Quaternary Thiazolium Salts Formation

In all its reactions the lone pair of thiazole is less reactive than that of pyridine. Table 1-61 shows three sets of physicochemical data that illustrate this difference. These are (1) the thermodynamic basicity, which is three orders of magnitude lower for thiazole than for pyridine (2) the enthalpy of reaction with BF3 in nitrobenzene solution, which is 10% lower for thiazole than for pyridine and (3) the specific rate of quaterni-zation by methyl iodide in acetone at 40°C, which is about 50% lower for 

TABLE 1-61. PHYSICOCHEMICAL DATA FOR SOME REACTIONS OF THIAZOLE AND PYRIDINE 

Although isothiazole (pK = 1.90) is less basic than thiazole, its rale of quaternization by dinitrophenyl acetate in water at 52°C is approximately 2.5 times higher (447). This deviation from the Bronsted relationship (A log k - 0.ApK, with positive) is interpreted as a consequence of the or effect of the adjacent sulfur lone pair in isothiazole that is responsible for its higher nucleophilicity (448, 449). 

The same situation is observed in the series of alkyl-substituted derivatives. Electron-donating alkyl substituents induce an activating effect on the basicity and the nucleophilicity of the nitrogen lone pair that can be counterbalanced by a deactivating and decelerating effect resulting from the steric interaction of ortho substituents. This aspect of the reactivity of thiazole derivatives has been well investigated (198, 215, 446, 452-456) and is discussed in Chapter HI. 

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Studies on thiamine (vitamin Bi) catalyzed formation of acyloins from aliphatic aldehydes and on thiamine or thiamine diphosphate catalyzed decarboxylation of pyruvate have established the mechanism for the catalytic activity of 1,3-thiazolium salts in carbonyl condensation reactions. In the presence of bases, quaternary thiazolium salts are transformed into the ylide structure (2), the ylide being able to exert a cat ytic effect resembling that of the cyanide ion in the benzoin condensation (Scheme 2). Like cyanide, the zwitterion (2), formed by the reaction of thiazolium salts with base, is nucleophilic and reacts at the carbonyl group of aldehy s. The resultant intermediate can undergo base-catalyzed proton... 

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