Transition state postulate

Toth et al. have thoroughly studied the rearrangement their kinetic determinations suggest a general acid-catalyzed mechanism (Scheme 115) (1578). Some points remain unclear, however why is the intermediate (181) written as a transition state when it is known that a tetrahedral intermediate (181b or 181b ) could as well be postulated How does this... 

Hammond s postulate (Section 4 8) Pnnciple used to deduce the approximate structure of a transition state If two states such as a transition state and an unstable intermediate de rived from it are similar in energy they are believed to be similar in structure... 

An unusual addition of acetoacetic acid to pyrido[2,3-Z>]pyrazin-2(l//)-one (400) to give (eventually) the 3-acetonyl derivative (401) was postulated (71TH21500) to occur via a cyclic transition state, and the similar addition of oxalacetic ester may occur via a related mechanism. 

Because the rates of chemical reactions are controlled by the free energy of the transition state, information about the stmcture of transition states is crucial to understanding reaction mechanism. However, because transition states have only transitory existence, it is not possible to make experimental measurements that provide direct information about their structure.. Hammond has discussed the circumstances under which it is valid to relate transition-state stmcture to the stmcture of reactants, intermediates, and products. His statements concerning transition-state stmcture are known as Hammond s postulate. Discussing individual steps in a reaction mechanism, Hammond s postulate states if two states, as, for example, a transition state and an unstable intermediate, occur consecutively during a reaction process and have neariy the same energy content, their interconversion will involve only a small reorganization of molecular stmcture. ... 

The significance of the concept incorporated in Hammond s postulate is that, in appropriate cases, it permits discussion of transition-state structure in terms of the reactants, inteimediates, or products in a multistep reaction sequence. The postulate indicates that the cases in which such comparison is appropriate are those in which the transition state is close in energy to the reactant, intermediate, or product. Chemists sometimes speak of early or late transition states. An early transition state is reactant-like whereas a late transition state is product-like. 

The substituent effects in aromatic electrophilic substitution are dominated by resonance effects. In other systems, stereoelectronic effects or steric effects might be more important. Whatever the nature of the substituent effects, the Hammond postulate insists diat structural discussion of transition states in terms of reactants, intermediates, or products is valid only when their structures and energies are similar. 

Application of Hammond s postulate indicates that the transition state should resemble the product of the first step, the carbocation intermediate. Ionization is facilitated by factors that either lower the energy of the carbocation or raise the energy of the reactant. The rate of ionization depends primarily on how reactant structure and solvent ionizing power affect these energies. 

Important differences are seen when the reactions of the other halogens are compared to bromination. In the case of chlorination, although the same chain mechanism is operative as for bromination, there is a key difference in the greatly diminished selectivity of the chlorination. For example, the pri sec selectivity in 2,3-dimethylbutane for chlorination is 1 3.6 in typical solvents. Because of the greater reactivity of the chlorine atom, abstractions of primary, secondary, and tertiary hydrogens are all exothermic. As a result of this exothermicity, the stability of the product radical has less influence on the activation energy. In terms of Hammond s postulate (Section 4.4.2), the transition state would be expected to be more reactant-like. As an example of the low selectivity, ethylbenzene is chlorinated at both the methyl and the methylene positions, despite the much greater stability of the benzyl radical ... 

A postulated reaction mechanism is a description of all contributing elementary reactions (we will call this the kinetic scheme), as well as a description of structures (electronic and chemical) and stereochemistry of the transition state for each elementary reaction. (Note that it is common to mean by the term transition state both the region at the maximum in the energy path and the actual chemical species that exists at this point in the reaction.)... 

Postulate a transition state structure for the formation of the acetylpyridinium ion from pyridine and acetic anhydride. 

Transition state theory is based on these three postulates ... 

Now suppose that, from this equilibrium situation, the final state is instantaneously removed. The production of transition state species by the product state will cease. However, the production of transition state species by the reactant state is unaffected by this suppression of the final state, and, according to the third postulate of the theory, the rate of reaction is a function of the transition state concentration formed from the reactant state. This is the usual argument for the equilibrium assumption. Despite its apparent artificiality, the equilibrium assumption is generally considered to be fairly sound, with the possible exception of its application to very fast reactions. ... 

