Reactions in Hydroxylic Solvents

Sn2 reactions with anionic nucleophiles fall into this class, and observations are generally in accord with the qualitative prediction. Unusual effects may be seen in solvents of low dielectric constant where ion pairing is extensive, and we have already commented on the enhanced nucleophilic reactivity of anionic nucleophiles in dipolar aprotic solvents owing to their relative desolvation in these solvents. Another important class of ion-molecule reaction is the hydroxide-catalyzed hydrolysis of neutral esters and amides. Because these reactions are carried out in hydroxy lie solvents, the general medium effect is confounded with the acid-base equilibria of the mixed solvent lyate species. (This same problem occurs with Sn2 reactions in hydroxylic solvents.) This equilibrium is established in alcohol-water mixtures ... 

These results are by no means unrelated to the synthetic motivation of the earlier studies of alkylation reactions in CH2C12 as solvent. Comparisons of N and 5 values of alkenes and aromatics with those of hydroxylic solvents offer a guide to the conduct of Friedel-Crafts and other electrophilic carbon-carbon bond-making reactions in hydroxylic solvents. Not surprisingly, TFE is a particularly favorable solvent for such reactions and if allowance is made for a minor solvent dependence of N values for arenes and alkenes a good estimate of the likely feasibility of such reactions can be made.290 293... 

Roberts and Whiting developed a method for effecting the anhydrous hydrolysis of esters and nitriles in DMSO. A solution of sodium methylsulfinylmethide is prepared from sodium hydride and DMSO and titrated with a solution of an appropriate amount of water in DMSO, using triphenylmethane as indicator. This produces a fine suspension of sodium hydroxide which hydrolyzes ethyl benzoate very rapidly at room temperature. As compared with reactions in hydroxylic solvents, rates are enhanced by a factor of 10 -10 . Benzonitrile is hydrolyzed to benzamide. Methyl and ethyl mesitoates are hydrolyzed readily at 25°. 

The nucleophilicity of anions, in general, depends very much on the degree of solvation. Much of the data that form the basis for quantitative measurement of nucleophilicity is for reactions in hydroxylic solvents. In protic, hydrogen-bonding solvents, anions are subject to strong interactions with solvent. Hard nucleophiles are more strongly solvated by protic solvents than soft nucleophiles, and this difference contributes to the greater nucleophilicity of soft anions in such solvents. Nucleophilic substitution reactions often occur more readily in polar aprotic solvents than they do in protic solvents. This is because anions are weakly solvated in such... 

Proton transfer reactions are often depicted as simple bimolecular processes in which a proton is transferred directly from the acid to the base. However, with the development of proton magnetic resonance techniques for measuring the rates of fast reactions, it has become clear that many proton transfer reactions in hydroxylic solvents actually proceed with participation of one or two solvent molecules. The solvent molecule then acts as a bifunctional catalyst, that is, both as a proton acceptor and a proton donor. Thus, termolecular proton transfer from an acid HA to a base B with participation of a water molecule is shown in equation 1. 

The general features of proton-transfer reactions in hydroxylic solvents are now becoming more clearly understood. Details of the... 

The conversion of indoles to oxindoles can be achieved in several ways. Reaction of indoles with a halogenaling agent such as NCS, NBS or pyridin-ium bromide perbromide in hydroxylic solvents leads to oxindoles[l]. The reaction proceeds by nucleophilic addition to a 3-haloindolenium intermediate. 

It has already been mentioned that some radical reactions can occur as side reactions by irradiation of pyridazine derivatives, especially in hydroxylic solvents. 

Chlorination of thiiranes in hydroxylic solvents gives /3-chloroethylsulfonyl chlorides due to further oxidation of the intermediate sulfenyl chloride by chlorine or hypochlorous acid (Scheme 40). Polymer is usually obtained also unless the reaction is done in concentrated hydrochloric acid, which causes rapid ring cleavage to 2-chloroethylthiols which are subsequently oxidized to the sulfonyl chlorides. An 85% yield of (37) is obtained in concentrated hydrochloric acid-HCl(g) whereas only a 15% yield is obtained in CCI4-H2O. 

The reaction course taken by photoexcited cycloalkenes in hydroxylic solvents depends on ring size. 1-Methylcyclohexene, 1-methylcycloheptene, and 1-methylcyclooc-tene all add methanol, but neither 1-methylcyclopentene nor norbomene does so. The key intermediate in the addition reactions is believed to be the highly reactive -isomer of the cycloalkene. 

We consider first the Sn2 type of process. (In some important Sn2 reactions the solvent may function as the nucleophile. We will treat solvent nucleophilicity as a separate topic in Chapter 8.) Basicity toward the proton, that is, the pKa of the conjugate acid of the nucleophile, has been found to be less successful as a model property for reactions at saturated carbon than for nucleophilic acyl transfers, although basicity must have some relationship to nucleophilicity. Bordwell et al. have demonstrated very satisfactory Brjinsted-type plots for nucleophilic displacements at saturated carbon when the basicities and reactivities are measured in polar aprotic solvents like dimethylsulfoxide. The problem of establishing such simple correlations in hydroxylic solvents lies in the varying solvation stabilization within a reaction series in H-bond donor solvents. 

