Stereochemical intermediates

E.N. Jacobsen etal, US Patent 6,262,278 (July 17, 2001) Assignee President and Fellows of Harvard College Utility Stereochemical Intermediates... 

Stereochemical features in the oxidative addition and the elimination of /3-hydrogen of cyclic and acyclic alkenes are different. The insertion (palladation) is syn addition. The syn addition (carbopalladation) of R—Pd—X to an acyclic alkene is followed by the syn elimination of 3-hydrogen to give the trans-a ksne 6, because free rotation of 5 is possible with the acyclic alkene. On the other hand, no rotation of the intermediate 7 is possible with a cyclic alkene and the syn elimination of /3-hydrogen gives the allylic compound 8 rather than a substituted alkene. 

The organoborate intermediates can also be generated from alkenylboronic esters and alkyllithium or Grignard reagents, or from ttialkylboranes and alkenyllithium compounds. Conjugated symmetrical and unsymmetrical diynes (289—291), stereochemically pure 1,3-dienes (292,293), and 1,3-enynes (294) including functionali2ed systems can be prepared (289,295). 

Electron deficient carbon-carbon double bonds are resistant to attack by the electrophilic reagents of Section 5.05.4.2.2(t), and are usually converted to oxiranes by nucleophilic oxidants. The most widely used of these is the hydroperoxide ion (Scheme 79). Since epoxidation by hydroperoxide ion proceeds through an intermediate ct-carbonyl anion, the reaction of acyclic alkenes is not necessarily stereospecific (Scheme 80) (unlike the case of epoxidation with electrophilic agents (Section 5.05.4.2.2(f)) the stereochemical aspects of this and other epoxidations are reviewed at length in (B-73MI50500)). 

Up to this point, we have emphasized the stereochemical properties of molecules as objects, without concern for processes which affect the molecular shape. The term dynamic stereochemistry applies to die topology of processes which effect a structural change. The cases that are most important in organic chemistry are chemical reactions, conformational changes, and noncovalent complex formation. In order to understand the stereochemical aspects of a dynamic process, it is essential not only that the stereochemical relationship between starting and product states be established, but also that the spatial features of proposed intermediates and transition states must account for the observed stereochemical transformations. 

Stereochemical analysis can add detail to the mechanistic picture of the Sj l substitution reaction. The ionization mechanism results in foimation of a caibocation intermediate which is planar because of its hybridization. If the caibocation is sufficiently long-lived under the reaction conditions to diffirse away from the leaving group, it becomes symmetrically solvated and gives racemic product. If this condition is not met, the solvation is dissymmetric, and product with net retention or inversion of configuration may be obtained, even though an achiral caibocation is formed. The extent of inversion or retention depends upon the details of the system. Examples of this effect will be discussed in later sections of the chapter. 

Studies of the stereochemical course of rmcleophilic substitution reactions are a powerful tool for investigation of the mechanisms of these reactions. Bimolecular direct displacement reactions by the limSj.j2 meohanism are expected to result in 100% inversion of configuration. The stereochemical outcome of the lirnSj l ionization mechanism is less predictable because it depends on whether reaction occurs via one of the ion-pair intermediates or through a completely dissociated ion. Borderline mechanisms may also show variable stereochemistry, depending upon the lifetime of the intermediates and the extent of internal return. It is important to dissect the overall stereochemical outcome into the various steps of such reactions. 

Stabilization of a carbocation intermediate by benzylic conjugation, as in the 1-phenylethyl system shown in entry 8, leads to substitution with diminished stereosped-ficity. A thorough analysis of stereochemical, kinetic, and isotope effect data on solvolysis reactions of 1-phenylethyl chloride has been carried out. The system has been analyzed in terms of the fate of the intimate ion-pair and solvent-separated ion-pair intermediates. From this analysis, it has been estimated that for every 100 molecules of 1-phenylethyl chloride that undergo ionization to an intimate ion pair (in trifluoroethanol), 80 return to starting material of retained configuration, 7 return to inverted starting material, and 13 go on to the solvent-separated ion pair. 

The rate-determining expulsion of bromide ion through a bridged intermediate requires an anti orientation of the two bromides. The nucleophilic attack of iodide at one bromide enhances its nucleophilicity and permits formation of the bridged ion. The stereochemical preference in noncyclic systems is also anti, as indicated by the fact that /neso-stilbene... 

When this prior stereoi merization is accounted for, the rearrangonent is found to have resulted fixtm a mixture of all possible suprafacial, antarafacial, inversion, and retention combinations in reughly equal amounts, indicating that no stereochemical pathway is strongly preferred. Substituted systems, however, show higher stereoselectivity. Theoretical modeling of the reaction finds no intermediate, but tire titumtinn state is diradical in character. ... 

Synthesis of Prostaglandins via an Endoperoxide Intermediate Stereochemical Divergence of... 

A chemical synthesis of prostaglandins by a free radical pathway through an endoperoxide intermediate showed a strong stereochemical preference for the formation of the endoperoxides having cis alpha and omega appendages. 

The alkylation of enamines with nitroolefins, which gives intermediates for reductive cyclization (6S2), also provided an example of a stable cycliza-tion product derived from attack of the intermediate imonium function by the nitro anion (683). A previously claimed tetrasubstituted enamine, which was obtained from addition of a vinylsulfone to morpholinocyclohexene (314), was shown to be the corresponding cyclobutane (684). Perfluoro-olefins also gave alkylation products with enamines (685). Reactions of enamines with diazodicarboxylate (683,686) have been used diagnostically for 6-substituted cyclohexenamines. In a reaction of 2-penten-4-one with a substituted vinylogous amide, stereochemical direction was seen to depend on solvent polarity (687). 

Concept of " pseudorotation introduced by R. S. Berry to interpret the stereochemical non-rigidity of trigonal bipyramidal PF5 (and SF4, ClFi) the 5 F atoms are equivalent (1953) due to interconversion via a square pyramidal intermediate. 

Because an S jl reaction occurs through a carbocation intermediate, its stereochemical outcome is different from that of an S 2 reaction. Carbocations, as we ve seen, are planar, sp2-hybndized, and achiral. Thus, if we carry out an S jl reaction on one enantiomer of a chiral reactant and go through an achiral carbocation intermediate, the product must be optically inactive (Section 9.10). The symmetrical intermediate carbocation can react with a nucleophile equally well from either side, leading to a racemic, 50 50 mixture of enantiomers (Figure 11.10). 

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