Sites substitution reaction

The attack by a reagent of a molecule might be hampered by the presence of other atoms near the reaction site. The larger these atoms and the more are there, the higher is the geometric restriction, the steric hindrance, on reactivity. Figure 3-6e illustrates this for the attack of a nucleophile on the substrate in a nucleophilic aliphatic substitution reaction. 

The best-known equation of the type mentioned is, of course, Hammett s equation. It correlates, with considerable precision, rate and equilibrium constants for a large number of reactions occurring in the side chains of m- and p-substituted aromatic compounds, but fails badly for electrophilic substitution into the aromatic ring (except at wi-positions) and for certain reactions in side chains in which there is considerable mesomeric interaction between the side chain and the ring during the course of reaction. This failure arises because Hammett s original model reaction (the ionization of substituted benzoic acids) does not take account of the direct resonance interactions between a substituent and the site of reaction. This sort of interaction in the electrophilic substitutions of anisole is depicted in the following resonance structures, which show the transition state to be stabilized by direct resonance with the substituent ... 

The more extensive problem of correlating substituent effects in electrophilic substitution by a two-parameter equation has been examined by Brown and his co-workers. In order to define a new set of substituent constants. Brown chose as a model reaction the solvolysis of substituted dimethylphenylcarbinyl chlorides in 90% aq. acetone. In the case ofp-substituted compounds, the transition state, represented by the following resonance structures, is stabilized by direct resonance interaction between the substituent and the site of reaction. 

The suitability of the model reaction chosen by Brown has been criticised. There are many side-chain reactions in which, during reaction, electron deficiencies arise at the site of reaction. The values of the substituent constants obtainable from these reactions would not agree with the values chosen for cr+. At worst, if the solvolysis of substituted benzyl chlorides in 50% aq. acetone had been chosen as the model reaction, crJ-Me would have been —0-82 instead of the adopted value of —0-28. It is difficult to see how the choice of reaction was defended, save by pointing out that the variation in the values of the substituent constants, derivable from different reactions, were not systematically related to the values of the reaction constants such a relationship would have been expected if the importance of the stabilization of the transition-state by direct resonance increased with increasing values of the reaction constant. 

Alkylation of A-4-thiazoline-2-one may yield O-R or N-R derivatives according to experimental conditions. With diazomethane in ethanol O-raethylation takes place (29. 36. 214). N-Methylation is reported when a basic solution of A-4-thiazoline-2-one reacts with methyl iodide or dimethylsulfate (21, 29, 215, 216), Reaction of l-chloro-2-dimethyl-aminoethane with the sodium salt of 4 R-A-4-thiazoline-2-one (91) in alcohol, first claimed to yield the aminoalkylether (217, 218), was shown after infrared investigation to give the N-substituted derivative (92) (107), even when R Ph (Scheme 45). More probably the site of reaction in... 

Isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate are structurally sim liar—both contain a double bond and a pyrophosphate ester unit—but the chemical reactivity expressed by each is different The principal site of reaction m dimethylallyl pyrophosphate is the carbon that bears the pyrophosphate group Pyrophosphate is a reasonably good leaving group m nucleophilic substitution reactions especially when as in dimethylallyl pyrophosphate it is located at an allylic carbon Isopentenyl pyrophosphate on the other hand does not have its leaving group attached to an allylic carbon and is far less reactive than dimethylallyl pyrophosphate toward nucleophilic reagents The principal site of reaction m isopentenyl pyrophosphate is the carbon-carbon double bond which like the double bonds of simple alkenes is reactive toward electrophiles... 

Nitration. Because nitration frequentiy generates nitrogen oxides which can participate in oxidative transformations, the nitration of indole itself is a complex reaction. In strongly acidic media, the nitration of 2-substituted indoles can proceed through the conjugate acid (8). Because the aromatic system is thereby transformed to an a2astyrene, the 5-position is the primary site of reaction. 

