Solvent effects group

Solvent Effects on the Rate of Substitution by the S 2 Mechanism Polar solvents are required m typical bimolecular substitutions because ionic substances such as the sodium and potassium salts cited earlier m Table 8 1 are not sufficiently soluble m nonpolar solvents to give a high enough concentration of the nucleophile to allow the reaction to occur at a rapid rate Other than the requirement that the solvent be polar enough to dis solve ionic compounds however the effect of solvent polarity on the rate of 8 2 reactions IS small What is most important is whether or not the polar solvent is protic or aprotic Water (HOH) alcohols (ROH) and carboxylic acids (RCO2H) are classified as polar protic solvents they all have OH groups that allow them to form hydrogen bonds... 

Hi) The fact that the signal of the substituent in position 5 is more sensitive to solvent effects than that of the 3-substituent. This is true for protons and methyl groups, the best solvents for these studies being benzene, CDCI3, DMSO and HMPT. A beautiful illustration of this method is provided by the establishment of the structure of the six l,l -dimethyl-bipyrazolyl isomers (72JHC1373). 

Decomposition of more complex diaziriries follows first order kinetics also. Chlorophenyl-carbene adds to cyclohexene to give a norcarane derivative. Substituent effects of m-Cl, m-NOa or m-Me groups, as well as solvent effects, are small. Chlorotrichloromethyldiazirine yields tetrachloroethylene chlorocyclooctyldiazirine also leads to an alkene 74CJC246). 

A prototype of such phenomena can be seen in even the simplest carboxylic acid, acetic acid (CH3CHOOH). Acidity is determined by the energy or free energy difference between the dissociated and nondissociated forms, whose energetics usually depend significantly on their conformation, e.g., the syn/anti conformational change of the carboxyl-ate group in the compound substantially affects the acid-base equilibrium. The coupled conformation and solvent effects on acidity is treated in Ref. 20. 

We will discuss shortly the most important structure-reactivity features of the E2, El, and Elcb mechanisms. The variable transition state theoiy allows discussion of reactions proceeding through transition states of intermediate character in terms of the limiting mechanistic types. The most important structural features to be considered in such a discussion are (1) the nature of the leaving group, (2) the nature of the base, (3) electronic and steric effects of substituents in the reactant molecule, and (4) solvent effects. 

The followmg types of studies will not be presented individually but may have contnbuted supportmg data to coverage by compound type conformational analyses [23 24, 25, 26 27], fluoropolymers [28, 29, 30 31, 32], solid-state NMR [ii], and solvent effects [34 35, 36, 37] Many excellent articles with m-depth NMR interpretation of one specific compound or of a small, structurally related group of compounds can be found in the chemical hterature A few of these, not incorporated elsewhere in this secUon are referenced here carbonyl fluondes [JS 39 40], fluoropropanes [41 42, 43], fluorocyclopropanes [44, 45 46], fluorobutanes [47], perfluorocyclobutanone [48], fluorohexanes [49], and vinyl fluondes [50, 51 52, 53, 54]... 

The grouping of solvents into classes with common characteristics can be useful in focusing attention on features that may play a role in experimental solvent effects. Reichardt s - review of classification schemes is thorough. 

Solvent effects also depend on the ground-state structure of the substrate and on the transition-state structure, as is shown below. Here let us merely note that A-heterocyclic compounds tend to form a hydrogen bond with hydroxylic solvents even in the ground state. Hydrogen-bond formation in this case is a change in the direction of quaternization of the aza group, as demonstrated by spectral evidence. Therefore, it is undoubtedly a rate-enhancing interaction. 

Illuminati and Marino reported an interesting example of the dependence of solvent effects on the position of the reacting center relative to the aza group. The rate constants for the reaction of 2- and 4-chloroquinoline with piperidine were compared in three different solvents, methanol, piperidine, and toluene. These data are reported in Table III. Three main points are apparent from these data (a) the different response of the two substrates to the action of the solvent, (b) the rates for 2-chloroquinoline in the three solvents tend to cluster around the highest reactivity level shown by 4-chloroquinoline in... 

The substituent effects on the H-bonding in an adenine-uracil (A-U) base pair were studied for a series of common functional groups [99JPC(A)8516]. Substitutions in the 5 position of uracil are of particular importance because they are located toward the major groove and can easily be introduced by several chemical methods. Based on DFT calculation with a basis set including diffuse functions, variations of about 1 kcal/mol were found for the two H-bonds. The solvent effects on three different Watson-Crick A-U base pairs (Scheme 100) have been modeled by seven water molecules creating the first solvation shell [98JPC(A)6167]. 

Figure 11.7 Energy diagrams showing the effects of (a) substrate, (b) nucleophile, (c) leaving group, and (d) solvent on Sn2 reaction rates. Substrate and leaving group effects are felt primarily in the transition state. Nucleophile and solvent effects are felt primarily in the reactant ground state.

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, a few examples of solvent effects on enzyme selectivity are discussed, starting from the classical works published by Klibanov s group. 

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]. 

For Sn2 reactions in solution, there are four main principles that govern the effect of the nucleophile on the rate, though the nucleophilicity order is not invariant but depends on substrate, solvent, leaving group, and so on. 

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