Steric constraint

Steric constraints are those that arise when a bond network cannot be mapped into three-dimensional space without straining the ideal bond lengths calculated with the 

Here / obs is the measured bond distance and / ideai is the distance predicted by the network equations (14a) and (14b). 

If an atom finds itself in a cavity that is too large for its bonds to adopt their ideal length, the bonds must be stretched. According to the distortion theorem (5), the environment of the atom will distort in such a way as to make the bond lengths unequal in order that the bond valence sums becomes equal to the atomic valences. As mentioned in Sect. 7.4.1, this contributes to the distortion around titanium(IV) in BaTiOs. In many cases, such distortions are found in compounds where electronic distortions are also expected, the two effects being mutually supportive. 

In all cases of steric constraint, the observed bond distances violate the equal valence rule (14b) and, in some cases, the valence sum rule (14a) as well. A simple 

There are two causes of steric strain either close contacts between nonbonded atoms (Sect. 8.1) or incommensurations in the natural spacings of different parts of the structure (Sect. 8.2). Each of these is discussed separately. 

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CAD /CAM techniques have provided the framework for using the computer as a tool in the drawing and analysis of chemical stmctures and, more recently, in the use of chemical stmctures to design reaction pathways and new products. The essential elements in these appHcations of CAD/CAM are that the possible stmctures are relatively deterministic and that allowable changes in stmcture through reaction are governed by thermodynamic, stoichiometric, and steric constraints. 

Free rotation around each of the carbon-carbon bonds makes saturated fatty acids extremely flexible molecules. Owing to steric constraints, however, the fully extended conformation (Figure 8.1) is the most stable for saturated fatty acids. Nonetheless, the degree of stabilization is slight, and (as will be seen) saturated fatty acid chains adopt a variety of conformations. 

In deoxyhemoglobin, histidine F8 is liganded to the heme iron ion, but steric constraints force the Fe His-N bond to be tilted about 8° from the perpendicular to the plane of the heme. Steric repulsion between histidine F8 and the nitrogen atoms of the porphyrin ring system, combined with electrostatic repulsions between the electrons of Fe and the porphyrin 77-electrons, forces the iron atom to lie out of the porphyrin plane by about 0.06 nm. Changes in... 

In the case of sodium 2-(diarylmethylene)cyclopentanone tosylhydrazones 3, however, thermolysis gives the 3//-1,2-benzodiazepines 6 in good yield selected examples are shown. It is suggested that steric constraints in the diazo compounds 4 favor the [1,7] ring closure. The reaction proceeds by way of the intermediates 5, which rearrange to the products by a [1,5] shift of hydrogen.115... 

The discussion about the mechanism of the dehydrogenative polymerization reaction has not yet been completed. However, the reaction mechanism seems to be strongly influenced by the specific random conditions that apply for each particular system. Presumably with late transition metals a silylene mechanism is more appropriate. It may be a matter of the steric constraints of the system to shift the reaction towards a-bond metathesis. 

The influence of steric constraints on the nucleophilic substitution of Cl- by a nucleophile is not very important and does not much influence the yield even in the presence of two ortho-methyl groups. Steric inhibition was only found when... 

Energy minimization methods that exploit information about the second derivative of the potential are quite effective in the structural refinement of proteins. That is, in the process of X-ray structural determination one sometimes obtains bad steric interactions that can easily be relaxed by a small number of energy minimization cycles. The type of relaxation that can be obtained by energy minimization procedures is illustrated in Fig. 4.4. In fact, one can combine the potential U r) with the function which is usually optimized in X-ray structure determination (the R factor ) and minimize the sum of these functions (Ref. 4) by a conjugated gradient method, thus satisfying both the X-ray electron density constraints and steric constraint dictated by the molecular potential surface. 

The inequality indicates that if a concerted mechanism (where b4 and b2 change simultaneously) gives a Ag which is much lower than our stepwise estimate, we will have smaller Ag< age. This possibility, however, is not supported by detailed calculations (Ref. 6). Direct information about Ag age can be obtained from studies of model compounds where the general acid is covalently linked to the R-O-R molecules. However, the analysis of such experiments is complicated due to the competing catalysis by HaO+ and steric constraints in the model compound. Thus, it is recommended to use the rough estimate of Fig. 6.8. If a better estimate is needed, one should simulate the reaction in different model compounds and adjust the a parameters until the observed rates are reproduced. 

