Triphenylmethyl reactivity

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... 

Cesium forms simple alkyl and aryl compounds that are similar to those of the other alkah metals (6). They are colorless, sohd, amorphous, nonvolatile, and insoluble, except by decomposition, in most solvents except diethylzinc. As a result of exceptional reactivity, cesium aryls should be effective in alkylations wherever other alkaline alkyls or Grignard reagents have failed (see Grignard reactions). Cesium reacts with hydrocarbons in which the activity of a C—H link is increased by attachment to the carbon atom of doubly linked or aromatic radicals. A brown, sohd addition product is formed when cesium reacts with ethylene, and a very reactive dark red powder, triphenylmethylcesium [76-83-5] (C H )2CCs, is formed by the reaction of cesium amalgam and a solution of triphenylmethyl chloride in anhydrous ether. 

Okamoto and his colleagues60) described the interesting polymerization of tri-phenylmethyl methacrylate. The bulkiness of this group affects the reactivity and the mode of placement of this monomer. The anionic polymerization yields a highly isotactic polymer, whether the reaction proceeds in toluene or in THF. In fact, even radical polymerization of this monomer yields polymers of relatively high isotacticity. Anionic polymerization of triphenylmethyl methacrylate initiated by optically active initiators e.g. PhN(CH2Ph)Li, or the sparteine-BuLi complex, produces an optically active polymer 60). Its optical activity is attributed to the chirality of the helix structure maintained in solution. 

Some radicals (e.g., triphenylmethyl) are so unreactive that they abstract hydrogens very poorly if at all. Table 14.3 lists some common free radicals in approximate order of reactivity. ... 

As shown in Table XIV, the reactivity of (trichloromethyl)silanes varied depending upon the substituent on silicon. The reactivity and yields of (trichloromethyl)-methyldichlorosilanes were slightly higher than those of (trichloroinethyl)tri-chlorosilanes in the aluminum chloride-catalyzed alkylation as similarly observed in the alkylations with (ai-chloroalkyl)silanes and (dichloroalkyl)silanes. The electron-donating methyl group on the silicon facilitates the alkylation more than the electron-withdrawing chlorine. The minor products, (diphenylmethyl)chloro-silanes, were presumably derived from the decomposition of (triphenylmethyl)-chlorosilanes. 

Carbon-centered organic radicals are highly reactive trivalent species with only one nonbonding electron. While most known radicals have their unpaired electron in a pure p- or a delocalized Ji-orbital, there are also examples of radicals centered in s/t" hybrid o-orbitals, such as the well known phenyl and cyclopropyl radicals. The first radical reported in the literature is credited to Gomberg s landmark paper in 1900 when he postulated the formation of triphenylmethyl radical 36, also known as tri-fyj 99,100 jj-jjyj j-adical is an example of a persistent radical that exists in equilibrium... 

The first radicals to be studied were, hardly surprisingly, those that were somewhat less reactive, and thus capable of rather longer independent existence. The first such radical to be detected unequivocally was Ph3C- (4), obtained in 1900 on reacting Ph3CCl with finely divided silver (cf. p. 43). The radical reacted with halogens to reform the triphenylmethyl halide (5), or with oxygen from the air to form (6), a peroxide (all radicals react readily with 02 from the air) ... 

Because of the high stability of the triphenylmethyl carbocation, the reductive ether cleavage of trityl ethers with EtySiH/trimethylsilyl triflate (TMSOTf) is highly successful. This reaction even occurs in the presence of highly reactive sugar ketals, leaving the ketals intact (Eq. 126).269... 

In the paper published in 1900, he reported that hexaphenylethane (2) existed in an equilibrium mixture with 1. In 1968, the structure of the dimer of 1 was corrected to be l-diphenylmethylene-4-triphenylmethyl-2,5-cyclohexadiene 3, not 2 [38]. Since Gomberg s discovery, a number of stable radicals have been synthesized and characterized, e.g., triarylmethyls, phenoxyls, diphenylpicryl-hydrazyl and its analogs, and nitroxides [39-43]. The radical 1 is stable, if oxygen, iodine, and other materials which react easily with it are absent. Such stable radicals scarcely initiate vinyl polymerization, but they easily combine with reactive (short-lived) propagating radicals to form non-paramagnetic compounds. Thus, these stable radicals have been used as radical scavengers or polymerization inhibitors in radical polymerization. 

Phenyl and triphenylmethyl radicals generated from 6 contribute to the initiation and the termination, respectively, resulting in polymer 18 because of the remarkably different reactivities of these radicals (Eq. 21). The co-chain end terminated with 1 thermally redissociates to induce further polymerization. Therefore, the polymerization proceeded via a mechanism close to the model in Eq. (18). The recombination product of methyl isobutyryl radical and 1 was reported to have a quinonoide structure [82], suggesting a similar structure of the chain end, 18b. 

Here the radical 1 acts as a strong terminator to prevent the formation of oligomers and polymers. On the other hand, it is expected that the substituted diphenylmethyl radicals which are less stable than 1 serve as both initiators and primary radical terminators. In fact, it was reported [84] that the apparent polymerization reactivities decreased in the following order diphenylmethyl, phenylmethyl, and triphenylmethyl radicals, which were derived from the initiator systems consisting of arylmethyl halides and silver. 