Substitution Reactions on Side Chains. Because the benzyl carbon is the most reactive site on the propanoid side chain, many substitution reactions occur at this position. Typically, substitution reactions occur by attack of a nucleophilic reagent on a benzyl carbon present in the form of a carbonium ion or a methine group in a quinonemethide stmeture. In a reversal of the ether cleavage reactions described, benzyl alcohols and ethers may be transformed to alkyl or aryl ethers by acid-catalyzed etherifications or transetherifications with alcohol or phenol. The conversion of a benzyl alcohol or ether to a sulfonic acid group is among the most important side chain modification reactions because it is essential to the solubilization of lignin in the sulfite pulping process (17). 

Substitution, addition, and group transfer reactions can occur intramolecularly. Intramolecular substitution reactions that involve hydrogen abstraction have some important synthetic applications, since they permit functionalization of carbon atoms relatively remote from the initial reaction site. ° The preference for a six-membered cyclic transition state in the hydrogen abstraction step imparts position selectivity to the process ... 

Chlorobutyl rubber is prepared by chlorination of butyl rubber (chlorine content is about 1 wt%). This is a substitution reaction produced at the allylic position, so little carbon-carbon double unsaturation is lost. Therefore, chlorobutyl rubber has enhanced reactivity of the carbon-carbon double bonds and supplies additional reactive sites for cross-linking. Furthermore, enhanced adhesion is obtained to polar substrates and it can be blended with other, more unsaturated elastomers. 

Photochemical substitution reactions of this type which involve selective hydrogen abstractions from intramolecular sites by the m.tt ketone oxygen, are reviewed in chapter 12. ... 

Probably the most important development of the past decade was the introduction by Brown and co-workers of a set of substituent constants,ct+, derived from the solvolysis of cumyl chlorides and presumably applicable to reaction series in which a delocalization of a positive charge from the reaction site into the aromatic nucleus is important in the transition state or, in other words, where the importance of resonance structures placing a positive charge on the substituent - -M effect) changes substantially between the initial and transition (or final) states. These ct+-values have found wide application, not only in the particular side-chain reactions for which they were designed, but equally in electrophilic nuclear substitution reactions. Although such a scale was first proposed by Pearson et al. under the label of and by Deno et Brown s systematic work made the scale definitive. 

Acidic ether cleavages are typical nucleophilic substitution reactions, either SN1 or Sn2 depending on the structure of the substrate. Ethers with only primary and secondary alkyl groups react by an S 2 mechanism, in which or Br attacks the protonated ether at the less hindered site. This usually results in a selective cleavage into a single alcohol and a single alkyl halide. For example, ethyl isopropyl ether yields exclusively isopropyl alcohol and iodoethane on cleavage by HI because nucleophilic attack by iodide ion occurs at the less hindered primary site rather than at the more hindered secondary site. 

The metabolic breakdown of triacylglycerols begins with their hydrolysis to yield glycerol plus fatty acids. The reaction is catalyzed by a lipase, whose mechanism of action is shown in Figure 29.2. The active site of the enzyme contains a catalytic triad of aspartic acid, histidine, and serine residues, which act cooperatively to provide the necessary acid and base catalysis for the individual steps. Hydrolysis is accomplished by two sequential nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions, one that covalently binds an acyl group to the side chain -OH of a serine residue on the enzyme and a second that frees the fatty acid from the enzyme. 

Figure 29.2 MECHANISM Mechanism of action of lipase. The active site of the enzyme contains a catalytic triad of aspartic acid, histidine, and serine, which react cooperatively to carry out two nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions. Individual steps are explained in the text.

Reaction of sulfones with nucleophiles has been studied a great deal from both a preparative and a mechanistic standpoint1,2- The nucleophilic substitution reactions of sulfones may be categorized to four groups according to the sites attacked by the nucleophile (equation 1). 

Synthesis. The 2-phenyM,3,2-diazaboracyclohexane ring system (1) was selected as the starting material in this study because (1) it is prepared easily and in high yield by a three step synthesis from BCI3 (2) the N-H bonds are potential sites for deprotonation and substitution reactions and (3) the trimethylene bridge enhances the rigidity of the N-B-N backbone which should prevent cyclization upon thermolysis of an appropriate precursor. 

---