Triphenylmethyl ion

Polarography of Carbonium Ions in Acid Solution, Part I, The Triphenylmethyl Ion in Sulphuric Acid, P.H. Plesch and I. Sestakova, Journal of the Chemical Society, (B), 1970, 87-92. 

The Triphenylmethyl Ion.—A solution of triphenylchloromethane in a dissociating solvent conducts the electric current (Walden). Since, on electrolysis, triphenylmethyl is liberated at the cathode, it follows... 

The triphenylmethyl ion is also, very probably, present in the orange-yellow products of the salt and complex salt type which are produced from triphenylcarbinol with concentrated sulphuric acid and from triphenylchloromethane with metallic chlorides (ZnCl2, A1C13, SnCl4, SbCl6). 

In the same way the above-mentioned complex salts of triphenylchloromethane are readily decomposed by water. In both cases a hydrolysis occurs which causes the triphenylmethyl ion to lose its charge, and the carbinol to be re-formed. 

With a nucleophilic reagent such as the amide ion NH2 and the negative triphenylmethyl ion the same polymerization is produced via configuration III. 

Control of the 3-methylpentane reaction was found to be a complex function of the amount of olefin used to initiate reaction and the amount of triphenylmethyl ion present. Figures 12 and 13 show typical data over a range of coiq>ositions and the relative hydride transfer rates as a function of the reagent concentration is shown in Figure 14. ... 

The triphenylmethyl ion exerts its effect at a relatively high concentration in the acid. With a ring balance it has not... 

Although styrene polymerized by ionic mechanism is not utilized commercially, much research was devoted to both cationic and anionic polymerizations. An investigation of cationic polymerization of styrene with an A1(C2H5)2C1/RC1 (R = alkyl or aryl) catalyst/cocatalyst system was reported by Kennedy.The efficiency (polymerization initiation) is determined by the relative stability and/or concentration of the initiating carbocations that are provided by the cocatalyst RCl. A/-butyl, isopropyl, and j c-butyl chlorides exhibit low cocatalytic efficiencies because of a low tendency for ion formation. Triphenylmethyl chloride is also a poor cocatalyst, because the triphenylmethyl ion that forms is more stable than the propagating styryl ion. Initiation of styrene polymerizations by carbocations is now well established. 

If triphenylmethyl chloride in ether is treated with sodium, a yellow colour is produced due to the presence of the anionic spiecies PhsC". Alternatively, if triphenylmethyl chloride is treated with silver perchlorate in a solvent such as THF, the triphenylmethyl cation is obtained. More conveniently, triphenylmethyl salts, PhsC X", can be obtained as orange-red crystalline solids from the action of the appropriate strong acid on triphenylcarbinol in ethanoic or propanoic anhydride solution. The perchlorate, fluoroborate and hexafluoro-phosphate salts are most commonly used for hydride ion abstraction from organic compounds (e.g. cycloheptatriene gives tropylium salts). The salts are rather easily hydrolysed to triphenylcarbinol. 

The selectivity relationship merely expresses the proportionality between intermolecular and intramolecular selectivities in electrophilic substitution, and it is not surprising that these quantities should be related. There are examples of related reactions in which connections between selectivity and reactivity have been demonstrated. For example, the ratio of the rates of reaction with the azide anion and water of the triphenylmethyl, diphenylmethyl and tert-butyl carbonium ions were 2-8x10 , 2-4x10 and 3-9 respectively the selectivities of the ions decrease as the reactivities increase. The existence, under very restricted and closely related conditions, of a relationship between reactivity and selectivity in the reactions mentioned above, does not permit the assumption that a similar relationship holds over the wide range of different electrophilic aromatic substitutions. In these substitution reactions a difficulty arises in defining the concept of reactivity it is not sufficient to assume that the reactivity of an electrophile is related... 

AgN03, EtOH, Pyr, 90°, 1.5 h H2S, 47% yield. An 5-triphenylmethyl thioether can be selectively cleaved in the presence of an 5-diphenylmethyl thioether by acidic hydrolysis or by heavy-metal ions. As a result of the structure of the substrate, the relative yields of cleavage by AgN03 and Hg(OAc)2 can be reversed. 

The l,2,3-tri-/-butylcyclopropenium cation is so stable that the perchlorate salt can be recrystallized from water. An X-ray study of triphenylcyclopropenium perchlorate has verified the existence of the carbocation as a discrete species. Quantitative estimation of the stability of the unsubstituted ion can be made in terms of its pXn+ value of —7.4, which is intermediate between those of such highly stabilized ions as triphenylmethyl... 