The approach taken above estimates the effect of the metal by simply considering its electrostatic effect (subjected, of course, to the correct steric constraint as dictated by the metal van der Waals parameters). To examine the validity of this approach for other systems let s consider the reaction of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, whose active site is shown in Fig. 8.6. The reaction of this enzyme involves the hydration of C02, which can be described as (Ref. 5)... 

Note 3. The symbols (Z)- and ( )- may be omitted when the double bond is located within a ring system of six atoms or less, as steric constraints in such systems normally permit only one form. 

In the absence of steric constraints in Eq. (1.24a) Eact will not vary. Eads and 9 are the parameters that significantly change with hydrocarbon chain length or zeolite. 

The tendency for N-nitrosamides to undergo hydrolysis by a nucleophilic catalysed pathway has been confirmed by studies of N-alkylnitroso acetamides (22) Results summarised in Table I for N -n-butyl-JJ -nitroso acetamide show that its decomposition is also subject to steric constraints (2,6-lutidinestrong nucleophiles (eg. imidazole, thiols) irrespective of their base strength (pK ). Further, the second order dependence on [Imidazole] is more clearly defined for the decomposit-... 

The molecular modelling approach, taking into account the pyruvate—cinchona alkaloid interaction and the steric constraints imposed by the adsorption on the platinum surface, leads to a reasonable explanation for the enantio-differentiation of this system. Although the prediction of the complex formed between the methyl pyruvate and the cinchona modifiers have been made for an ideal case (solvent effects and a quantum description of the interaction with the platinum surface atoms were not considered), this approach proved to be very helpful in the search of new modifiers. The search strategy, which included a systematic reduction of the cinchona alkaloid structure to the essential functional parts and validation of the steric constraints imposed to the interaction complex between modifier and methyl pyruvate by means of molecular modelling, indicated that simple chiral aminoalcohols should be promising substitutes for cinchona alkaloid modifiers. Using the Sharpless symmetric dihydroxylation as a key step, a series of enantiomerically pure 2-hydroxy-2-aryl-ethylamines... 

The inductive and electrostatic effects, steric constraints and conjugative interactions are the major factors that determine the configurational stability of a-sulfonyl carbanions. These are thought to be pyramidal with appreciable electrostatic inhibition to racemization by way of inversion. LCAO-MO-SCF calculations have indicated the conformer 195 in which the lone pair is directed along the bisector of the OSO angle to be the most stable in acyclic sulfones. ... 

Investigation of a related indole template, however, yielded potent compounds, as exemplified by the sulphonamide derivative (33). Activity was improved further by introducing steric constraints to the sidechain and introduction of a 7-methyl substituent on the indole ring, leading to compound (34) [82]. Derivatives generally possessed only moderate pharmacokinetic properties however (clearance 25-45 ml/min/kg in dog), which was attributed to metabolic vulnerability of the indole (C2-C3) double bond. Attempts to block metabolism by C2, C3 di-methyl substitution resulted in the loss of oxytocin activity. 

Based on the data listed in Table 20.1, a value of 0.42% P was calculated for an anchored catalyst having three triphenylphosphine ligands, 0.28% P with two phosphine groups and 0.14% with one triphenylphosphene. An analytical value of 0.37% P was found which indicates that all three triphenyl-phosphines (TPP) are present in the catalyst as depicted by 4 in Scheme 20.2. However, only 0.11% P was found in the catalyst sample taken after catalyst pre-hydrogenation indicating that only one TPP is present on the active entity. Because of steric constraints between the bulky TPP and the HP A, it would appear that the TPP should be in the axial position as in 5. A proposed reaction mechanism for the anchored Wilkinson based on that shown in Scheme 20.1 is shown in Scheme 20.2. 

There appear to be considerable steric demands involved in formation of the Si-N bond in reaction (28). Support for the importance of steric constraints in dehydrocoupling comes from studies on the synthesis of oligosilazanes from PhSiHj and NH3. When reaction (29) is run at 60°C, NMR and elemental analysis... 

The structural changes that occur at 90<>C are again indicative of steric constraints. We find no evidence that the N-H bonds in the -[PhSiHNH]x backbone participate in the crosslinking process observed in (30) which is in keeping with our observation concerning piperidine s lack of reactivity. We also observe similar behavior for reactions of n-hexylsilane with N1I3 (23). 

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