Nucleophiles, reactivity

Nonanedione, another 1,3-difunctional target molecule, may be obtained from the reaction of hexanoyl chloride with acetonide anion (disconnection 1). The 2,4-dioxo substitution pattern, however, is already present in inexpensive, symmetrical acetylacetone (2,4-pentanedione). Disconnection 2 would therefore offer a tempting alternative. A problem arises because of the acidity of protons at C-3 of acetylacetone. This, however, would probably not be a serious obstacle if one produces the dianion with strong base, since the strongly basic terminal carbanion would be a much more reactive nucleophile than the central one (K.G. Hampton, 1973 see p. 9f.). 

Another method for deallylation of ally esters is the transfer of the allyl group to reactive nucleophiles. Amines such as morpholine are used[415-417], Potassium salts of higher carboxylic acids are used as an accepter of the allyl group[418]. The method is applied to the protection and deprotection of the acid function in rather unstable /f-lactam 664[419,420]. 

Alkylation can also be accomplished with electrophilic alkenes. There is a dichotomy between basic and acidic conditions. Under basic conditions, where the indole anion is the reactive nucleophile, A-alkylation occurs. Under acidic conditions C-alkylation is observed. The reaction of indole with 4-vinylpyri-dine is an interesting illustration. Good yields of the 3-alkylation product are obtained in refluxing acetic acid[18] whereas if the reaction is done in ethanol containing sodium ethoxide 1-alkylation occurs[19]. Table 11.2 gives some examples of 3-alkylation using electrophilic alkenes. 

The principal reactions of this class of compounds are summarized in Scheme 172. In most of these reactions the reactive nucleophilic center is the terminal NHj group, although the other exocyclic nitrogen may also be involved, as shown by acetylation, which yields 284 and 285. However, the structure of compound 281 is not the one proposed in a recent report (1582) that attributes the attack to the other exocyclic nitrogen. The formation of osazones (287) from sugars, 2-hydrazinothiazoles, and hydrazine has been reported (525, 531). 

Chapters 1 and 2. Most C—H bonds are very weakly acidic and have no tendency to ionize spontaneously to form carbanions. Reactions that involve carbanion intermediates are therefore usually carried out in the presence of a base which can generate the reactive carbanion intermediate. Base-catalyzed condensation reactions of carbonyl compounds provide many examples of this type of reaction. The reaction between acetophenone and benzaldehyde, which was considered in Section 4.2, for example, requires a basic catalyst to proceed, and the kinetics of the reaction show that the rate is proportional to the catalyst concentration. This is because the neutral acetophenone molecule is not nucleophihc and does not react with benzaldehyde. The much more nucleophilic enolate (carbanion) formed by deprotonation is the reactive nucleophile. 

When added to nonpolar solvents, the crown ethers increase the solubility of ionic materials. For example, in the presence of 18-crown-6, potassium fluoride is soluble in benzene and acts as a reactive nucleophile ... 

In fee absence of fee solvation typical of protic solvents, fee relative nucleophilicity of anions changes. Hard nucleophiles increase in reactivity more than do soft nucleophiles. As a result, fee relative reactivity order changes. In methanol, for example, fee relative reactivity order is N3 > 1 > CN > Br > CP, whereas in DMSO fee order becomes CN > N3 > CP > Br > P. In mefeanol, fee reactivity order is dominated by solvent effects, and fee more weakly solvated N3 and P ions are fee most reactive nucleophiles. The iodide ion is large and very polarizable. The anionic charge on fee azide ion is dispersed by delocalization. When fee effect of solvation is diminished in DMSO, other factors become more important. These include fee strength of fee bond being formed, which would account for fee reversed order of fee halides in fee two series. There is also evidence fiiat S( 2 transition states are better solvated in protic dipolar solvents than in protic solvents. 

It is also possible to carry out the aldol condensation under acidic conditions. The reactive nucleophile is then the enol. The mechanism, as established in detail for acetaldehyde, involves nucleophilic attack of the enol on the protonated aldehyde. 

The presence of two reactive nucleophilic centers on the terminal units, as opposed to single centers of doubly bound units already in the chain. 

A few studies on solvolyses by alcohols and by water are available. The hydrolyses studied include displacement of alkylamino groups from acridine antimalarials and of halogen from other systems. In all cases, these reactions appeared to be first-order in the heterocyclic substrate. By a detailed examination of the acid hydrolysis of 2-halogeno-5-nitropyridine, Reinheimer et al. have shown that the reaction rate varies as the fourth power of the activity of water, providing direct evidence that the only reactive nucleophile is neutral water, as expected. 

The mechanism of base-catalyzed hydration of an aldehyde or ketone. Hydroxide ion is a more reactive nucleophile than neutral water. 

