Steric effects thermodynamic stability

Nitroalkanes show a related relationship between kinetic acidity and thermodynamic acidity. Additional alkyl substituents on nitromethane retard the rate of proton removal although the equilibrium is more favorable for the more highly substituted derivatives. The alkyl groups have a strong stabilizing effect on the nitronate ion, but unfavorable steric effects are dominant at the transition state for proton removal. As a result, kinetic and thermodynamic acidity show opposite responses to alkyl substitution. 

The success of such reactions depends on the intramolecular hydrogen transfer being faster than hydrogen atom abstraction from the stannane reagent. In the example shown, hydrogen transfer is favored by the thermodynamic driving force of radical stabilization, by the intramolecular nature of the hydrogen transfer, and by the steric effects of the central quaternary carbon. This substitution pattern often favors intramolecular reactions as a result of conformational effects. 

Finally it has to be remarked briefly that the reactivity and selectivity of free radicals is certainly not only determined by steric and bond energy effects or by the thermodynamic stability of these transients. Polar effects are also important, in particular in those reactions which have early transition states e.g., the steps of free radical chain reactions12. They are either due to dipole interactions in the ground state or to charge polarization at transition states. FMO-theory apparently offers a more modern interpretation of many of these effects13. ... 

For a discussion concerning the difference between thermodynamic stability of radicals and their kinetic persistence e.g., due to steric effects see Ref.9)... 

Consequences of unsaturation. Unsaturation in the macrocyclic ring may have major steric and electronic consequences for the nature of the ring. Extensive unsaturation will result in loss of flexibility with a corresponding restriction of the number of possible modes of coordination. Further, loss of flexibility tends to be reflected in an enhanced macrocyclic effect . For example, if the metal ion is contained in the macrocyclic cavity, the loss of flexibility reduces the possible pathways for ligand dissociation and this tends to increase the kinetic stability of the system. As explained in later chapters, enhanced thermodynamic stabilities will usually also result. 

Unfortunately, for all these reasons the conclusions cannot be applied quantitatively for description of the pH effects in the RCH-RP process. There are gross differences between the parameters of the measurements in [97] and those of the industrial process (temperature, partial pressure of H2, absence or presence of CO), furthermore the industrial catalyst is preformed from rhodium acetate rather than chloride. Although there is no big difference in the steric bulk of TPPTS and TPPMS [98], at least not on the basis of their respective Tolman cone angles, noticable differences in the thermodynamic stability of their complexes may still arise from the slight alterations in steric and electronic parameters of these two ligands being unequally sulfonated. Nevertheless, the laws of thermodynamics should be obeyed and equilibria like (4.2) should contribute to the pH-effects in the industrial process, too. 

The system aminophosphorane (116)-phosphazene (116a) (Scheme 29) studied by Sanchez et al,191 was found to behave differently only 116a can be detected by NMR, i.e. there is no equilibrium. Exactly the opposite situation was found with the system 117-118, in which the only observable species was the aminophosphorane 117. Evidently, the increase in thermodynamic stability results from the formation of a spirophosphorane structure. Similar conclusions were reached by Gololobov et al.191 in the course of a study of structures similar to that of 117. More recently, Stegmann et al.193 extended the scope of their research to substituted 1,2-aryldiamines in a study of the equilibria 119 119a and 120 120a. The thermodynamic parameters AH, AG and AS were determined by NMR. Here too, the position of the equilibrium was found to depend on the substituents (steric and electronic effects), on the solvent and on the temperature. 

Mixture B K[SiPh(3-fcat)2 and K[SiPh(dbcat)2] (3-fcat 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, dbcat 3,5-di-f-butylcatechol) contained two complexes with asymmetric catechols. Each complex showed the presence of two resonances due to the isomerism described above. The equilibrated mixtures showed the presence of two further species (Figure 9). These are attributed to isomers of the [SiPh(3-fcat) (dbcat)]- anion. Equilibrium was not established even after 8 weeks, whereupon decomposition prevented a more quantitative kinetic analysis. Flowever, it is apparent from the two experiments described that the kinetics of redistribution of ligands between complexes varies dramatically according to the cate-cholate involved. It is reasonable to conclude that the rate of redistribution decreases as the strength of the catecholate derivative increases. The nonstatistical distribution of complexes in a mixture indicates a thermodynamic stability of the complexes in Me2SO. The likely explanation lies in the electronic rather than the steric effects in the complex, since the live-coordination imposes little steric constraint. 

Ion radicals of conjugated acyclic or aromatic hydrocarbons (butadiene or naphthalene) are typical examples of the species with a released unpaired electron. They are named ir-elec-tron ion radicals and have a spin distribution along the whole molecular contour. An important feature of such species is that all the structural components are coplanar or almost coplanar. In this case, spin density appears to be uniformly or symmetrically distributed over the molecular framework. Spin-density distribution has a decisive effect on the thermodynamic stability of ion radicals. In general, the stability of ion radicals increases with an enhancement in delocalization and steric shielding of the reaction centers bearing the maximal spin density. 

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