However, one of the postulates of transition state theory is that the rate of reaction is equal to the product of the transition state species concentration and the frequency of their conversion to products, so the theoretical rate equation is... 

The Hammond postulate is a valuable criterion of mechanism, because it allows a reasonable transition state structure to be drawn on the basis of knowledge of the reactants and products and of energy differences between the states (i.e., AG and AG°). Throughout this chapter we have located transition states in accordance with the Hammond postulate. 

According to this very simple derivation and result, the position of the transition state along the reaction coordinate is determined solely by AG° (a thermodynamic quantity) and AG (a kinetic quantity). Of course, the potential energy profile of Fig. 5-15, upon which Eq. (5-60) is based, is very unrealistic, but, quite remarkably, it is found that the precise nature of the profile is not important to the result provided certain criteria are met, and Miller " obtained Eq. (5-60) using an arc length minimization criterion. Murdoch has analyzed Eq. (5-60) in detail. Equation (5-60) can be considered a quantitative formulation of the Hammond postulate. The transition state in Fig. 5-9 was located with the aid of Eq. (5-60). 

We consider the effect of the structural change on the free energy of the transition state. Leffler - postulated that changes in G can be represented as a linear combination of changes in the free energies of reactants and products,... 

Next, Ah and Ad are written in terms of partition functions (see Section 5.2), which are in principle calculable from quantum mechanical results together with experimental vibrational frequencies. The application of this approach to mechanistic problems involves postulating alternative models of the transition state, estimating the appropriate molecular properties of the hypothetical transition state species, and calculating the corresponding k lko values for comparison with experiment.""- " "P... 

The ortho effect may consist of several components. The normal electronic effect may receive contributions from inductive and resonance factors, just as with tneta and para substituents. There may also be a proximity or field electronic effect that operates directly between the substituent and the reaction site. In addition there may exist a true steric effect, as a result of the space-filling nature of the substituent (itself ultimately an electronic effect). Finally it is possible that non-covalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonding or charge transfer, may take place. The role of the solvent in both the initial state and the transition state may be different in the presence of ortho substitution. Many attempts have been made to separate these several effects. For example. Farthing and Nam defined an ortho substituent constant in the usual way by = log (K/K ) for the ionization of benzoic acids, postulating that includes both electronic and steric components. They assumed that the electronic portion of the ortho effect is identical to the para effect, writing CTe = o-p, and that the steric component is equal to the difference between the total effect and the electronic effect, or cts = cr — cte- They then used a multiple LFER to correlate data for orrAo-substituted reactants. 

The reactions of pyrrolidinocyelohexenes with acid have also been Considered from a stereochemical point of view. Deuteration of the 2-methylcyclohexanone enamine gave di-2-deuterio-6-methylcyclohexanone under conditions where ds-4-/-butyI-6-methyIpyrrolidinocycIohexene was not deuterated (2J4). This experiment supported the postulate of Williamson (2JS), which called for the axial attack of an electrophile and axial orientation of the 6 substituent on an aminocyclohexene in the transition state of such enamine reactions. These geometric requirements explain the more difficult alkylation of a cyclohexanone enamine on carbon 2, when it is substituted at the 6 position, as compared with the unsubstituted case. 

Obtain the partial CH and HF bond distances in eacl transition state, and compare them to the CH and HF bon( distances in propane and hydrogen fluoride, respectively Does the Hammond Postulate correctly predict whicl bond distances will be most similar Explain. 

Use of the Hammond Postulate requires that the reverse reactions both be fast. Obtain energies for the transition states leading to 1-propyl and 2-propyl radicals ipropane+Br end and propane+Br center), and draw a reaction energy diagram for each (place the diagrams on the same axes). Is use of the Hammond Postulate justified Compare the partial CH and HBr bond distances in each transition state to the corresponding distances in propane and hydrogen bromide, respectively. Does the Hammond Postulate correctly predict which bond distances will be most similar Explain. 

Obtain the energies of propene, dimethylborane, and 1-propyldimethyl borane, and calculate AH n for dimethylborane addition. Is this reaction exothermic or endothermic Use this result and the Hammond Postulate to predict whether the transition state will be more reactant like or more product like . Compare the geometry of the transition state to that of the reactants and products. Does the Hammond Postulate correctly anticipate the structure of the transition state Explain. 

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