Oxocarbenium

The cationic ring opening polymerization of oxolane (THF) or of N-substituted aziridines can be initiated by oxocarbenium salts [42]. The methacrylic ester unsaturation is insensitive to cationic sites, and polyoxolanes (poly-THF) macromonomers are obtained in good yields. 

With respect to the initiation of cationic chain polymerizations, the reaction of chlorine-terminated azo compounds with various silver salts has been thoroughly studied. ACPC, a compound often used in condensation type reactions discussed previously, was reacted with Ag X , X, being BF4 [10,61] or SbFa [11,62]. This reaction resulted in two oxocarbenium cations, being very suitable initiating sites for cationic polymerization. Thus, poly(tetrahydrofuran) with Mn between 3 x 10 and 4 x lO containing exactly one central azo group per molecule was synthesized [62a]. Furthermore, N-... 

This polymeric oxocarbenium salt readily initiates the cationic ring opening polymerization of oxolane to produce a polystyrene-polyTHF block copolymer. Molecular weight control is provided, polydispersity is narrow and compositional heterogeneity is small59). 

These results indicate that, during thermolyses of fructose-containing saccharides, di-D-fructose dianhydrides are formed readily, but subsequent isomerization is extremely slow—even in the presence of added acid. However, under these conditions, the protonating power of any acid is moot. At the high temperatures used, residual water would be driven off rapidly, unless the reaction vessel is pressurized therefore, reaction occurs in the anhydrous melt. It is presumably protonation of one of the ring oxygen atoms in the dianhydrides that constitutes the first step in isomerization, followed by scission of a C-O bond to yield one of the oxocarbenium ion intermediates postulated in Refs. 31 and 80. Such ions have also been postulated as intermediates in the isomerization of spiroketals to a more-stable product. This latter isomerization can be extremely facile 104 dilute aqueous acid,120 or non-aqueous Lewis-acid conditions121 have been used to effect such transformations. 

Keywords Cyanohydrin acetonide alkylations. Reductive decyanations, Oxocarbenium ions. Reductive lithiation... 

Axial addition to oxocarbenium ions derived from 1,3-dioxanes provides protected a f/-l,3-diols. Our group has developed 4-acetoxy-1,3-dioxanes as oxocarbenium ion precursors. This general strategy for the convergent preparation of anfz-l,3-diols complements cyanohydrin acetonide methodology, which gives access to sy -l,3-diol synthons (Sect. 2). 

Fig. 5. Synclinal approach of crotyl silanes onto oxocarbenium ions...

GC analysis revealed > 290 1 selectivity anti. syn) in the diethylzinc addition. The 4-acetoxy-l,3-dioxane 152 used in the above experiments was a 24 1 mixture of diastereomers, epimeric at the 2-position. This implies that the acetal stereocenter undergoes isomerization to the most stable oxocarbenium ion prior to reaction with Et2Zn. Conclusive evidence for this was obtained when submission of compound 156 to the identical conditions produced 155 as the major product (Eq. 26). 

A case similar to the slow, practically irreversible inhibition of jack bean a-D-mannosidase by swainsonine is represented by the interaction of castanospermine with isomaltase and rat-intestinal sucrase. Whereas the association constants for the formation of the enzyme-inhibitor complex were similar to those of other slow-binding glycosidase inhibitors (6.5 10 and 0.3 10 M s for sucrase and isomaltase, respectively), the dissociation constant of the enzyme-inhibitor complex was extremely low (3.6 10 s for sucrase) or could not be measured at all (isomaltase), resulting in a virtually irreversible inhibition. Danzin and Ehrhard discussed the strong binding of castanospermine in terms of the similarity of the protonated inhibitor to a D-glucosyl oxocarbenium ion transition-state, but were unable to give an explanation for the extremely slow dissociation of the enzyme-inhibitor complex. 

Aubele et al. studied the aqueous Prins cyclization using cyclic unsaturated acetals as oxocarbenium ion progenitors and allylsilanes are used as nucleophiles. Cyclizations proceed efficiently inside Lewis acidic micelles (of cerium salt) in water. A variety of vinyl- and aryl-substituted tetrahydropyrans with excellent stereocontrol was obtained (Eq. 3.26).113... 

However, there are several experimental observations which are against an interpretation of the reaction as being a one-step C—C cleavage process which would give rise to the formation of the relatively unstable a-oxocarbenium ion 28. 

The oxocarbenium perchlorate C(CH20CH2CH2C0+C104 )4 was employed as a tetrafunctional initiator for the synthesis of PTHF 4-arm stars [146]. The living ends were subsequently reacted either with sodium bromoacetate or bromoisobutyryl chloride. The end-capping reaction was not efficient in the first case (lower than 45%). Therefore, the second procedure was the method of choice for the synthesis of the bromoisobutyryl star-shaped macroinitiators. In the presence of CuCl/bpy the ATRP of styrene was initiated in bulk, leading to the formation of (PTHF-fc-PS)4 star-block copolymers. Further addition of MMA provided the (PTHF-fr-PS-fc-PMMA)4 star-block terpolymers. Relatively narrow molecular weight distributions were obtained with this synthetic procedure. 

Tertiary aliphatic carbocations 85 Ring-substituted 1-phenylethyl carbocations 86 Cumyl and di-orf/io-methylcumyl carbocations 91 a,a-Diphenyl carbocations 95 Oxocarbenium ions 95... 

The observation of a primary solvent deuterium isotope effect (kH/fa>) = 2-4 on the specific acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of vinyl ethers provides evidence for reaction by rate-determining protonation of the alkene.69 Values of kHikD 1 are expected if alkene hydration proceeds by rate-determining addition of solvent to an oxocarbenium ion intermediate, since there is no motion of a solvent hydron at the transition state for this step. However, in the latter case, determination of the solvent isotope effect on the reaction of the fully protonated substrate is complicated by the competing exchange of deuterium from solvent into substrate (see above). 

A value of kjkp = 17 000 has been determined for partitioning of the acetophenone oxocarbenium ion [12+] in water.15,16 It is not possible to estimate an equilibrium constant for the addition of water to [12+], because of the instability of the hemiketal product of this reaction. However, kinetic and thermodynamic parameters have been determined for the reaction of [12+] with methanol to form protonated acetophenone dimethyl ketal [12]-OMeH+ and for loss of a proton to form a-methoxystyrene [13] in water (Scheme 10).15,16 Substitution of these rate and equilibrium constants into equation (3) gives values of AMeoH = 6.5 kcal mol-1 and Ap = 13.8 kcal mol-1 for the intrinsic... 

The hydration of [27] has been reported to proceed by rate-determining hydration of an oxocarbenium ion intermediate.107 However, studies of compounds with structural features common to [27],108-110 and a reinvestigation of the mechanism for hydrolysis of [27] have demonstrated that protonation of the vinylic carbon of [27] is irreversible.70... 

The value of kjkp = 17000 for partitioning of the acetophenone oxocarbenium ion [12+] between deprotonation and nucleophilic addition of water1516... 

We suggest that the substitution of an a-oxygen by a a-sulfur or a-selenium at an oxocarbenium ion has several effects on the reactivity of the carbocation, each of which contributes to the large decrease in value of k%jkp for partitioning of the carbocation ... 

The substitution of an a-oxygen by an a-sulfur or an a-selenium results in a decrease in ks/kp for partitioning of oxocarbenium ions between addition of solvent and deprotonation. The largest effect is observed for the a-selenium substitution. These changes are probably the result of several different effects on carbocation reactivity, each of which contributes to the observed substituent effect on kjkp. 

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