Transition states hydrocarbons

Marks has examined the reactivity of thorium metallacycles with hydrocarbons, where ring strain is used to provide the thermodynamic driving force for alkane activation in a reaction with methane (Eq. 17). Reaction with CD4 shows a dramatic kinetic isotope effect, with kH/kD=6, which is typical of the four-centered electrophilic transition state hydrocarbon activations [76]. The metallacy-cle is formed by the elimination of neopentane from the bis-neopentyl derivative [77]. Reaction with cyclopropane and tetramethylsilane gave the bis-cyclopropyl product Cp 2Th(c-propyl)2 and the bis-TMS product Cp 2Th(CH2SiMe3)2, respectively [78]. 

A different kind of shape selectivity is restricted transition state shape selectivity. It is related not to transport restrictions but instead to size restrictions of the catalyst pores, which hinder the fonnation of transition states that are too large to fit thus reactions proceeding tiirough smaller transition states are favoured. The catalytic activities for the cracking of hexanes to give smaller hydrocarbons, measured as first-order rate constants at 811 K and atmospheric pressure, were found to be the following for the reactions catalysed by crystallites of HZSM-5 14 n-... 

Saturated hydrocarbons show a slight stabilizing effect on the initial state but a very destabilizing effect on the transition state, consistent with arguments based on solvent polarity. 

Polymerization of t-butyl methacrylate initiated by lithium compounds in toluene yields 100% isotactic polymers 64,65), and significantly, of a nearly uniform molecular-weight, while the isotactic polymethyl methacrylate formed under these conditions has a bimodal distribution. Significantly, the propagation of the lithium pairs of the t-Bu ester carbanion, is faster in toluene than in THF. In hydrocarbon solvents the monomers seem to interact strongly with the Li+ cations in the transition state of the addition, while the conventional direct monomer interaction with carbanions, that requires partial dissociation of ion-pair in the transition state of propagation, governs the addition in ethereal solvents. 

The rates of radical-forming thermal decomposition of four families of free radical initiators can be predicted from a sum of transition state and reactant state effects. The four families of initiators are trarw-symmetric bisalkyl diazenes,trans-phenyl, alkyl diazenes, peresters and hydrocarbons (carbon-carbon bond homolysis). Transition state effects are calculated by the HMD pi- delocalization energies of the alkyl radicals formed in the reactions. Reactant state effects are estimated from standard steric parameters. For each family of initiators, linear energy relationships have been created for calculating the rates at which members of the family decompose at given temperatures. These numerical relationships should be useful for predicting rates of decomposition for potential new initiators for the free radical polymerization of vinyl monomers under extraordinary conditions. 

The quality of fit to the linear equation 7 is excellent for the radical forming decompositions of Irons-symmetric bisalkyl diazenes (reaction 1 - Table II) and Irons-phenyl, alkyl diazenes (reaction 2 - Table II). The quality of fit to equation 7 is not as high for the radical forming decompositions of lerl-butyl peresters (reaction 3 - Table II) and hydrocarbons (reaction 4 - Table II). This suggests that transition state arguments may be used to rationalize the rates of reactivity very well for reactions 1 and 2, and fairly well for reactions 3 and 4. 

Irons-phenyl, alkyl diazenes (2), peresters (3) and hydrocarbons (4). These equations are intended to be used for their predictive value for applications especially in the area of free radical polymerization chemistry. They are not intended for imparting deep understanding of the mechanisms of radical forming reactions or the properties of the free radical "products". Some interesting hypotheses can be made about the contributions of transition state versus reactant state effects for the structure activity relationships of the reactions of this study, as long as the mechanisms are assumed to be constant throughout each family of free radical initiator. 

Because the pore dimensions in narrow pore zeolites such as ZSM-22 are of molecular order, hydrocarbon conversion on such zeolites is affected by the geometry of the pores and the hydrocarbons. Acid sites can be situated at different locations in the zeolite framework, each with their specific shape-selective effects. On ZSM-22 bridge, pore mouth and micropore acid sites occur (see Fig. 2). The shape-selective effects observed on ZSM-22 are mainly caused by conversion at the pore mouth sites. These effects are accounted for in the hydrocracking kinetics in the physisorption, protonation and transition state formation [12]. 

