Substituent effects nucleophilic aliphatic substitution

Competitive effects for the interactions of cisplatin with various active sites in the cellular environment are discussed in papers of Deubel.55,56 In the earlier paper, energetic and structural data of complexes with the different substituted ligands were explored. The more recent work deals with kinetic factors in the relation to the transition state (TS) for water replacement of the semihydrated cisplatin complex (cis-[Pt(NH3)2(H20)Cl]+ ) with either an N- or S-containing ligand (thiopheneimidazol, dimethyl sulphide, or methanethiolate which serve as amino acid models). Deubel concluded the kinetic preference of N-sites over S-nucleophiles where the important role is played by the electrostatic terms. In addition, the aliphatic/aromatic character of the substituent as well as the influence of different dielectric constants of the environment are very important. A more realistic model for the aqua-ligand replacement with adenine and guanine was studied in works of Chval et al.53,57 and Eriksson and coworkers.58 They performed independently the estimation of the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of this process. 

The destabilization of sp -bound fluorine by p-jt repulsion activates fluorinated aromatic compounds totvard nucleophilic attack and subsequent substitution. The susceptibility of the carbon center toward nucleophiles is also enhanced by the negative inductive (—T) effect of fluorine. In particular, if the aromatic compound is also activated by —M electron-withdrawing substituents, for example a nitro or cyano group, in the ortho or para positions the fluorine is easily replaced by a variety of nucleophiles even under very mild conditions via a resonance stabilized Meisenheimer complex (Scheme 2.39). The ease of nucleophilic halogen replacement - F > Cl > Br > I - is in the opposite order to that for aliphatic nucleophilic substitution. 

CN can exert important effects on reactivity both as a substituent in the substrate and in the nucleophile, and both in aliphatic and in aromatic substitution. We shall illustrate all the relevant features of the effects of CN in this respect. 

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