Stereochemistry nonstereospecific addition

In the first stereochemical study, Brook has observed nonstereospecific addition of methanol to certain isolable silenes65,66. Although the precise stereochemistry of the products was not established, a 1/3 mixture of syn/anti or anti/syn isomers was obtained (equation 13). The results indicate a nonconcerted process for the addition of alcohol to silenes. Wiberg has proposed a two-step mechanism involving an initial formation of a silene-alcohol complex, in accord with the formation of nucleophilic adducts, followed by proton migration from the alcohol to the carbon of the silene (equation 14)59,61. This mechanism may be compatible with the results obtained by Brook and coworkers, if rotation around the silene s Si—C bond occurs faster than the proton migration. 

In investigating the mechanism of addition to a double bond, perhaps the most useful type of information is the stereochemistry of the reaction. The two carbons of the double bond and the four atoms immediately attached to them are all in a plane (p. 8) there are thus three possibilities. Both Y and W may enter from the same side of the plane, in which case the addition is stereospecific and syn they may enter from opposite sides for stereospecific anti addition or the reaction may be nonstereospecific. In order to determine which of these possibilities is occurring in a given reaction, the following type of experiment is often done YW is added to the cis and trans isomers of an alkene of the form ABC=CBA. We may use the cis alkene as an example. If the addition is syn, the product will be the erythro dl pair, because each carbon has a 50% chance of being attacked by Y ... 

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