Zeolites have led to a new phenomenon in heterogeneous catalysis, shape selectivity. It has two aspects (a) formation of an otherwise possible product is blocked because it cannot fit into the pores, and (b) formation of the product is blocked not by (a) but because the transition state in the bimolecular process leading to it cannot fit into the pores. For example, (a) is involved in zeolite catalyzed reactions which favor a para-disubstituted benzene over the ortho and meso. The low rate of deactivation observed in some reactions of hydrocarbons on some zeoUtes has been ascribed to (b) inhibition of bimolecular steps forming coke. 

The Diels-Alder reaction is one of the most important methods used to form cyclic structures and is one of the earliest examples of carbon-carbon bond formation reactions in aqueous media.21 Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous media were in fact first carried out in the 1930s, when the reaction was discovered,22 but no particular attention was paid to this fact until 1980, when Breslow23 made the dramatic observation that the reaction of cyclopentadiene with butenone in water (Eq. 12.1) was more than 700 times faster than the same reaction in isooctane, whereas the reaction rate in methanol is comparable to that in a hydrocarbon solvent. Such an unusual acceleration of the Diels-Alder reaction by water was attributed to the hydrophobic effect, 24 in which the hydrophobic interactions brought together the two nonpolar groups in the transition state. 

One common feature of all M + hydrocarbon systems mentioned in Sec. 1.2.2 is that none of the products resulted from cleavage of a C-C bond. This is a result of several factors. First, C-H bonds are less directional than C-C bonds (Sec. 1.1), allowing for multicentered bonding at the transition state, which tends to lower the barrier for C-H insertion relative to C-C insertion.2,18,22 Second, since M-H bonds are usually stronger than M-C bonds, intermediates resulting from insertion into a C-H bond are usually thermodynamically favored.141 Third, there are typically more C-H bonds in hydrocarbons than C-C bonds, so C-H insertion is also statistically favored. Finally, C-H bonds are more accessible to an incoming metal atom and are therefore more susceptible to insertion. 

A much more detailed and time-dependent study of complex hydrocarbon and carbon cluster formation has been prepared by Bettens and Herbst,83 84 who considered the detailed growth of unsaturated hydrocarbons and clusters via ion-molecule and neutral-neutral processes under the conditions of both dense and diffuse interstellar clouds. In order to include molecules up to 64 carbon atoms in size, these authors increased the size of their gas-phase model to include approximately 10,000reactions. The products of many of the unstudied reactions have been estimated via simplified statistical (RRKM) calculations coupled with ab initio and semiempirical energy calculations. The simplified RRKM approach posits a transition state between complex and products even when no obvious potential barrier... 

The pre-exponential factor Ac H for the reaction R02 + RH per attacked C—H bond differs for aliphatic hydrocarbons and for hydrocarbons, where the attacked C—H bond is in the a-position to tt-C—C bond. This difference is the result of additional loss of the activation entropy due to retardation of group rotation, resulting from the interaction of tt-electrons with electrons of reaction center. When the peroxyl radical attacks the C—H bond in neighborhood with the n-C—C bond, the retardation of free rotation around the C—C bond in the transition state additionally lowers the entropy of the transition state. The values of E0 and AC H are given here [119] ... 

The polar interaction changes the geometry of the transition state of the reaction R02 + RH. Atoms C, H, O of the reaction center O H C of this reaction are in a straight line for the reaction of the peroxyl radical with a hydrocarbon. The reaction center O H C has an angular geometry in the reaction of the polar peroxyl radical with a polar molecule of the ketone. The interatomic distances rc H and i o n and angles peroxyl radical reactions with ketones calculated by the IPM method [79,80] are given in Table 8.15. 

An indication of the nature of the transition state in aromatic substitution is provided by the existence of some extrathermodynamic relationships among rate and acid-base equilibrium constants. Thus a simple linear relationship exists between the logarithms of the relative rates of halogenation of the methylbenzenes and the logarithms of the relative basicities of the hydrocarbons toward HF-BFS (or-complex equilibrium).288 270 A similar relationship with the basicities toward HC1 ( -complex equilibrium) is much less precise. The jr-complex is therefore a poorer model for the substitution transition state than is the [Pg.150]

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