In contrast with the more reactive radicals, triphenylmethyl reacts only with the alkali metals and not with lead. 

The type of reactivity shown by the formation of Chichibabin s hydrocarbon extends to the activation of substituents other than hydrogen as well. For example, molecular silver will not usually remove fluorine from organic compounds, not even from triphenylmethyl fluoride. Yet the radical parafluorophenyldiphenylmethyl reacts with molecular silver to give silver fluoride.88... 

Tetra-/>-anisy lhy drazine is green in benzene at room temperature.185 On the other hand, 1,2-diphenyl-1,2-di- >-nitrophenylhydrazine appears not to be dissociated at all. If this difference in degree of dissociation is real, and not a specious one due merely to a difference in color or reactivity of the radicals, it presents a puzzling contrast to the case of diphenylpicrylhydrazyl and to the triphenylmethyl series in which both kinds of substituent stabilize the radical. 

The site of reaction on an unsaturated organometallic molecule is not restricted to the most probable position of the metallic atom or cation or to a position corresponding to any one resonance structure of the anion. This has been discussed in a previous section with reference to the special case of reaction with a proton. Although the multiple reactivity is particularly noticeable in the case of derivatives of carbonyl compounds, it is not entirely lacking even in the case of the derivatives of unsaturated hydrocarbons. Triphenylmethyl sodium reacts with triphenylsilyl chloride to give not only the substance related to hexaphenylethane but also a substance related to Chichi-babin s hydrocarbon.401 It will be recalled that both the triphenyl-carbonium ion and triphenylmethyl radical did the same sort of thing. 

Another differential reaction is copolymerization. An equi-molar mixture of styrene and methyl methacrylate gives copolymers of different composition depending on the initiator. The radical chains started by benzoyl peroxide are 51 % polystyrene, the cationic chains from stannic chloride or boron trifluoride etherate are 100% polystyrene, and the anionic chains from sodium or potassium are more than 99 % polymethyl methacrylate.444 The radicals attack either monomer indiscriminately, the carbanions prefer methyl methacrylate and the carbonium ions prefer styrene. As can be seen from the data of Table XIV, the reactivity of a radical varies considerably with its structure, and it is worth considering whether this variability would be enough to make a radical derived from sodium or potassium give 99 % polymethyl methacrylate.446 If so, the alkali metal intitiated polymerization would not need to be a carbanionic chain reaction. However, the polymer initiated by triphenylmethyl sodium is also about 99% polymethyl methacrylate, whereas tert-butyl peroxide and >-chlorobenzoyl peroxide give 49 to 51 % styrene in the initial polymer.445... 

Triphenylmethyl is an extremely reactive substance. Its solutions are decolorised by air, which converts it into the colourless triphenylmethyl peroxide ... 

Of particular interest are quantitative syntheses of extremely deliquescent and reactive alkyliminium salts by milling of solid imines with oxonium salts (178), triphenylmethylium tetrafluoroborate (180), or triphenylmethyl chloride (183) (dry atmosphere in these cases). The sensitive salts 179, 181, and 184 are formed in pure form without any waste by an easy experimental technique [10]. Precisely weighed samples of 178 (ca. 2 mmol), 180 (ca. 1 mmol), or 183 (1.00 mmol) were placed in a ball-mill under argon together with the precise equivalent of 54a,f,g, or 54f, or 182, respectively. The Teflon gasket was closed... 

TITTe have reported that the triphenylmethide ion in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution reacts with oxygen at a rate approaching the diffusion-controlled limit (k > 109 liters/mole sec.) (16). The triphenylmethide ion is actually more reactive toward molecular oxygen than the triphenylmethyl radical. Because of the reactivity of the triphenylmethyl anion toward molecular oxygen, it is possible to measure the rate of ionization of triphenylmethane in basic solution by the rate of oxygenation. 

Carbocations are a class of reactive intermediates that have been studied for 100 years, since the colored solution formed when triphenylmethanol was dissolved in sulfuric acid was characterized as containing the triphenylmethyl cation. In the early literature, cations such as Ph3C and the tert-butyl cation were referred to as carbonium ions. Following suggestions of Olah, such cations where the positive carbon has a coordination number of 3 are now termed carbenium ions with carbonium ions reserved for cases such as nonclassical ions where the coordination number is 5 or greater. Carbocation is the generic name for an ion with a positive charge on carbon. 

The study of carbocations has now passed its centenary since the observation and assignment of the triphenylmethyl cation. Their existence as reactive intermediates in a number of important organic and biological reactions is well established. In some respects, the field is quite mature. Exhaustive studies of solvolysis and electrophilic addition and substitution reactions have been performed, and the role of carbocations, where they are intermediates, is delineated. The stable ion observations have provided important information about their structure, and the rapid rates of their intramolecular rearrangements. Modem computational methods, often in combination with stable ion experiments, provide details of the stmcture of the cations with reasonable precision. The controversial issue of nonclassical ions has more or less been resolved. A significant amount of reactivity data also now exists, in particular reactivity data for carbocations obtained using time-resolved methods under conditions where the cation is normally found as a reactive intermediate. Having said this, there is still an enormous amount of activity in the field. 

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