Solvents substitution, nucleophilic

The nucleophilicity of anions, in general, depends very much on the degree of solvation. Much of the data that form the basis for quantitative measurement of nucleophilicity is for reactions in hydroxylic solvents. In protic, hydrogen-bonding solvents, anions are subject to strong interactions with solvent. Hard nucleophiles are more strongly solvated by protic solvents than soft nucleophiles, and this difference contributes to the greater nucleophilicity of soft anions in such solvents. Nucleophilic substitution reactions often occur more readily in polar aprotic solvents than they do in protic solvents. This is because anions are weakly solvated in such... 

Specific solvation is of great importance. Aprotic solvents do not virtually solvate an ion. This strongly facilitates its attack at the positively charged carbon atom of the RX substrate. Therefore, in aprotic solvents nucleophilic substitution occurs espe-... 

The major effect of the solvent is on the rate of nucleophilic substitution not on what the products are Thus we need to consider two related questions... 

The large rate enhancements observed for bimolecular nucleophilic substitutions m polai aprotic solvents are used to advantage m synthetic applications An example can be seen m the preparation of alkyl cyanides (mtiiles) by the reaction of sodium cyanide with alkyl halides... 

Solvolysis reaction (Section 8 7) Nucleophilic substitution m a medium m which the only nucleophiles present are the solvent and its conjugate base... 

Polymerization via Nucleophilic Substitution Reaction. Halo- and nitro- groups attached to phthahmide groups are strongly activated toward nucleophilic substitution reactions. Thus polyetherimides ate synthesized by the nucleophilic substitution reaction of bishaloimides (59,60) and bisnitroimides (61,62) with anhydrous bisphenol salts in dipolar aptotic solvents. 

Nucleophilic Substitution Route. Commercial synthesis of poly(arylethersulfone)s is accompHshed almost exclusively via the nucleophilic substitution polycondensation route. This synthesis route, discovered at Union Carbide in the early 1960s (3,4), involves reaction of the bisphenol of choice with 4,4 -dichlorodiphenylsulfone in a dipolar aprotic solvent in the presence of an alkaUbase. Examples of dipolar aprotic solvents include A/-methyl-2-pyrrohdinone (NMP), dimethyl acetamide (DMAc), sulfolane, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Examples of suitable bases are sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, and potassium carbonate. In the case of polysulfone (PSE) synthesis, the reaction is a two-step process in which the dialkah metal salt of bisphenol A (1) is first formed in situ from bisphenol A [80-05-7] by reaction with the base (eg, two molar equivalents of NaOH),... 

The realization that die nucleophilicity of anions is strongly enhanced in polar aprotic solvents has led to important improvements of several types of synthetic processes that involve nucleophilic substitutions or additions. 

The points that we have emphasized in this brief overview of the S l and 8 2 mechanisms are kinetics and stereochemistry. These features of a reaction provide important evidence for ascertaining whether a particular nucleophilic substitution follows an ionization or a direct displacement pathway. There are limitations to the generalization that reactions exhibiting first-order kinetics react by the Sj l mechanism and those exhibiting second-order kinetics react by the 8 2 mechanism. Many nucleophilic substitutions are carried out under conditions in which the nucleophile is present in large excess. When this is the case, the concentration of the nucleophile is essentially constant during die reaction and the observed kinetics become pseudo-first-order. This is true, for example, when the solvent is the nucleophile (solvolysis). In this case, the kinetics of the reaction provide no evidence as to whether the 8 1 or 8 2 mechanism operates. 

The concept of ion pairs in nucleophilic substitution is now generally accepted. Presumably, the barriers separating the intimate, solvent-separated, and dissociated ion pairs are quite small. The potential energy diagram in Fig. 5.4 depicts the three ion-pair species as being roughly equivalent in energy and separated by small barriers. 

Table S.16 presents data on some representative nucleophilic substitution processes. The first entry illustrates the use of 1-butyl-l-r/p-bromobenzenesulfonate to dononstrate at primary systems react with inversion, even under solvolysis conditkms in formic acid. The observation of inversion indicates a concerted mechanism in fids weakly nucleophilic solvent.

Nucleophilic substitution in cyclohexyl systems is quite slow and is often accompanied by extensive elimination. The stereochemistry of substitution has been determined with the use of a deuterium-labeled substrate (entry 6). In the example shown, the substitution process occurs with complete inversion of configuration. By NMR amdysis, it can be determined that there is about 15% of rearrangement by hydride shift accon any-ing solvolysis in acetic acid. This increases to 35% in formic acid and 75% in trifiuoroacetic acid. The extent of rearrangement increases with decreasing solvent... 

The rate at which reactions occur can be important in the laboratory, and understanding how solvents affect rate is of practical value. As we proceed through the text, however, and see how nucleophilic substitution is applied to a variety of functional group transfonnations, be aware that it is the nature of the substrate and the nucleophile that, more than anything else, determines what product is formed. 

Ionization is obviously important in the SnI mechanism of nucleophilic substitution, and indeed two ion pair intermediates have been invoked.These are related as in Eq. (8-19), where (s) represents the solvent. 

Most of the kinetic measures of solvent effects have been developed for the study of nucleophilic substitution (Sn) at saturated carbon, solvolytic reactions in particular. It may, therefore, be helpful to give a brief review of aliphatic nucleophilic substitution. Two mechanistic routes have been clearly identified. One of these is shown by... 

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