Solvent effects ether reactions

More systematic studies with truns-p-methyl-p-methoxystyrene and with alkyl vinyl ethers confirmed and extended these remaikably large solvent effects on reaction rates the reactions of such alkenes with TCNE show large solvent effects and good correlations between solvent polarity, as represented by the t parameter, and reaction rates. These large effects were interpreted as support for the intervention of zwitterionic intermediates. " ... 

From substituent and solvent effects on reactions such as Eq. 20 it was concluded [84] that these reactions are of the SnI type, i.e. that alkoxyalkene (enol ether) type radical cations are intermediates. The lifetimes of these radical cations were estimated [84] to be of the order of nanoseconds, much shorter than those [78, 79, 81] of the corresponding l,l-radical cations. This shows the importance of the additional (second) alkoxy group in stabilizing the positive charge on the carbon skeleton. On the basis of these mechanistic model studies, very detailed suggestions could be made [84] regarding the deoxyribose-derived radical reactions that lead to chain breaks in DNA (see below). 

Apart from these SET reactions, solvent effects in reactions of organomagnesium reagents with carbonyl compounds have been studied rather extensively. The reaction of ethylmagnesium bromide with benzophenone (Scheme 15) in diethyl ether yields 94% of the expected addition reaction product, 1,1-diphenyl-1-propanol, and 6% benzhydrol, resulting from a reduction reaction of the Grignard reagent [36]. In tetrahydrofuran this reaction yields 21 and 77%. respectively, of both products. 

The isotopic purity of the products from a lithium aluminum deuteride reduction is usually equivalent to that of the reagent. The presence of moisture has little effect on the isotope composition of the products, causing only the decomposition of some of the reagent. For the best results, however, it is advisable to distill the solvent— usually ether, tetrahydrofuran or dioxane depending on the desired reaction temperature—from lithium aluminum hydride directly into the reaction flask. In this manner the reduction of 3-keto-5a-steroids (60), for example, gives the corresponding 3a-di alcohols (61) in 98% isotopic purity. ... 

A decisive solvent effect is also observed with other a,/ -epoxy ketones. Specifically, 3jS-hydroxy-16a,17a-epoxypregn-5-en-20-one and its acetate do not react with thiocyanic acid in ether or chloroform. However, the corresponding thiocyanatohydrins are formed by heating an acetic acid solution of the epoxide and potassium thiocyanate. As expected, the ring opening reaction is subject to steric hindrance. For example, 3j6-acetoxy-14f ,15f5-epoxy-5) -card-20(22)-enoIide is inert to thiocyanic acid in chloroform, whereas the 14a,15a-epoxide reacts readily under these conditions.Reactions of 14a,15a-epoxides in the cardenolide series yields isothiocyanatohydrins, e.g., (135), in addition to the normal thiocyanatohydrin, e.g., (134). 

A powerful solvent effect is observed in the reaction of /j-nitrobenzaldehyde with sulfur telrafluonde The reaction conducted in a benzene solution gives the expected p nitrobenzyhdene fluoride, without a solvent, bis(p-nitro a fluoro-benzyl) ether is formed as the sole product [171 (equation 86)... 

The preparation of perfluoroalkylzinc compounds has been achieved earlier 111 ethereal solvents [26] However, solvent effects play a significant role in the course of this reaction When a mixture of acetic anhydride and methylene chloride is used, coupled and cross-coupled products can be formed [27, 28] (equations 19 and 20) However, the cross-coupling reaction often gives mixtures, a fact that seriously restricts the synthetic applicability of this reaction [27, 28, 29]... 

