Tetrahedral intermediates isolation

In an extension of the work described m the preceding section Bender showed that basic ester hydrolysis was not concerted and like acid hydrolysis took place by way of a tetrahedral intermediate The nature of the experiment was the same and the results were similar to those observed m the acid catalyzed reaction Ethyl benzoate enriched m 0 at the carbonyl oxygen was subjected to hydrolysis m base and samples were isolated before saponification was complete The recovered ethyl benzoate was found to have lost a por tion of Its isotopic label consistent with the formation of a tetrahedral intermediate... 

In most cases, the product ratio can be controlled by choice of reaction conditions. Ketones are isolated under conditions where the tetrahedral intermediate is stable until hydrolyzed, whereas tertiary alcohols are formed when the/Tetrahedral intermediate decomposes while unreacted organometallic reagent remains. Bxamples of synthetic application of these reactions will be discussed in Chapter 7 of Bart B. 

Formation of C—Nu The second mode of nucleophilic addition, which often occurs with amine nucleophiles, involves elimination of oxygen and formation of a C=Nu bond. For example, aldehydes and ketones react with primary amines, RNH2, to form imines, R2C=NR. These reactions proceed through exactly the same kind of tetrahedral intermediate as that formed during hydride reduction and Grignard reaction, but the initially formed alkoxide ion is not isolated. Instead, it is protonated and then loses water to form an imine, as shown in Figure 3. 

In some cases, tetrahedral intermediates have been isolated or detected spectrally. ... 

Such an intermediate ean also stabilize itself by combining with a positive species. When it does, the reaction is nucleophilic addition to a C=C double bond (see Chapter 15). It is not surprising that with vinylie substrates addition and substitution often compete. For chloroquinones, where the charge is spread by resonance, tetrahedral intermediates have been isolated ... 

There are some special cases where tetrahedral intermediates are unusually stable there are three phenomena which lead to this stability enhancement. The first is an unusually reactive carbonyl (or imine) compound which is very prone to addition. An example of such a compound is trichoroacetaldehyde or chloral, for which the covalent hydrate can be isolated. A simple way to recognize such compounds is to think of the carbonyl group as a (very) stabilized carbocation, bearing an substituent. 

This adduct (=100% yield) may be isolated and characterised the less nucleophilic H20 or EtOH does not add on. On going from the original carboxylic derivative (156) to the tetrahedral intermediate... 

As with an isolated double bond, epoxide formation in an aromatic ring, i.e., arene oxide formation, can occur mechanistically either by a concerted addition of oxene to form the arene oxide in a single step, pathway 1, or by a stepwise process, pathway 2 (Fig. 4.78). The stepwise process, pathway 2, would involve the initial addition of enzyme-bound Fe03+ to a specific carbon to form a tetrahedral intermediate, electron transfer from the aryl group to heme to form a carbonium ion adjacent to the oxygen adduct followed by... 

Direct evidence for the existence of a tetrahedral intermediate was found by Zaugg et al.2S in the ammoniolysis of 3-(/J-bromoethyl)-3-phenyl-2-benzofur-anone (X) in acetonitrile. Approximately 10% of the trapping product XI was isolated, resulting from an intramolecular displacement of bromide ion in the tetrahedral intermediate. 

EPSP synthase catalyzes the synthesis of EPSP by an addition-elimination reaction through the tetrahedral intermediate shown in Fig. 2a. This enzyme is on the shikimate pathway for synthesis of aromatic amino acids and is the target for the important herbicide, glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in Roundup (The Scotts Company EEC, Marysville, OH). Transient-state kinetic studies led to proof of this reaction mechanism by the observation and isolation of the tetrahedral intermediate. Moreover, quantification of the rates of formation and decay of the tetrahedral intermediate established that it was tmly an intermediate species on the pathway between the substrates (S3P and PEP) and products (EPSP and Pi) of the reaction. The chemistry of this reaction is interesting in that the enzyme must first catalyze the formation of the intermediate and then catalyze its breakdown, apparently with different requirements for catalysis. Quantification of the rates of each step of this reaction in the forward and reverse directions has afforded a complete description of the free-energy profile for the reaction and allows... 

Figure 2b shows the results of a rapid-quench single-turnover experiment performed with EPSP synthase with enzyme in excess over the radiolabeled substrate, PEP. The data show the transient formation and decay of the tetrahedral intermediate, which led to its subsequent isolation and stmcture determination. 

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