335 Midterm 1 Flashcards
what do high temperatures (delta) or intense light (hv) provide for the molecule
gives the molecule a lot of energy
what is the difference between heterolytic and homolytic bond cleavage
- heterolytic bond cleavage: both electrons remain with one atom
- homolytic bond cleavage: each atom gets one electron
what are the three steps for radical chlorination
- initiation step
- propagation steps
- termination steps
why is excess alkane used to get monochlorination
using an excess of the starting alkane minimizes dichlorination, trichlorination, etc.
what are the relative stabilities of radicals
most stable
1. tertiary radical
2. secondary radical
3. primary radical
4. methyl radical
least stable
what are the pitfalls of radical chlorination
main problems:
- selectivity for secondary over primary
- stability of radicals determines…
- alkane reactivity
- product selectivity
- potential for dichlorination, trichlorination, etc.
why is it easier to make a secondary radical over a primary radical
it’s more stable. thus, the reactivity (how easy it is to break C-H bond) follows the trend of stability of the radical intermediate
what are the relative rates of radical formation by a chlorine radical at room temperature
greatest rate of formation
tertiary (5.0)
secondary (3.8)
primary (1.0)
lowest rate of formation
what are the relative stabilities of alkyl radicals
most stable
tertiary radical
secondary radical
primary radical
methyl radical
least stable
what does the stability of radicals determine
- alkane reactivity
- product selectivity (the preference of a reaction to occur in a particular manner, yielding a specific product)
relative rates of bromination vs. chlorination
bromination:
greatest rate of formation
- tertiary (1600)
- secondary (82)
- primary (1)
lowest rate of formation
chlorination:
greatest rate of formation
- tertiary (5.0)
- secondary (3.8)
- primary (1.0)
lowest rate of formation
**bromination works way better
what is the relativeity-selectivity principle
a bromine radical is much more selective than a chlorine radical, making radical bromination of an alkane a much more useful reaction.
contrast the additions of HBr in the presence of peroxide vs. without it
R + HBr —no peroxide—> Br attached to most substituted carbon
R + HBr —peroxide—> Br attached at the end
suggests different rxn mechanisms
does the free radical addition of HX work with other compounds other than HBr? Why or why not?
no. it works only for HBr and not for HCl or HI.
- both propagation steos for HBr addition are exothermic (so chain mechanism works well for HBr)
- HCl and HI have one endothermic and exothermic step, so chain mechanism does not work well for HCl or HI.
what are the relative stabilities of radicals
most stable
allylic
tertiary
secondary
primary
methyl
vinylic
least stable
explain how an allylic radical is stabilized by resonance
the p orbital on the central carbon can overlap equally well with a p orbital on either neighboring carbon, resulting in two equivalent resonance structures.
can strongly basic leaving groups be displaced
no. OH (for example) is not a good leaving group because…
- weak base
- poor nucleophile
- negative charge stabilized by electronegative bromine
how can you make something more reactive
- to convert a poor leaving group into a good leaving group you can use protination.
- only weakly basic nucleophiles can be used because strongly basic nucleophiles would react with the proton.
- for example, alcohols must be activated before they can react
how can you convert alcohols into alkyl halides
primary and secondary alcohols require heat (tertiary alcohols do not).
how can you convert alcohols into alkyl halides
least reactive
methyl
primary
secondary
tertiary
most reactive
why is it important to convert alcohols into alkyl halides
alcohols are readily available but are generally unreactive. alkyl halides are less available but reactive and can be used to synthesize a wide variety of compounds via SN2 reactions.
what are other methods of converting alcohols into alkyl halides
reacting alkens with an OH at the end with another reactant and with pyridine. Reactants:
- PBr3 (adds Br to the product)
- PCl3 (adds Cl to the product)
- SOCl2 (adds Cl to the product)
explain how carbon can be an electrophile or a nucleophile
- carbon is an electrophile when it is attached to an electron-withdrawing group (e.g. a halide (F, Cl, I, Br))
- carbon is a nucleophile when it is attached to a metal (e.g. Li, MgX)
come back to missed lecture from snow break
suffix for naming an alkyne
-yne. numbered giving triple bond the lowest number
how do you number an alkyne with a double bond
add -en and -yne
ex. 2-hexEN-4-yne
*when he same number is obtained for both the double and triple bonds, the double bond gets the lower number.
what is the structure of alkynes
- the triple bond is composed of a sigma bond and two pi bonds
- two orthogonal p-orbitals (like a giant X)
- 180 degrees
what are the characteristics of a triple bond
- bond angle of 180 degrees (linear)
- short CC bond
- strong bond
explain how alkynes undergo electrophilic addition rxns
since alkynes are pi-electron rich molecules (i.e. nucleophilic), they react readily with electrophiles such as HCl and HBr.
addition of an electrophile to an alkene vs. to an alkyne
alkene - produces an alkyl cation product
alkyne - produces a vinylic cation
what are the relative stabilities of carbocations
most stable
tertiary carbocation
secondary carbocation
secondary vinylic cation (similar to the next)
primary carbocation
primary vinylic cation (similar to the next)
methyl cation
least stable
explain how the addition to a terminal alkyne is regioselective
the halogen goes on the element with the least amount of hydrogens (most substituted)
why is the terminal alkyne regioselective
the formation of the more stable transition state accounts for the regioselectivity. it helps improve stability.
are alkyl halides electrophiles or nucleophiles
electrophiles. RCH2–X where X is an electronegative atom or an electron withdrawing group. The bond is polar
electrophile definition
they have an electronegative (electron withdrawing) atom or group that is attached to an sp^3 carbon
why do alkyl halides react with nucleophiles
because alkyl halides are electrophiles, they react with nucleophiles
what are the two possible outcomes when alkyl halides and nucleophiles interact
a substitution rxn (the EN group is replaced by another group)
an elimination rxn (the EN group is eliminated along with a hydrogen)
what can the rate law tell us
tells us that bothe molecules are involved in the transition state of the RDS
what are the kinetics of a reaction
the factors that affect the rate of the reaction - help determine the mechanism
explain SN2 rxn
substitution nucleophilic bimolecular
- involves a back-side attack of the nucleophile
why is SN2 bimolecular
- the bond to the leaving group breaks at the same time that the bond to the nucleophile forms
- since both the Nu and leaving group are involved, its bimolecular
relative rates of an SN2 rxn
most reactive
methyl halide
primary alkyl halide
secondary alkyl halide
tertiary alkyl halide
least reactive
as sterics increase, the speed of an SN2 reaction decreases.
why is tertiary alkyl halide least reactive in a SN2 rxn
as the sterics get bigger, it becomes harder for the Nu to access the carbon.
inversed configuration
A process in which the configuration of an atom is changed (ex. R to S, or a substitution occurs and the compound contains a new molecule)
- if the halogen is bonded to an asymmetric center, the product will have the inverted configuration
rank the best leaving groups
the weakest bases are the best leaving groups (the better the leaving group, the faster the reaction)
most reactive
RI
RBr
RCl
RF
least reactive
what is a sulfonate ester
- a good leaving group
- aka -OTs
- it turns a hydroxyl into a good leaving group for SN2 rxns as it is highly reactive. This is because it’s negative charge can be delocalized over the three oxygen atoms and one sulfur
- significant resonance delocalization energy (three good, equivalent resonance structures)
how can primary and secondary alcohols be activated by being converted into sulfonate esters
reaction with pyridine (pyridine as the solvent can act as a base to neutralize the acid by-product that is also formed)
nucleophilicity vs. basicity
nucleophilicity roughly parallels basicity (but not always)
- nucleophilicity usually increases going down a column of the periodic table