If (A i[X ]/A 2[Y ]) is not much smaller than unity, then as the substitution reaction proceeds, the increase in [X ] will increase the denominator of Eq. (8-65), slowing the reaction and causing deviation from simple first-order kinetics. This mass-law or common-ion effect is characteristic of an S l process, although, as already seen, it is not a necessary condition. The common-ion effect (also called external return) occurs only with the common ion and must be distinguished from a general kinetic salt effect, which will operate with any ion. An example is provided by the hydrolysis of triphenylmethyl chloride (trityl chloride) the addition of 0.01 M NaCl decreased the rate by fourfold. The solvolysis rate of diphenylmethyl chloride in 80% aqueous acetone was decreased by LiCl but increased by LiBr. ° The 5 2 mechanism will also yield first-order kinetics in a solvolysis reaction, but it should not be susceptible to a common-ion rate inhibition. 

It is known that tropylium may be prepared from tropylidene via hydride abstraction by PhgC or MegC carbonium ions therefore, it is very likely that here too the dehydrogenation is a hydride transfer from the 1,5-dione to an acceptor. A similar dehydrogenation of chromanones to chromones, with triphenylmethyl perchlorate was reported. A study of the electrooxidation of 1,5-diones on a rotating platinum electrode showed that 1,5-diaryl-substituted diones afford pyrylium salts in these conditions and that the half-wave potentials correlate with yields in chemical dehydrogenations. 

On treatment with a strong base such as sodium hydride or sodium amide, dimethyl sulfoxide yields a proton to form the methylsulfinyl carbanion (dimsyl ion), a strongly basic reagent. Reaction of dimsyl ion with triphenylalkylphosphonium halides provides a convenient route to ylides (see Chapter 11, Section III), and with triphenylmethane the reagent affords a high concentration of triphenylmethyl carbanion. Of immediate interest, however, is the nucleophilic reaction of dimsyl ion with aldehydes, ketones, and particularly esters (//). The reaction of dimsyl ion with nonenolizable ketones and... 

Methylsulfinyl carbanion (dimsyl ion) is prepared from 0.10 mole of sodium hydride in 50 ml of dimethyl sulfoxide under a nitrogen atmosphere as described in Chapter 10, Section III. The solution is diluted by the addition of 50 ml of dry THF and a small amount (1-10 mg) of triphenylmethane is added to act as an indicator. (The red color produced by triphenylmethyl carbanion is discharged when the dimsylsodium is consumed.) Acetylene (purified as described in Chapter 14, Section I) is introduced into the system with stirring through a gas inlet tube until the formation of sodium acetylide is complete, as indicated by disappearance of the red color. The gas inlet tube is replaced by a dropping funnel and a solution of 0.10 mole of the substrate in 20 ml of dry THF is added with stirring at room temperature over a period of about 1 hour. In the case of ethynylation of carbonyl compounds (given below), the solution is then cautiously treated with 6 g (0.11 mole) of ammonium chloride. The reaction mixture is then diluted with 500 ml of water, and the aqueous solution is extracted three times with 150-ml portions of ether. The ether solution is dried (sodium sulfate), the ether is removed (rotary evaporator), and the residue is fractionally distilled under reduced pressure to yield the ethynyl alcohol. 

This method is a modification of the method originally published by Kursanov and Vol pin.6 Tropylium salts have also been prepared by bromination-dehydrobromination of tropili-dene,6 and by the hydride-exchange reaction between tropilidene and triphenylmethyl carbonium ion.7... 

Allyl (27, 60, 119-125) and benzyl (26, 27, 60, 121, 125-133) radicals have been studied intensively. Other theoretical studies have concerned pentadienyl (60,124), triphenylmethyl-type radicals (27), odd polyenes and odd a,w-diphenylpolyenes (60), radicals of the benzyl and phenalenyl types (60), cyclohexadienyl and a-hydronaphthyl (134), radical ions of nonalternant hydrocarbons (11, 135), radical anions derived from nitroso- and nitrobenzene, benzonitrile, and four polycyanobenzenes (10), anilino and phenoxyl radicals (130), tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine radical cation (56), tetracyanoquinodi-methane radical anion (62), perfluoro-2,l,3-benzoselenadiazole radical anion (136), 0-protonated neutral aromatic ketyl radicals (137), benzene cation (138), benzene anion (139-141), paracyclophane radical anion (141), sulfur-containing conjugated radicals (142), nitrogen-containing violenes (143), and p-semi-quinones (17, 144, 145). Some representative results are presented in Figure 12. 

When 2-methoxy-l,6-methano[10]annulene 32 was subjected to a cyclopropana-tion with diazomethane and cuprous chloride as catalyst reaction occurred preferentially at the 5,6-, 6,7- and/or 1,10-bonds and the adducts spontaneously underwent disrotatory opening yielding the corresponding methoxybicyclo[5.4.1]dodecapen-taenes. Hydride abstraction with triphenylmethyl fluoroborate was performed on the mixture and the ions 33 and 34 so produced were treated with dilute aqueous potassium hydroxide. The annulenones 13 and 14 were then separated by chromatography. 

Solutions of hexaphenylethane in liquid sulfur dioxide conduct electricity, suggesting an ionization into triphenylmethyl positive and negative ions. Since the spectrum of triphenylmethide ion was missing from the spectrum of the solution the following equilibrium was postulated ... 

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