Stereospecificity, definition

It was anticipated all along that the vinylsilane residue could serve as a vinyl iodide surrogate. After protection of the C-14 secondary hydroxyl in 180 in the form of a triisopropylsilyl ether, the vinyltrimethylsilyl function can indeed be converted to the requisite vinyl iodide with AModosuccinimide (NIS) (see 180—>181, Scheme 43). Vinyl iodide 181 is produced stereospecifically with retention of the A17,18 double bond geometry. This transformation is stereospecific since the stereochemistry of the starting vinylsilane and the vinyl iodide product bear a definite relationship to each other.67b 75... 

However, if both maleic and fumaric acid gave the dl pair or a mixture in which the dl pair predominated, the reaction would be stereoselective but not stereospecific. If more or less equal amounts of dl and meso forms were produced in each case, the reaction would be nonstereoselective. A consequence of these definitions is that if a reaction is carried out on a compound that has no stereoisomers, it cannot be stereospecific, but at most stereoselective. For example, addition of bromine to methylacetylene could (and does) result in preferential formation of trans-1,2-dibromopropene, but this can be only a stereoselective, not a stereospecific reaction. 

Of course, the trans isomer will give the opposite results the threo pair if the addition is syn and the erythro pair if it is anti. The threo and erythro isomers have different physical properties. In the special case where Y=W (as in the addition of Br2), the erythro pair is a meso compound. In addition to triple-bond compounds of the type ACsCA, syn addition results in a cis alkene and anti addition in a trans alkene. By the definition given on page 166 addition to triple bonds cannot be stereospecific, though it can be, and often is, stereoselective. 

Stereospecificity as applied to olefin metathesis may be considered in two ways (a) How does the cis/trans isomer ratio of a product olefin compare with its equilibrium ratio, or (b) how does this cis/trans value differ from 1.0, which is the statistically expected value in terms of probabilities. In the present discussion, the latter definition applies. 

Since the two reactants cis and trans butenes are stereoisomers, being diastereomers, the product from cis is a meso compound and that from the trans give a pair of enantiomers, by definition both the reactions are stereospecific. 

A stereospecific chemical reaction is one in which starting substrates or reactants, differing only in their configuration, are converted into stereoisomeric products. Note, with this definition a stereospecific reaction has to be stereoselective whereas the inverse statement (that is, with respect to a stereoselective reaction or process) is not necessarily true. 2. Referring to reactions that act on only one stereoisomer (or, have a preference for one stereoisomer). Thus, many enzyme-catalyzed reactions are stereospecific, and characterization of that stereospecificity is always an issue to be addressed for a particular enzyme. 

Stereospecific - This term should only be used according to Eliel s definition. It must not be applied with the meaning 100% ee (see Section 1.2.3.3.). 

The behavior of the different catalytic systems (containing transition metal crystalline compounds) in the a-olefin polymerization, except for the different degree of stereospecificity, may be connected with a definite kinetic scheme. This was shown by experimental work performed at the Institute of Industrial Chemistry of the Milan Polytechnic. 

However, the foregoing observations cannot definitely be ascribed to triplet CH2 for the following reasons. Dilution of the reaction mixture with argon while maintaining constant total pressure leads to decreased deactivation efficiency, as pointed out by Frey, and therefore the loss of stereospecificity may result from geometric isomerization of the initial excited adducts rather than from a different mechanism of reaction of triplet methylene. 

In the isomerisation of the tetra-substituted olefin 3,4-dimethylhex-3-ene over palladium—alumina [146], it has been shown that double bond migration is a necessary precursor to cis—trans isomerisation. This has been interpreted as showing that the mechanism involves a series of elementary steps, each of which is stereospecific, although no definite conclusions were drawn as to whether an addition—abstraction or an abstraction-addition mechanism was involved. 

Some information is available on other acrylates. N,N-disubstituted acrylamides form isotactic polymers with lithium alkyls in hydrocarbons (12). t-Butylacrylate forms crystallizable polymers with lithium-based catalysts in non-polar solvents (65) whereas the methyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl and isobutyl esters do not. Isopropylacrylate also gives isotactic polymer with lithium compounds in non-polar solvents (34). The inability of n-alkylacrylates to form crystallizable polymers may result from a requirement for a branched alkyl group for stereospecific polymerization. On the other hand lack of crystallizability cannot be taken as definite evidence of a lack of stereoregulating influence, as sometimes quite highly regular polymer fails to crystallize. The butyllithium-initiated polymers of methylmethacrylate for instance cannot be crystallized. The presence of a small amount of more random structure appears to inhibit the crystallization process1. 

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