Solvent effect selective

Research workers investigating the solvent effect selected model systems with some well measurable property (e.g., light absorption in the UV, visible or IR spectrum, heat of formation, an NMR, Mossbauer or NQR parameter, the redox potential, reaction rate, etc.) which changes appreciably due to the effect of the solvent. Hence, these experimentally measurable data, characteristic of the extent of the interaction between the solvent and the solute, may serve to categorize the solvating powers of solvents. Of course, solvent scales obtained in this way can be compared with one another only if the solvation process in the different model systems is governed by analogous factors. 

Smith et al [Sm 61] utilized kinetic data to characterize the solvent effect. Selecting the rate constant (kion) (and its logarithm) of the ionization of 2-(p-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylpropyl p-toluenesulphonate, as described by the following equation ... 

Solvents exert their influence on organic reactions through a complicated mixture of all possible types of noncovalent interactions. Chemists have tried to unravel this entanglement and, ideally, want to assess the relative importance of all interactions separately. In a typical approach, a property of a reaction (e.g. its rate or selectivity) is measured in a laige number of different solvents. All these solvents have unique characteristics, quantified by their physical properties (i.e. refractive index, dielectric constant) or empirical parameters (e.g. ET(30)-value, AN). Linear correlations between a reaction property and one or more of these solvent properties (Linear Free Energy Relationships - LFER) reveal which noncovalent interactions are of major importance. The major drawback of this approach lies in the fact that the solvent parameters are often not independent. Alternatively, theoretical models and computer simulations can provide valuable information. Both methods have been applied successfully in studies of the solvent effects on Diels-Alder reactions. 

The solvent effect on the diastereofacial selectivity in the reactions between cyclopentadiene and (lR,2S,5R)-mentyl acrylate is dominated by the hydrogen bond donor characteristics of the solvent... 

Studies on solvent effects on the endo-exo selectivity of Diels-Alder reactions have revealed the importance of hydrogen bonding interactions besides the already mentioned solvophobic interactions and polarity effects. Further evidence of the significance of the former interactions comes from computer simulations" and the analogy with Lewis-acid catalysis which is known to enhance dramatically the endo-exo selectivity (Section 1.2.4). 

Table 2,8, Solvent effect on the endo-exo selectivity (% endo -% exo) of the nncatalysed and Cu" -ion catalysed Diels-Alder reaction between 2,4c and 2,5 at 25°C.

Figure 2.11. Proton-Proton shift correlations of a-pinene (1) [purity 99 %, CDCls, 5 % v/v, 25 °C, 500 MHz, 8 scans, 256 experiments], (a) HH COSY (b) HH TOCSY (c) selective one-dimensional HH TOCSY, soft pulse irradiation at Sh = 5.20 (signal not shown), compared with the NMR spectrum on top deviations of chemical shifts from those in other experiments (Fig. 2.14, 2.16) arise from solvent effects...

Because the key operation in studying solvent effects on rates is to vary the solvent, evidently the nature of the solvation shell will vary as the solvent is changed. A distinction is often made between general and specific solvent effects, general effects being associated (by hypothesis) with some appropriate physical property such as dielectric constant, and specific effects with particular solute-solvent interactions in the solvation shell. In this context the idea of preferential solvation (or selective solvation) is often invoked. If a reaction is studied in a mixed solvent. 

Selected data of Wuesthoff and Richborn 112) on the hydrogenation of the vinylcyclopropane 4 further illustrates the effect of solvent on selectivity as well as the reason for the second proviso. 

Remarkable solvent effects on the selective bond cleavage are observed in the reductive elimination of cis-stilbene episulfone by complex metal hydrides. When diethyl ether or [bis(2-methoxyethyl)]ether is used as the solvent, dibenzyl sulfone is formed along with cis-stilbene. However, no dibenzyl sulfone is produced when cis-stilbene episulfone is treated with lithium aluminum hydride in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature (equation 42). Elimination of phenylsulfonyl group by tri-n-butyltin hydride proceeds by a radical chain mechanism (equations 43 and 44). 

In the following text, examples of solvent effects on enzyme selectivity, referred either to systems based (i) on water-miscible organic cosolvents added to aqueous buffers or (ii) on organic media with low water activity, are discussed. 

The second group of studies tries to explain the solvent effects on enantioselectivity by means of the contribution of substrate solvation to the energetics of the reaction [38], For instance, a theoretical model based on the thermodynamics of substrate solvation was developed [39]. However, this model, based on the determination of the desolvated portion of the substrate transition state by molecular modeling and on the calculation of the activity coefficient by UNIFAC, gave contradictory results. In fact, it was successful in predicting solvent effects on the enantio- and prochiral selectivity of y-chymotrypsin with racemic 3-hydroxy-2-phenylpropionate and 2-substituted 1,3-propanediols [39], whereas it failed in the case of subtilisin and racemic sec-phenetyl alcohol and traws-sobrerol [40]. That substrate solvation by the solvent can contribute to enzyme enantioselectivity was also claimed in the case of subtilisin-catalyzed resolution of secondary alcohols [41]. 

Calo et al. (ref. 5) studied solvent effects on selective bromination of phenol with NBS and found the selectivity of bromination depended on the polarity of the solvents. But thereafter no investigation concerning the solvent effects was reported. We report the effects systematically. 

Most of these results have been obtained in methanol but some of them can be extrapolated to other solvents, if the following solvent effects are considered. Bromine bridging has been shown to be hardly solvent-dependent.2 Therefore, the selectivities related to this feature of bromination intermediates do not significantly depend on the solvent. When the intermediates are carbocations, the stereoselectivity can vary (ref. 23) widely with the solvent (ref. 24), insofar as the conformational equilibrium of these cations is solvent-dependent. Nevertheless, this equilibration can be locked in a nucleophilic solvent when it nucleophilically assists the formation of the intermediate. Therefore, as exemplified in methylstyrene bromination, a carbocation can react 100 % stereoselectivity. 

Jorgensen et al. [84] studied how solvent effects could influence the course of Diels-Alder reactions catalyzed by copper(II)-bisoxazoline. They assumed that the use of polar solvents (generally nitroalkanes) improved the activity and selectivity of the cationic copper-Lewis acid used in the hetero Diels-Alder reaction of alkylglyoxylates with dienes (Scheme 31, reaction 1). The explanation, close to that given by Evans regarding the crucial role of the counterion, is a stabilization of the dissociated ion, leading to a more defined complex conformation. They also used this reaction for the synthesis of a precursor for highly valuable sesquiterpene lactones with an enantiomeric excess superior to 99%. 

The photodecomposition and thermodecomposition of nitromethane have been extensively studied as model systems in combustion, explosion and atmosphere pollution processes[l]. On another hand, nitromethane was selected as a model solvent in experiments aimed at examining non hydrogen-bonded solvent effects in a general acid-base theory of organic molecules [2.3]. This selection is based on the electronic and structural characteristics of nitromethane that has a high dielectric constant, and at the same time cannot form hydrogen bonds with solute molecules. 

More recent work has focused on understanding the mechanism or mechanisms of selectivity. Some of these studies have been performed on well-characterized catalysts about which particle size information is available. Still others have been performed on single crystals. So conclusions may be reached about the effects on chemoselectivity of planes, edges, and corners that are related to particle size (structure sensitivity). A number of these studies, mostly on Pt, are summarized in Table 2.6. Since these studies have usually been performed in the vapor phase, information about solvent effects and their possible influence on chemoselectivity is unavailable. 

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