Oxonium ions initiators

Treatment of phenylchalkogen substituted alkenyl alcohols with /-BuOK provided useful tetrahydrofurans stereoselectively <96JOC8200>. A concise synthesis of cis- and trans-theaspirones via oxonium ion-initiated pinacol ring expansion was developed <96JOCl 119>. 

The initiator used is important for copolymerizations between monomers containing different polymerizing functional groups. Basic differences in the propagating centers (oxonium ion, amide anion, carbocation, etc.) for different types of monomer preclude some copolymerizations. Even when two different monomer types undergo polymerization with similar propagating centers, there may not be complete compatibility in the two crossover reactions. For example, oxonium ions initiate cyclic amine polymerization, but ammonium ions do not initiate cyclic ether polymerization [Kubisa, 1996]. 

Initiation appears to be reasonably fast and complete. Both Rozen-berg (20) and Ofstead (18) have reported the preparation of polymers with a narrow molecular weight distribution using oxonium ion initiators. The oxonium ion can be formed in situ, but Rozenberg (20) has shown that if the catalyst is formed in situ the DP will be five to 10 times the value calculated from Equation 2. 

In the random copolymerization process, both types of active species should be able to participate in the cross-propagation reactions. This imposes certain limitations on the choice of comonomers in the cationic polymerization of heterocyclic monomers. Onium ions, being the active species of these polymerizations, differ considerably in reactivity thus, as already discussed, oxonium ions initiate the polymerization of cyclic amines, whereas ammonium ions do not initiate the polymerization of cyclic ethers and the corresponding cross-propagation reaction would not proceed ... 

Figure 11 Oxonium ion initiated cyclization modes of vinylsilanes...

Paquette, L. A. Oxonium ion-initiated pinacolic ring expansion reactions. Rec. Res. Dev. Chem. Sci. 1997,1, 1-16. 

A protonic acid derived from a suitable or desired anion would seem to be an ideal initiator, especially if the desired end product is a poly(tetramethylene oxide) glycol. There are, however, a number of drawbacks. The protonated THF, ie, the secondary oxonium ion, is less reactive than the propagating tertiary oxonium ion. This results in a slow initiation process. Also, in the case of several of the readily available acids, eg, CF SO H, FSO H, HCIO4, and H2SO4, there is an ion—ester equiUbrium with the counterion, which further reduces the concentration of the much more reactive ionic species. The reaction is illustrated for CF SO counterion as follows ... 

For counterions that can form esters with the growing oxonium ions, the kinetics of propagation are dominated by the rate of propagation of the macroions. For any given counterion, the proportion of macroions compared to macroesters varies with the solvent—monomer mixture and must be deterrnined independentiy before a kinetic analysis can be made. The macroesters can be considered to be in a state of temporary termination. When the proportion of macroions is known and initiation is sufftcientiy fast, equation 2 is satisfied. 

Nucleophilic addition of an alcohol to the carbonyl group initially yields a hydroxy ether called a hemiacetal, analogous to the gem diol formed by addition of water. HcmiacetaJs are formed reversibly, with the equilibrium normally favoring the carbonyl compound. In the presence of acid, however, a further reaction occurs. Protonation of the -OH group, followed by an El-like loss of water, leads to an oxonium ion, R2C=OR+, which undergoes a second nucleophilic addition of alcohol to yield the acetal. The mechanism is shown in Figure 19.12. 

Of recent interest is the living cation of tetrahydrofuran. The oxonium ion with suitable counter ions is stable and exists in equilibrium with the monomer47. Bifunctional initiators were found to produce the polytetrahydrofuran dication. 

The use of iodotrimethylsilane for this purpose provides an effective alternative to known methods. Thus the reaction of primary and secondary methyl ethers with iodotrimethylsilane in chloroform or acetonitrile at 25—60° for 2—64 hours affords the corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers in high yield. The alcohols may be liberated from the trimethylsilyl ethers by methanolysis. The mechanism of the ether cleavage is presumed to involve initial formation of a trimethylsilyl oxonium ion which is converted to the silyl ether by nucleophilic attack of iodide at the methyl group. tert-Butyl, trityl, and benzyl ethers of primary and secondary alcohols are rapidly converted to trimethylsilyl ethers by the action of iodotrimethylsilane, probably via heterolysis of silyl oxonium ion intermediates. The cleavage of aryl methyl ethers to aryl trimethylsilyl ethers may also be effected more slowly by reaction with iodotrimethylsilane at 25—50° in chloroform or sulfolane for 12-125 hours, with iodotrimethylsilane at 100—110° in the absence of solvent, " and with iodotrimethylsilane generated in situ from iodine and trimcthylphenylsilane at 100°. ... 