Thus the reactions of cyclic or acyclic enamines with acrylic esters or acrylonitrile can be directed to the exclusive formation of monoalkylated ketones (3,294-301). The corresponding enolate anion alkylations lead preferentially to di- or higher-alkylation products. However, by proper choice of reaction conditions, enamines can also be used for the preferential formation of higher alkylation products, if these are desired. Such reactions are valuable in the a substitution of aldehydes, which undergo self-condensation in base-catalyzed reactions (117,118). Monoalkylation products are favored in nonhydroxylic solvents such as benzene or dioxane, whereas dialkylation products can be obtained in hydroxylic solvents such as methanol. The difference in products can be ascribed to the differing fates of an initially formed zwitterionic intermediate. Collapse to a cyclobutane takes place in a nonprotonic solvent, whereas protonation on the newly introduced substitutent and deprotonation of the imonium salt, in alcohol, leads to a new enamine available for further substitution. 

Studies of halogenation of the partially reduced systems (e.g., 148) have shown that the 6- (148) or 8-nitro-2,3-dihydrothiazolo[3,2-a]pyridinium bromides were brominated in hydroxylic solvents with a regiochemistry and ease of reaction consistent with the intermediacy of a pseudo base... 

Because of certain misconceptions with regard to the choice of solvent and the occurrence of sulfur-oxygen bond fission in hydroxylic solvents - , it is important to emphasize that one can greatly reduce the rate of this competing process by the use of weak bases. In systems which can undergo facile C—O as well as S—O bond fission, it is possible to control the type of bond cleavage by choosing the appropriate base . A remarkable illustration of this behavior is found in the ethanolysis of sulfinate 6a. In anhydrous ethanol at 90.0° with acetate ion as the added base, 6a yielded ethyl 2, 6-dimethylbenzenesulfinate plus a trace of sulfone 7a. Under the same conditions but with 2,6-lutidine the reaction was slower and sulfone 7a was the only detectable reaction product . ... 

For reactions that are traditionally performed in hydroxylic solvents or in polar aprotic solvents, PTC has the following advantages no need for expensive aprotic solvents, shorter reaction time and/or lower reaction temperature, use of aqueous alkali hydroxides instead of other expensive bases. Several examples are given in Section 4.2.2. 

The general mechanistic features of the aldol addition and condensation reactions of aldehydes and ketones were discussed in Section 7.7 of Part A, where these general mechanisms can be reviewed. That mechanistic discussion pertains to reactions occurring in hydroxylic solvents and under thermodynamic control. These conditions are useful for the preparation of aldehyde dimers (aldols) and certain a,(3-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. For example, the mixed condensation of aromatic aldehydes with aliphatic aldehydes and ketones is often done under these conditions. The conjugation in the (3-aryl enones provides a driving force for the elimination step. 

Scheme 2.11 shows some examples of Robinson annulation reactions. Entries 1 and 2 show annulation reactions of relatively acidic dicarbonyl compounds. Entry 3 is an example of use of 4-(trimethylammonio)-2-butanone as a precursor of methyl vinyl ketone. This compound generates methyl vinyl ketone in situ by (3-eliminalion. The original conditions developed for the Robinson annulation reaction are such that the ketone enolate composition is under thermodynamic control. This usually results in the formation of product from the more stable enolate, as in Entry 3. The C(l) enolate is preferred because of the conjugation with the aromatic ring. For monosubstituted cyclohexanones, the cyclization usually occurs at the more-substituted position in hydroxylic solvents. The alternative regiochemistry can be achieved by using an enamine. Entry 4 is an example. As discussed in Section 1.9, the less-substituted enamine is favored, so addition occurs at the less-substituted position. 

Cyanide ion acts as a carbon nucleophile in the conjugate addition reaction. The pK of HCN is 9.3, so addition in hydroxylic solvents is feasible. An alcoholic solution of potassium or sodium cyanide is suitable for simple compounds. 

Reduction of Ketones and Enones. Although the method has been supplanted for synthetic purposes by hydride donors, the reduction of ketones to alcohols in ammonia or alcohols provides mechanistic insight into dissolving-metal reductions. The outcome of the reaction of ketones with metal reductants is determined by the fate of the initial ketyl radical formed by a single-electron transfer. The radical intermediate, depending on its structure and the reaction medium, may be protonated, disproportionate, or dimerize.209 In hydroxylic solvents such as liquid ammonia or in the presence of an alcohol, the protonation process dominates over dimerization. Net reduction can also occur by a disproportionation process. As is discussed in Section 5.6.3, dimerization can become the dominant process under conditions in which protonation does not occur rapidly. 

The photolysis of cyclic diazo ketones in hydroxylic solvents leads to ring contracted carboxylic acid derivatives via this ketocarbene -> ketene rearrangement. Examples of such reactions are given in (2.24)239) and (2.25) 240). In this last example a photoequilibrium between the diazo ketone and its valence isomer, a diazirine, has been observed, both products then eliminating nitrogen to afford the cyclobutane carboxylic acid. 

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