Transition states pyrolytic elimination

Enby 6 is an example of a stereospecific elimination reaction of an alkyl halide in which the transition state requires die proton and bromide ion that are lost to be in an anti orientation with respect to each odier. The diastereomeric threo- and e/ytAra-l-bromo-1,2-diphenyl-propanes undergo )3-elimination to produce stereoisomeric products. Enby 7 is an example of a pyrolytic elimination requiring a syn orientation of die proton that is removed and the nitrogen atom of the amine oxide group. The elimination proceeds through a cyclic transition state in which the proton is transferred to die oxygen of die amine oxide group. 

Several types of compound undergo elimination on heating, with no other reagent present. Reactions of this type are often run in the gas phase. The mechanisms are obviously different from those already discussed, since all those require a base (which may be the solvent) in one of the steps, and there is no base or solvent present in pyrolytic elimination. Two mechanisms have been found to operate. One involves a cyclic transition state, which may be four, five, or six membered. Examples of each size are... 

The slopes of the lines obtained from the Taft correlations of aliphatic primary, secondary and tertiary chlorides obtained at different temperatures by the extrapolation p%2lP%i T IT2 indicate that the positive nature at the carbon reaction center of the C—Cl bond in the transition state increases from a primary to a tertiary carbon atom (Table 8)70. An additional fact is that for each type of alkyl halide, the degree of positive charge at the carbon reaction center tends to decrease as the temperature increases. This means that the pyrolytic eliminations tend to be more concerted and less polar at very high temperatures. These data support Maccoll s theory on the heterolytic character of the alkyl halides pyrol-yses in the gas phase1. 

In connection with the methoxy participation, the gas-phase pyrolytic elimination of 4-chloro-1 -butanol was investigated177. The products are tetrahydrofuran, propene, formaldehyde and HCl. It is implied that the OH group provides anchimeric assistance from the fact that, besides formation of the normal unstable dehydrochlorinated intermediate 3-buten-l-ol, a ring-closed product, tetrahydrofuran, was also obtained. The higher rate of chlorobutanol pyrolysis with respect to chlorethanol and ethyl chloride (Table 27) confirmed the participation of the OH group through a five-membered ring in the transition state. 

The chain scission can be seen as a pyrolytic elimination reaction. All mechanisms described in Section 2.2 may take place during chain scission. A reaction of chain scission with a cyclic transition state may take place, for example, during cellulose pyrolysis ... 

In the gas phase, when the reaction is normally initiated by heat, and so is called pyrolysis, there are two common pathways. The first is via a cyclic transition state and the second involves a free radical pathway. These two pyrolytic eliminations are rather different in nature from those that occur in solution, and so we will discuss them separately. 

The trans isomer of the alkene stilbene is formed, as indicated by the presence of the deuterium atom in the product. In this case, elimination is via a cyclic transition state, and so the opposite stereochemistry is obtained than was achieved in the E2 mechanism. This cyclic pyrolytic elimination is labelled the Ei mechanism, which stands for intramolecular, or internal, elimination. 

An important group of alkene-forming reactions, some of which are useful in synthesis, are pyrolytic eliminations. Included in this group are the pyrolyses of carboxylic esters and xanthates, of amine oxides, sulfoxides and selenoxides. These reactions take place in a concerted manner, by way of a cyclic transition state and therefore proceed with syn stereochemistry, such that the hydrogen atom and the leaving group depart from the same side of the incipient double bond (in contrast to the eliminations discussed in Section 2.1) (2.14). 

These pyrolytic iyn-eliminations in acetates and xanthates proceed via a six-membered transition state in which three electron pairs are shifted at the same time. They can be easily explained by PMO approach (Figure 6.12). 

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