Other measures of nucleophilicity have been proposed. Brauman et al. studied Sn2 reactions in the gas phase and applied Marcus theory to obtain the intrinsic barriers of identity reactions. These quantities were interpreted as intrinsic nucleo-philicities. Streitwieser has shown that the reactivity of anionic nucleophiles toward methyl iodide in dimethylformamide (DMF) is correlated with the overall heat of reaction in the gas phase he concludes that bond strength and electron affinity are the important factors controlling nucleophilicity. The dominant role of the solvent in controlling nucleophilicity was shown by Parker, who found solvent effects on nucleophilic reactivity of many orders of magnitude. For example, most anions are more nucleophilic in DMF than in methanol by factors as large as 10, because they are less effectively shielded by solvation in the aprotic solvent. Liotta et al. have measured rates of substitution by anionic nucleophiles in acetonitrile solution containing a crown ether, which forms an inclusion complex with the cation (K ) of the nucleophile. These rates correlate with gas phase rates of the same nucleophiles, which, in this crown ether-acetonitrile system, are considered to be naked anions. The solvation of anionic nucleophiles is treated in Section 8.3. 

The effect of solvents on the reactions of lactams with diazomethane can be pronounced saccharin gives only A -methyl derivative in benzene solution, but in ethereal solution up to 24% of 0-methyl saccharin is formed in the still more strongly polar solvent di-... 

Keywords imines derived from formylphosphonate undergo Diels-Alder reactions only in those cases which carry a strongly electron-withdrawing N-substituent. Lewis acidity, solvent effect, lithium perchlorate in diethyl ether... 

Ordinary ketones are generally much more difficult to cleave than trihalo ketones or p-diketones, because the carbanion intermediates in these cases are more stable than simple carbanions. However, nonenolizable ketones can be cleaved by treatment with a 10 3 mixture of t-BuOK—H2O in an aprotic solvent such as ether, dimethyl sulfoxide, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (glyme), and so on, or with sohd t-BuOK in the absence of a solvent. When the reaction is applied to monosubstituted diaryl ketones, that aryl group preferentially cleaves that comes off as the more stable carbanion, except that aryl groups substituted in the ortho position are more readily cleaved than otherwise because of the steric effect (relief of stain). In certain cases, cyclic ketones can be cleaved by base treatment, even if they are enolizable. " OS VI, 625. See also OS VH, 297. 

The second series of data on protic solvent effects in bromination that are related to transition states comprises the m-values of solvent-reactivity correlations. First, it is important to underline that 7-parameters, the solvent ionizing powers, established from solvolytic displacements, work fairly well in this electrophilic addition. This is expected since bromination, like SN1 reactions, leads to a cation-anion pair by heterolytic dissociation of the bromine-olefin CTC, a process similar to the ionization of halogenated or ether derivatives (Scheme 14). 

Fluoride ion catalyzes the hydrosilylation of both alkyl and aryl aldehydes to silyl ethers that can be easily hydrolyzed to the free alcohols by treatment with 1 M hydrogen chloride in methanol.320 The most effective sources of fluoride are TBAF and tris(diethylamino)sulfonium difluorotrimethylsilicate (TASF). Somewhat less effective are CsF and KF. Solvent effects are marked. The reactions are facilitated in polar, aprotic solvents such as hexamethylphosphortriamide (HMPA) or 1,3-dimethyl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2(l //)-pyrirnidinone (DMPU), go moderately well in dimethylformamide, but do not proceed well in either tetrahydrofuran or dichloromethane. The solvent effects are dramatically illustrated in the reaction of undecanal and dimethylphenylsilane to produce undecyloxyphenyldimethylsi-lane. After one hour at room temperature with TBAF as the source of fluoride and a 10 mol% excess of silane, yields of 91% in HMPA, 89% in DMPU, 56% in dimethylformamide, 9% in tetrahydrofuran, and only 1% in dichloromethane are obtained (Eq. 164).320... 

The Claisen rearrangement is an electrocyclic reaction which converts an allyl vinyl ether into a y,8-unsaturated aldehyde or ketone, via a (3.3) sigmatropic shift. The rate of this reaction can be largely increased in polar solvents. Several works have addressed the study of the reaction mechanism and the electronic structure of the transition state (TS) by examining substituent and solvent effects on the rate of this reaction. 

The influence of solvents in glycosylation reactions has been observed and discussed extensively already (1,4,74). For instance, the participation of ethers, when anomeric leaving-groups are removed under SNl-type conditions, results [because of the reverse anomeric effect (75,76)] in the genera-... 

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