The aldol reaction is catalyzed by acid as well as by base. What is the reactive nucleophile in the acid-catalyzed aldoJ reaction Propose a mechanism. 

The electrophilic character of sulfur dioxide does not only enable addition to reactive nucleophiles, but also to electrons forming sulfur dioxide radical anions which possess the requirements of a captodative" stabilization (equation 83). This electron transfer occurs electrochemically or chemically under Leuckart-Wallach conditions (formic acid/tertiary amine - , by reduction of sulfur dioxide with l-benzyl-1,4-dihydronicotinamide or with Rongalite The radical anion behaves as an efficient nucleophile and affords the generation of sulfones with alkyl halides " and Michael-acceptor olefins (equations 84 and 85). 

Especially for large-scale work, esters may be more safely and efficiently prepared by reaction of carboxylate salts with alkyl halides or tosylates. Carboxylate anions are not very reactive nucleophiles so the best results are obtained in polar aprotic solvents45 or with crown ether catalysts.46 The reactivity order for carboxylate salts is Na+ < K+ < Rb+ < Cs+. Cesium carboxylates are especially useful in polar aprotic solvents. The enhanced reactivity of the cesium salts is due to both high solubility and minimal ion pairing with the anion 47 Acetone is a good solvent for reaction of carboxylate anions with alkyl iodides48 Cesium fluoride in DMF is another useful... 

Part B of Scheme 4.5 gives some examples of cyclizations induced by selenium electrophiles. Entries 9 to 13 are various selenyletherifications. All exhibit anti stereochemistry. Entries 14 and 15 are selenyllactonizations. Entries 17 and 18 involve amido groups as the internal nucleophile. Entry 17 is an 5-exo cyclization in which the amido oxygen is the more reactive nucleophilic site, leading to an iminolactone. Geometric factors favor N-cyclization in the latter case. 

Sulfur compounds are useful as nucleophilic acyl equivalents. The most common reagents of this type are 1,3-dithianes, which on lithiation provide a nucleophilic acyl equivalent. In dithianes an umpolung is achieved on the basis of the carbanion-stabilizing ability of the sulfur substituents. The lithio derivative is a reactive nucleophile toward alkyl halides and carbonyl compounds. 11... 

Predicted vacant polyoxometalates can be easily obtained by controlled hydrolyses, and are good reactive nucleophiles that can form a remarkable set of precursors for the design of large soluble molecules. 

Given their extraordinary reactivity, one might assume that o-QMs offer plentiful applications as electrophiles in synthetic chemistry. However, unlike their more stable /tora-quinone methide (p-QM) cousin, the potential of o-QMs remains largely untapped. The reason resides with the propensity of these species to participate in undesired addition of the closest available nucleophile, which can be solvent or the o-QM itself. Methods for o-QM generation have therefore required a combination of low concentrations and high temperatures to mitigate and reverse undesired pathways and enable the redistribution into thermodynamically preferred and desired products. Hence, the principal uses for o-QMs have been as electrophilic heterodienes either in intramolecular cycloaddition reactions with nucleophilic alkenes under thermodynamic control or in intermolecular reactions under thermodynamic control where a large excess of a reactive nucleophile thwarts unwanted side reactions by its sheer vast presence. 

Two alternatives to conventional acid/base hydrolyses for cleaving esters are Sn2 displacement of the carboxylate group by reactive nucleophiles and nucleophilic attack at the carbonyl carbon. In this latter context we investigated the reaction of S-b-MM with potassium trimethylsilanolate, a so-called potassium superoxide equivalent (15). One advantage that this reagent has over potassium... 

As noted in an earlier section of this article, the utility of the cycloamyloses as covalent catalysts is limited by the low reactivity of the catalytically active hydroxyl groups at neutral pH s and by the relatively slow rates of deacylation of the covalent intermediates. In an effort to achieve effective catalysis, several investigators have attempted to selectively modify the cycloamyloses by either (1) introducing an internal catalyst to facilitate deacylation or (2) introducing a more reactive nucleophile to speed acylation and/or deacylation. 

Organozinc compounds are more reactive nucleophiles requiring no activation for the trans-metalation step, while allowing for much wider functionality to be present in the molecule than in organomagnesium compounds. However, organozinc compounds cannot be stored without special precautions, and therefore should be generated immediately prior to use, which makes... 

Substrates whose only reactive nucleophile is an amino group can be alkylated with 9-bromo-9-phenylfluorene using the method described in Step B. In addition to 4, the N-9-phenylfluoren-9-yl derivatives of glutamate diesters,8 aziridines,10 and N-alkyl aspartate diesters3 11 12 have been prepared by this method. 

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