Kinetic isotope effect reactions

A substantial body of data, including reaction kinetics, isotope effects, and structure-reactivity relationships, has permitted a thorough understanding of the steps in aromatic nitration. As anticipated from the general mechanism for electrophilic substitution, there are three distinct steps ... 

Isotopic scrambling random incorporation of an isotopic substituent (usually deuterium) during a reaction Kinetic isotope effect the ratio kWlcD of the rates of reaction of the normal substrate and the deuterated substrate. If a bond to deuterium is broken in the rate-determining step, the ratio is usually greater than 1... 

For this reaction, kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) were determined by competition reactions between deuterated and nondeuterated substrates 19 with olefin 20 to obtain insight into the reaction mechanism (Scheme 2.6). Under solvent-free conditions in a ball mill, a KIE value of 1.77 was obtained, suggesting a reaction mechanism in which the metal insertion into the C—H bond of the substrate is not turnover... 

The content of the isotopes and is a criterion of the origin of the food or of individual constituents, e. g., sugar used to sweeten fruit juice. The method is based on the fact that isotopomeric molecules, e. g., C02 and C02, react at different rates in biochemical and chemical reactions (kinetic isotope effect). In general, the molecules with the heavier isotope react slower, so that this isotope is enriched in the products. 

One way in which the step of the reaction in which the proton is lost might be slowed down, and perhaps made kinetically important (with i), would be to carry out nitration at high acidities. Nitration of pentadeuteronitrobenzene in 97-4% sulphuric acid failed to reveal such an effect. In fact, nitrations under a variety of conditions fail to show a kinetic isotope effect. 

The cases of pentamethylbenzene and anthracene reacting with nitronium tetrafluoroborate in sulpholan were mentioned above. Each compound forms a stable intermediate very rapidly, and the intermediate then decomposes slowly. It seems that here we have cases where the first stage of the two-step process is very rapid (reaction may even be occurring upon encounter), but the second stages are slow either because of steric factors or because of the feeble basicity of the solvent. The course of the subsequent slow decomposition of the intermediate from pentamethylbenzene is not yet fully understood, but it gives only a poor yield of pentamethylnitrobenzene. The intermediate from anthracene decomposes at a measurable speed to 9-nitroanthracene and the observations are compatible with a two-step mechanism in which k i k E and i[N02" ] > / i. There is a kinetic isotope effect (table 6.1), its value for the reaction in acetonitrile being near to the... 

By protodetritiation of the thiazolium salt (152) and of 2 tritiothiamine (153) Kemp and O Brien (432) measured a kinetic isotope effect, of 2.7 for (152). They evaluated the rate of protonation of the corresponding yiides and found that the enzyme-mediated reaction of thiamine with pyruvate is at least 10 times faster than the maximum rate possible with 152. The scale of this rate ratio establishes the presence within the enzyme of a higher concentration of thiamine ylide than can be realized in water. Thus a major role of the enzyme might be to change the relative thermodynamic stabilities of thiamine and its ylide (432). 

A special type of substituent effect which has proved veiy valuable in the study of reaction mechanisms is the replacement of an atom by one of its isotopes. Isotopic substitution most often involves replacing protium by deuterium (or tritium) but is applicable to nuclei other than hydrogen. The quantitative differences are largest, however, for hydrogen, because its isotopes have the largest relative mass differences. Isotopic substitution usually has no effect on the qualitative chemical reactivity of the substrate, but often has an easily measured effect on the rate at which reaction occurs. Let us consider how this modification of the rate arises. Initially, the discussion will concern primary kinetic isotope effects, those in which a bond to the isotopically substituted atom is broken in the rate-determining step. We will use C—H bonds as the specific topic of discussion, but the same concepts apply for other elements. 

The details of proton-transfer processes can also be probed by examination of solvent isotope effects, for example, by comparing the rates of a reaction in H2O versus D2O. The solvent isotope effect can be either normal or inverse, depending on the nature of the proton-transfer process in the reaction mechanism. D3O+ is a stronger acid than H3O+. As a result, reactants in D2O solution are somewhat more extensively protonated than in H2O at identical acid concentration. A reaction that involves a rapid equilibrium protonation will proceed faster in D2O than in H2O because of the higher concentration of the protonated reactant. On the other hand, if proton transfer is part of the rate-determining step, the reaction will be faster in H2O than in D2O because of the normal primary kinetic isotope effect of the type considered in Section 4.5. 

A number of studies of the acid-catalyzed mechanism of enolization have been done. The case of cyclohexanone is illustrative. The reaction is catalyzed by various carboxylic acids and substituted ammonium ions. The effectiveness of these proton donors as catalysts correlates with their pK values. When plotted according to the Bronsted catalysis law (Section 4.8), the value of the slope a is 0.74. When deuterium or tritium is introduced in the a position, there is a marked decrease in the rate of acid-catalyzed enolization h/ d 5. This kinetic isotope effect indicates that the C—H bond cleavage is part of the rate-determining step. The generally accepted mechanism for acid-catalyzed enolization pictures the rate-determining step as deprotonation of the protonated ketone ... 

The distribution of a-bromoketones formed in the reaction of acetylcyclopentane with bromine was studied as a function of deuterium substitution. On the basis of the data given below, calculate the primaiy kinetic isotope effect for enolization of... 

Consider the kinetic isotope effect that would be observed in the reaction of semicarbazide with benzaldehyde ... 

Table 10.6. Kinetic Isotope Effects in Some Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution Reactions...

When one of the ortho hydrogens is replaced by deuterium, the rate drops from 1.53 X 10 " s to 1.38 X lO s. What is the kinetic isotope effect The product from such a reaction contains 60% of the original deuterium. Give a mechanism for this reaction that is consistent with both the kinetic isotope effect and the deuterium retention data. 

Consider a reactant molecule in which one atom is replaced by its isotope, for example, protium (H) by deuterium (D) or tritium (T), C by C, etc. The only change that has been made is in the mass of the nucleus, so that to a very good approximation the electronic structures of the two molecules are the same. This means that reaction will take place on the same potential energy surface for both molecules. Nevertheless, isotopic substitution can result in a rate change as a consequence of quantum effects. A rate change resulting from an isotopic substitution is called a kinetic isotope effect. Such effects can provide valuable insights into reaction mechanism. 

We now carry the argument over to transition state theory. Suppose that in the transition state the bond has been completely broken then the foregoing argument applies. No real transition state will exist with the bond completely broken—this does not occur until the product state—so we are considering a limiting case. With this realization of the very approximate nature of the argument, we make estimates of the maximum kinetic isotope effect. We write the Arrhenius equation for the R-H and R-D reactions... 

A kinetic isotope effect that is a result of the breaking of the bond to the isotopic atom is called a primary kinetic isotope effect. Equation (6-88) is, therefore, a very simple and approximate relationship for the maximum primary kinetic isotope effect in a reaction in which only bond cleavage occurs. Table 6-5 shows the results obtained when typical vibrational frequencies are used in Eq. (6-88). Evidently the maximum isotope effect is predicted to be very substantial. 

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