Rearrangement carbocation intermediate

Potential for rearrangements Carbocation intermediate capable of rearrangement. (Section 8.11) No carbocation intermediate no rearrangement. 

Carbocation intermediates are not involved m hydroboration-oxidation Hydration of double bonds takes place without rearrangement even m alkenes as highly branched as the following... 

Additional evidence for carbocation intermediates in certain nucleophilic substitutions comes from observing rearrangements of the kind normally associated with such species For example hydrolysis of the secondary alkyl bromide 2 bromo 3 methylbutane yields the rearranged tertiary alcohol 2 methyl 2 butanol as the only substitution product... 

Why does the carbocation intermediate in the hydrolysis of 2 bromo 3 methylbutane rearrange by way of a hydride shift rather than a methyl shift ... 

Even though the rearrangements suggest that discrete carbocation intermediates are involved, these reactions frequently show kinetics consistent with the presence of at least two hydrogen chloride molecules in the rate-determining transition state. A termolecular mechanism in which the second Itydrogen chloride molecule assists in the ionization of the electrophile has been suggested. ... 

This mechanism explains the observed formation of the more highly substituted alcohol from unsymmetrical alkenes (Markownikoff s rule). A number of other points must be considered in order to provide a more complete picture of the mechanism. Is the protonation step reversible Is there a discrete carbocation intermediate, or does the nucleophile become involved before proton transfer is complete Can other reactions of the carbocation, such as rearrangement, compete with capture by water ... 

This elimination reaction is the reverse of acid-catalyzed hydration, which was discussed in Section 6.2. Because a carbocation or closely related species is the intermediate, the elimination step would be expected to favor the more substituted alkene as discussed on p. 384. The El mechanism also explains the general trends in relative reactivity. Tertiary alcohols are the most reactive, and reactivity decreases going to secondary and primary alcohols. Also in accord with the El mechanism is the fact that rearranged products are found in cases where a carbocation intermediate would be expected to rearrange ... 

Perfluoropolyenes also can rearrange to four-membered ring products upon fluoride ron or Lewis acid catalysis [112, II3, 114] (equations 46 and 47) These intramolecular cycloadditions are multistep processes involving carbanion or carbocation intermediates... 

The pinacol rearrangement is a dehydration reaction that converts a 1,2-diol into a ketone. The reaction involves two carbocation intermediates. 

Vinylcyclopropane reacts with HBr to yield a rearranged alkyl bromide. Follow the flow of electrons as represented by the curved arrows, show the structure of the carbocation intermediate in brackets, and show the structure of the final product. 

Clearly, we must be able to predict when to expect a carbocation rearrangement. There are two common ways for a carbocation to rearrange either through a hydride shift or through a methyl shift. Your textbook will have examples of each. Carbocation rearrangements are possible for any reaction that involves an intermediate carbocation (not just for addition of HX across an alkene). Later in this chapter, we will see other addition reactions that also proceed through carbocation intermediates. In those cases, you will be expected to know that there will be a possibility for carbocation rearrangements. 

There are, however, serious problems that must be overcome in the application of this reaction to synthesis. The product is a new carbocation that can react further. Repetitive addition to alkene molecules leads to polymerization. Indeed, this is the mechanism of acid-catalyzed polymerization of alkenes. There is also the possibility of rearrangement. A key requirement for adapting the reaction of carbocations with alkenes to the synthesis of small molecules is control of the reactivity of the newly formed carbocation intermediate. Synthetically useful carbocation-alkene reactions require a suitable termination step. We have already encountered one successful strategy in the reaction of alkenyl and allylic silanes and stannanes with electrophilic carbon (see Chapter 9). In those reactions, the silyl or stannyl substituent is eliminated and a stable alkene is formed. The increased reactivity of the silyl- and stannyl-substituted alkenes is also favorable to the synthetic utility of carbocation-alkene reactions because the reactants are more nucleophilic than the product alkenes. 

Carbocation intermediates are involved and the structure and stereochemistry of the product are determined by the factors that govern substituent migration in the carbocation. Clean, high-yield reactions can be expected only where structural or conformational factors promote a selective rearrangement. Boron trifluoride is frequently used... 

Normally, only a small stoichiometric excess (2-30 mol%) of silane is necessary to obtain good preparative yields of hydrocarbon products. However, because the capture of carbocation intermediates by silanes is a bimolecular occurrence, in cases where the intermediate may rearrange or undergo other unwanted side reactions such as cationic polymerization, it is sometimes necessary to use a large excess of silane in order to force the reduction to be competitive with alternative reaction pathways. An extreme case that illustrates this is the need for eight equivalents of triethylsilane in the reduction of benzyl alcohol to produce only a 40% yield of toluene the mass of the remainder of the starting alcohol is found to be consumed in the formation of oligomers by bimolecular Friedel-Crafts-type side reactions that compete with the capture of the carbocations by the silane.129... 

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