Steric restrictions

The property of chirality is determined by overall molecular topology, and there are many molecules that are chiral even though they do not possess an asymmetrically substituted atom. The examples in Scheme 2.2 include allenes (entries 1 and 2) and spiranes (entries 7 and 8). Entries 3 and 4 are examples of separable chiral atropisomers in which the barrier to rotation results from steric restriction of rotation of the bond between the aiyl rings. The chirality of -cyclooctene and Z, -cyclooctadiene is also dependent on restricted rotation. Manipulation of a molecular model will illustrate that each of these molecules can be converted into its enantiomer by a rotational process by which the ring is turned inside-out. ... 

There is another aspect to the question of the reactivity of the carbonyl group in r ck)hexanone. This has to do with the preference for approach of reactants from the axial ir equatorial direction. The chair conformation of cyclohexanone places the carbonyl coup in an unsynunetrical environment. It is observed that small nucleophiles prefer to roach the carbonyl group of cyclohexanone from the axial direction even though this is 1 more sterically restricted approach than from the equatorial side." How do the ctfcnaices in the C—C bonds (on the axial side) as opposed to the C—H bonds (on the equatorial side) influence the reactivity of cyclohexanone ... 

A sterically restricted nucleophile is less reactive than a more accessible one because of nonbonded repulsions which develop in the transition state. The trigonal bipyramidal geometry of the 8 2 transition state is sterically more demanding than the tetrahedral reactant, so steric congestion increases as the transition state is approached. 

Reductions by NaBKt are characterized by low enthalpies of activation (8-13kcal/mol) and large negative entropies of activation (—28 to —40eu). Aldehydes are substantially more reactive than ketones, as can be seen by comparison of the rate data for benzaldehyde and acetophenone. This relative reactivity is characteristic of nearly all carbonyl addition reactions. The reduced reactivity of ketones is attributed primarily to steric effects. Not only does the additional substituent increase the steric restrictions to approach of the nucleophile, but it also causes larger steric interaction in the tetrahedral product as the hybridization changes from trigonal to tetrahedral. 

As already mentioned, the enthalpy change A//° involved in an elementary propagation step corresponds to the equilibrium constant S. The parameter a, however, is purely entropically influenced mainly due to the steric restrictions during the formation of a helical nucleus. The determination of a, since it is related to the same power (3n - 2) of s, requires the consideration of the dependence of the thermodynamic parameters on the chain length (Eq. (9 a)). 

After learning to estimate AG7" and AS, we might ask how AASf is affected by the steric restriction of the protein environment. As is clear from eq. (9.7), we need the differences between the entropic contributions to A G rather than the individual AS. This requires the examination of the difference between the potential surfaces of the protein and solution reaction. Here we exploit the fact that the electrostatic potential changes rather slowly and use the approximation... 

Entries 4 and 5 are cases in which the oxazolidinone substituent is a 3-ketoacyl group. The a-hydrogen (between the carbonyls) does not react as rapidly as the y-hydrogen, evidently owing to steric restrictions to optimal alignment. The all -syn stereochemistry is consistent with a TS in which the exocyclic carbonyl is chelated to titanium. 

If bridged intermediates are involved, the larger steric bulk of secondary systems would retard the reaction. Steric restrictions may be further enhanced by the fact that organomagnesium reagents are often present as clusters (see below). 

Adsorption of ethylene as an olefinic species would not be likely to occur on the zinc half of the active site. A rigid ethylene molecule could not approach the sequestered zinc ions because of steric restrictions hence, ethylene would be confined primarily to the oxide part of this layer. In... 

For intramolecular reactions the situation is different. Here the free-energy contribution from the non-reacting part of the molecule can be, and quite often is, most significant. Moreover, steric restrictions due to the intervening chain can significantly alter the way in which the end-groups interact in the... 

A number of chemical phenomena cannot be explained by any mechanism other than quantum-mechanical tunnelling. The more obvious of these include electrochemical processes that depend on the transfer of electrons across electrode surfaces, and solid-state rearrangements that involve the rotation of bulky moeities in sterically restricted space. Neither of these phenomena has been studied in quantitative detail. 

Only large-pore zeolites exhibit sufficient activity and selectivity for the alkylation reaction. Chu and Chester (119) found ZSM-5, a typical medium-pore zeolite, to be inactive under typical alkylation conditions. This observation was explained by diffusion limitations in the pores. Corma et al. (126) tested HZSM-5 and HMCM-22 samples at 323 K, finding that the ZSM-5 exhibited a very low activity with a rapid and complete deactivation and produced mainly dimethyl-hexanes and dimethylhexenes. The authors claimed that alkylation takes place mainly at the external surface of the zeolite, whereas dimerization, which is less sterically demanding, proceeds within the pore system. Weitkamp and Jacobs (170) found ZSM-5 and ZSM-11 to be active at temperatures above 423 K. The product distribution was very different from that of a typical alkylate it contained much more cracked products trimethylpentanes were absent and considerable amounts of monomethyl isomers, n-alkanes, and cyclic hydrocarbons were present. This behavior was explained by steric restrictions that prevented the formation of highly branched carbenium ions. Reactions with the less branched or non-branched carbenium ions require higher activation energies, so that higher temperatures are necessary. 

The surface of the substrate is not homogeneous, which presents two problems. First, both electronic repulsions and then steric restrictions promote adsorption at lower 9 and make it more difficult at higher 9. The influence of these problems... 

Many of the amino acids originally tested by Krebs were racemic mixtures. When naturally occurring L-amino acids became available the oxidase was found to be sterically restricted to the unnatural, D series. [D-serine occurs in worms free and as D-phosphoryl lombricine (Ennor, 1959)]. It could not therefore be the enzyme used in the liver to release NH3 in amino acid metabolism. D-amino acid oxidase was shown by Warburg and Christian (1938) to be a flavoprotein with FAD as its prosthetic group. A few years later Green found an L-amino acid oxidase in liver. It was however limited in its specificity for amino acid substrates and not very active—characteristics which again precluded its central role in deamination. 

In aliphatic amines (diethylamine or triethylamine) the intramolecular hydrogen abstraction is quenched almost completely. Instead, smooth photoreduction of the nitro group without participation of the side chain is observed with 1,3,5-tri-fezf-butyl-2-nitrobenzene (5) and 14, R = C(CH3)3 ). Products derived from the respective phenylhydroxylamines were isolated in both cases. Again, an electron transfer, which does not seem to suffer from steric restrictions, is operative (see also Section A. 1.3). 

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