Stereoelectronics

Figure 3-6. a) The charge distribution, b) the inductive effect, and c) the resonance effect, d) the polarizability effect, e) the steric effect, and f) the stereoelectronic effect,... 

Some reactions require the bonds being broken or made in a reaction to be aligned with other parts ti- or free electrons) of a molecule. These requirements are called stereoelectronic effects. Figure 3-6f shows that the bromide ion has to open a bro-monium ion by an anti attack in order that the new bond is formed concomitantly with the breaking of one bond of the three-membered ring. 

The high regioselectivity ( stereoelectronic control ) in the ring cleavage by chlorination of sulfur was anticipated. It had been found before that in corresponding bicyclic systems such as in the scheme below oxidation of the sulfur atom always led to the undesired cleavage of the S—Cg bond. This was rationalized through the observation on molecular models that... 

J.E. Baldwin (1976 B) also introduced a set of rules for closure reactions of 3- to 7-membered rings which are derived from similar arguments about stereoelectronic control . The specific rules are clearly explained in the original paper and need not be repeated here since their utility seems to be restricted to some specialized cases. The assumed... 

Effects that arise because one spatial arrangement of electrons (or orbitals or bonds) IS more stable than another are called stereoelectronic effects There is a stereoelec tromc preference for the anti coplanar arrangement of proton and leaving group in E2 reactions Although coplanarity of the p orbitals is the best geometry for the E2 process modest deviations from this ideal can be tolerated In such cases the terms used are syn periplanar and anti periplanar... 

Stereochemistry (Chapter 7) Chemistry in three dimensions the relationship of physical and chemical properties to the spatial arrangement of the atoms in a molecule Stereoelectron ic effect (Section 5 16) An electronic effect that depends on the spatial arrangement between the or bitals of the electron donor and acceptor Stereoisomers (Section 3 11) Isomers with the same constitu tion but that differ in respect to the arrangement of their atoms in space Stereoisomers may be either enantiomers or diastereomers... 

A spectacular example of selective deliydiogenation in the steroid ring system (42) has been attributed to stereoelectronic effects (31) the yield is 80%. Several related steroids also show this chemistry. An extensive review containing many additional examples and a mechanistic discussion is available (23). 

The case of a, -unsaturated caAonyl compounds is analogous to that of 1,3-dienes, in that stereoelectronic factors favor coplanaiity of the C=C—C=0 system. The rotamers that are important are the s-trans and s-cis conformations. Microwave data indicate that the s-trans form is the only conformation present in detectable amounts in acrolein (2-propenal). The equilibrium distribution of s-trans and s-cis conformations of a,fi-unsatuiated ketones depends on the extent of van der Waals interaction between substituents. Methyl vinyl ketone has minimal unfavorable van der Waals repulsions between substituents and exists predominantly as the s-trans conformer ... 

The relative preference for the axial orientation for a-halocyclohexanones can also be interpreted in stereoelectronic terms. In 2-chlorocyclohexanone, the axial arrangement... 

The incorporation of heteroatoms can result in stereoelectronic effects that have a pronounced effect on conformation and, ultimately, on reactivity. It is known from numerous examples in carbohydrate chemistry that pyranose sugars substituted with an electron-withdrawing group such as halogen or alkoxy at C-1 are often more stable when the substituent has an axial, rather than an equatorial, orientation. This tendency is not limited to carbohydrates but carries over to simpler ring systems such as 2-substituted tetrahydropyrans. The phenomenon is known as the anomeric ect, because it involves a substituent at the anomeric position in carbohydrate pyranose rings. Scheme 3.1 lists... 

Another example of a stereoelectronic effect is observed in amines. Amines in which a C—H bond is oriented antiperiplanar to the nitrogen lone pair show a shift in the C—H bond stretching frequency that corresponds to a weakening of the bond by about... 

A systematic effort to correlate ease of ring closure with the stereoelectronic requirements of the transition state has been developed by Baldwin and co-workers. They classify ring closures with respect to three factors (a) ring size, (b) the hybridization of the carbon at the reaction site, and (c) the relationship (endocyclic or exocyclic) of the reacting bond to the forming ring. Certain types of ring closures are found to be favorable whereas others are unfavorable for stereoelectronic reasons. The relationships are summarized in Table 3.12. 

This stereoelectronic requirement would lead to a large distortion of the normal geometry of a five-membered ring and introduce strain. It is this distortion and strain that disfavor the 5-endo-trig cyclization. In contrast, 5-endo-dig cychzation is feasible because the acetylenic system provides an orbital that is available for a nearly planar mode of approach. 

The terms favored and disfavored imply just that. Other factors will determine the absolute rate of a given ring closure, but these relationships point out the need to recognize the specific stereoelectronic requirements which may be imposed on the transition state in ring-closure reactions. 

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