophilic attack as the base also has the potential to act as a nucleophile. Steric hindrance and/or electronic features are usually incorporated to resolve this dichotomy. Furthermore, DMGs should ideally have the ability to be converted easily to other functional groups, a task that is not trivial because they are inherently designed to withstand nucleophilic attack. 

The attack by a reagent of a molecule might be hampered by the presence of other atoms near the reaction site. The larger these atoms and the more are there, the higher is the geometric restriction, the steric hindrance, on reactivity. Figure 3-6e illustrates this for the attack of a nucleophile on the substrate in a nucleophilic aliphatic substitution reaction. 

The Peterson reaction has two more advantages over the Wittig reaction 1. it is sometimes less vulnerable to sterical hindrance, and 2. groups, which are susceptible to nucleophilic substitution, are not attacked by silylated carbanions. The introduction of a methylene group into a sterically hindered ketone (R.K. Boeckman, Jr., 1973) and the syntheses of olefins with sulfur, selenium, silicon, or tin substituents (D. Seebach, 1973 B.T. Grdbel, 1974, 1977) illustrate useful applications. The reaction is, however, more limited and time consuming than the Wittig reaction, since metallated silicon derivatives are difficult to synthesize and their reactions are rarely stereoselective (T.H. Chan, 1974 ... 

The rather unreactive chlorine of vinyl chloride can be displaced with nucleophiles by the catalytic action of PdCb. The conversion of vinyl chloride to vinyl acetate (797) has been studied extensively from an industrial standpoint[665 671]. DMF is a good solvent. 1,2-Diacetoxyethylene (798) is obtained from dichloroethylene[672]. The exchange reaction suffers steric hindrance. The alkenyl chloride 799 is displaced with an acetoxy group whereas 800 and 801 cannot be displaccd[673,674]. Similarly, exchange reactions of vinyl chloride with alcohols and amines have been carried out[668]. 

Having just learned that tertiary alkyl halides are practically inert to substitution by the Sn2 mechanism because of steric hindrance we might wonder whether they undergo nucleophilic substitution at all We 11 see m this section that they do but by a mecha nism different from 8 2... 

As crowding at the carbon that bears the leaving group decreases the rate of nude ophilic attack by the Lewis base increases A low level of steric hindrance to approach of the nucleophile is one of the special circumstances that permit substitution to pre dominate and primary alkyl halides react with alkoxide bases by an 8 2 mechanism m preference to E2... 

Because of the rapid ring opening by the nucleophile, ayiridinium salts cannot usually be isolated. However, in a few cases it is possible to isolate such compounds (54), eg, at low temperatures, when the ayiridinium salts ate sparingly soluble or where there is steric hindrance to substitution. Stable ethyleneiminium salts can be prepared by reaction of ethyleneimine with acids not containing nucleophilic anions, for example HBF (55). 

TT-Conjugating groups tend to favor attack at C, but the ratio of Ca. C attack depends strongly on a balance of steric and electronic factors arising from both substituent and nucleophile (Table 4). The results can be rationalized, to a first approximation, by assuming that with good vr-donors stabilization of the incipient carbocation in (50) offsets steric hindrance. 

Reactant structure will also influence the degree of nucleophilic solvent participation. Solvation is minimized by steric hindrance. The 2-adamantyl system is regarded as being a... 

The greater steric hindrance of the available nucleophilic center (nearly always at the 2-position) of the doubly bound units as opposed to the lower steric hindrance of at least one of the nucleophilic centers of the terminal units (a 4- or 6-position always available). The former is less reactive as a result of the increased steric hindrance. The latter are more reactive. 

The 13-ethyl-17-ketones, i.e., (63), have been found to be considerably less reactive than their 13-methyl counterparts towards acetylenic nucleophiles. The difference is attributed to the additional steric hindrance provided by the ethyl group. An attempt to introduce an ethynyl group into mc- 2>-isopropyl-3-methoxygona-l,3,5(10)-trien-17-one was unsuccessful even in ethylenediamine at 50°. However ethynylation of rac-13-isopropyl-3-methoxygona-1,3,5(10),8(14)-tetraen-17-one proceeded smoothly at room temperature to afford the 17a-ethynyl compound in 60% yield. ... 

The reactivity of aldehydes and ketones toward cyanide may be influenced by the steric and/or electronic properties of the carbonyl substituents, X. Examine spacefilling models of formaldehyde (X=H), acetone (X=Me), and benzophenone (X=Ph). Which compound offers the least steric hindrance to nucleophilic attack The most ... 

Ar-Cl), as compared to their reactivities with an anionic nucleophile. The reaction of 108 with trimethylamine at the pam-posi-tion contrasts with that of 2,4-dichloronitrobenzene which reacts with a large variety of nucleophiles at the oriA.o-position. Compared to the (2,6-dinitrophenyl)trimethylammonium ion, steric hindrance to activating resonance would be much less in 2-trimethyl-ammoniopyrimidine. 

The rate of reaction of a series of nucleophiles with a single substrate is related to the basicity when the nucleophilic atom is the same and the nucleophiles are closely related in chemical type. Thus, although the rates parallel the basicities of anilines (Tables VII and VIII) as a class and of pyridine bases (Tables VII and VIII) as a class, the less basic anilines are much more reactive. This difference in reactivity is based on a lower energy of activation as is the reactivity sequence piperidine > ammonia > aniline. Further relationships among the nucleophiles found in this work are morpholine vs. piperidine (Table III) methoxide vs. 4-nitrophenoxide (Table II) and alkoxides vs. piperidine (Tables II, III, and VIII). Hydrogen bonding in the transition state and acid catalysis increase the rates of reaction of anilines. Reaction rates of the pyridine bases are decreased by steric hindrance between their alpha hydrogens and the substituents or... 

Halopyridines undergo self-quaternization on standing while the less reactive 2-halo isomers do not. However, more is involved here than the relative reactivity at the ring-positions. The reaction rate will depend on the relative riucleophilicity of the attack-ing pyridine-nitrogens (4-chloropyridine is more basic) and on the much lower steric hindrance at the 4-position. Related to this self-quatemization are the reactions of pyridine and picolines as nucleophiles with 4-chloro- and 2-chloro-3-nitropyridines. The 4-isomer (289) is. again the more reactive by 10-30-fold (Table VII, p. 276). 

Dimerization is markedly subject to steric hindrance, thus, whereas 3-n-propylindole dimerizes readily, neither 3-isopropyl- nor Z-tert-butyl-indole dimerizes. This failure is most probably the result of steric hindrance of approach of the electrophilic reagent to position 2 by the bulky 3-substituent in the unprotonated molecule. On the other hand, models show that approach of a nucleophilic reagent to position 2 of a 3-protonated molecule is quite open, it should, there-... 

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