Trimethylsilyl iodide (TMSI) cleaves methyl ethers in a period of a few hours at room temperature.89 Benzyl and f-butyl systems are cleaved very rapidly, whereas secondary systems require longer times. The reaction presumably proceeds via an initially formed silyl oxonium ion. 

To be of maximum synthetic value, the generation of the cationic site that initiates cyclization must involve mild reaction conditions. Formic acid and stannic chloride are effective reagents for cyclization of polyunsaturated allylic alcohols. Acetals generate oxonium ions in acidic solution and can also be used to initiate the cyclization of... 

A tandem combination initiated by a Mukaiyama reaction generates an oxonium ion that cyclizes to give a tetrahydropyran rings.48... 

Attempts were made to quantitatively treat the elementary process in electrode reactions since the 1920s by J. A. V. Butler (the transfer of a metal ion from the solution into a metal lattice) and by J. Horiuti and M. Polanyi (the reduction of the oxonium ion with formation of a hydrogen atom adsorbed on the electrode). In its initial form, the theory of the elementary process of electron transfer was presented by R. Gurney, J. B. E. Randles, and H. Gerischer. Fundamental work on electron transfer in polar media, namely, in a homogeneous redox reaction as well as in the elementary step in the electrode reaction was made by R. A. Marcus (Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1992), R. R. Dogonadze, and V. G. Levich. 

Chojnowski and co-workers have studied the polymerization of octamethyltetrasila-l,4-dioxane, a monomer more basic than cyclosiloxanes, which is capable of forming more stable oxonium ions, and thus being a useful model to study the role of silyloxonium ions.150-152 In recent work, these authors used Olah s initiating system and observed the formation of oxonium ion and its transformation to the corresponding tertiary silyloxonium ion at the chain ends.153 The 29Si NMR spectroscopic data and theoretical calculations were consistent with the postulated mechanism. Stannett and co-workers studied an unconventional process of radiation-initiated polymerization of cyclic siloxanes and proposed a mechanism involving the intermediate formation of silicenium ions solvated by the siloxane... 

In the previous section I have described some researches which originated from me wishing to test certain alleged observations and various ideas which seemed questionable, and therefore that work has mainly a reactive character. In the present section I will outline some proactive researches, that is investigations which started with me at Keele and which initiated new lines of enquiry. It so happens that many of the researches of this type were concerned with the polymerisation of dioxacycloalkanes, the properties of oxonium ions, the polarography of carbenium and oxonium ions and various kinds of BIE, and they therefore fall outside the scope of this review but there were enough proactive researches on alkenes to make a story of steadily evolving ideas. 

However, for a variety of reasons it seems extremely unlikely that the same mechanism is applicable to the polymerisation of cyclic formals and acetals. One reason is that these compounds cannot be co-polymerised with cyclic ethers another is that the polymers are predominantly cyclic, with the number of end-groups far smaller than the number of growing chains. One mechanism which has been proposed and which accounts for most of the observations involves formation of an oxonium ion (X) from the initiator and the monomer, and a subsequent propagation by a ring-expansion reaction (see 13). 

Further, because there had been so little work on the physical chemistry of the oxonium ions involved, it seemed appropriate to also study other aspects of their chemistry. These episodic and mainly practical researches are not presented here, but they included a direct demonstration by conductivity measurements of the solvation of the EtsO+ ion by Et20 and DCA and the effect of this on the dissociation constant of Et30+ salts 77. Also, because of the frequent use of theses salts as polymerisation initiators by others, we made a detailed study of their spontaneous decomposition in solution which had been known since their discovery by Meerwein 74, 110. ... 

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