Ring opening carbocations

The key initiation step in cationic polymerization of alkenes is the formation of a carbocationic intermediate, which can then interact with excess monomer to start propagation. We studied in some detail the initiation of cationic polymerization under superacidic, stable ion conditions. Carbocations also play a key role, as I found not only in the acid-catalyzed polymerization of alkenes but also in the polycondensation of arenes as well as in the ring opening polymerization of cyclic ethers, sulfides, and nitrogen compounds. Superacidic oxidative condensation of alkanes can even be achieved, including that of methane, as can the co-condensation of alkanes and alkenes. 

This suggests that as water attacks the bromonium ion positive charge develops on the carbon from which the bromine departs The transition state has some of the character of a carbocation We know that more substituted carbocations are more stable than less substituted ones therefore when the bromonium ion ring opens it does so by breaking the bond between bromine and the more substituted carbon... 

An interpretation of activation parameters has led to the conclusion that the bromination transition state resembles a three-membered ring, even in the case of alkenes that eventually react via open carbocation intermediates. It was foimd that for cis trans pairs of alkenes tiie difference in enthalpy at the transition state for bromination was greater than the enthalpy difference for the isomeric alkenes, as shown in Fig. 6.2. This... 

This is less common than rearrangement of carbocations, but it does occur (though not when R = alkyl or hydrogen see Chapter 18). Perhaps the best-known rearrangement is that of cyclopropylcarbinyl radicals to a butenyl radical. The rate constant for this rapid ring opening has been measured in... 

In contrast, polar and resonance effects must be separated in order to analyze the data for a-substituted arylolefins [ArC(R)=CHR with R H]. Their bromination involves open carbocation intermediates only. Resonance effects cannot be fully developed at the transition states, since the aromatic ring is not in the same plane as that of the developing carbocation, because of steric constraints. Accordingly, application of (33) gives pT < pn. Attenuation of resonance arises mainly from stereochemical factors, at least in the monosubstituted 1,1-diphenylethylene [20] and a-methylstilbene [21] series the pr/pn ratios can be related to the dihedral angle between the substituted phenyl ring and the plane of the ethylenic bond. 

Model computational studies aimed at understanding structure-reactivity relationships and substituent effects on carbocation stability for aza-PAHs derivatives were performed by density functional theory (DFT). Comparisons were made with the biological activity data when available. Protonation of the epoxides and diol epoxides, and subsequent epoxide ring opening reactions were analyzed for several families of compounds. Bay-region carbocations were formed via the O-protonated epoxides in barrierless processes. Relative carbocation stabilities were determined in the gas phase and in water as solvent (by the PCM method). 

The protonated epoxides, i.e. the oxonium ions, could not be characterized as minima on the respective potential energy surfaces, as in every case the epoxide ring opened by a barrierless process upon O-protonation. Charge delocalization maps are shown in Figure 9, and some selected NPA-derived charges for the carbocations are displayed in Table 4. 

Taking into account the AErs for epoxide ring opening of the fluorinated compounds, it could be noted that the F-6 structure (20) was most favored for opening of the 1,2-epoxide, yielding a AEr even more exothermic than the unsubstituted molecule. Therefore, a fluorine atom at a highly positively charged site stabilized the carbocation. Fluorine at positions 12 (21) and 14 (23) afforded... 

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