Carbonyl Organic mechanisms and reactions Flashcards
(160 cards)
What does a carbonyl bond consist of?
A carbonyl bond (C=O) consists of one strong s-bond and a weaker pi-bond.
How many sites of reactivity do carbonyls have?
Three sites of reactivity
What are the three sites of reactivity for a carbonyl?
ẟ + carbon - electrophilic C - susceptible to attack from nucleophiles.
ẟ- oxygen - Lewis basic O - reacts with Lewis acids/Bronsted acids.
Acidic α-proton - weakly acidic α-proton - can be deprotonated to form C nucleophile.
What steps does both nucleophilic substitution and addition have?
- Nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl
2. Protonation of resulting anion or loss of leaving group
Why does the nucleophilic addition happen at the carbonyl carbon?
Nucleophiles donate pair of electrons into the π-antibonding orbital of the C=O.
To make a new bond between the carbonyl carbon and the nucleophile, you have to attack the antibonding orbital, and the lowest lying antibonding orbital is the π-antibonding orbital.
The reason they attack the carbonyl carbon is because it has the highest coefficient in the antibonding orbital. And the antibonding orbital, due to electrostatic repulsions, has a slightly shallower angle to the pi-bond.
Why does the nucleophile attack at 107 degrees during nucleophilic addition?
Net result, Nucleophile attacks at 107° (Bürgi-Dunitz angle).
The pi orbital is distorted towards the O (the electron density is pulled towards the O) - makes nucleophilic addition difficult because the charge is there it repels the nucleophile - so the antibonding orbital slightly rearranges its geometry to get around this electrostatic repulsion that occurs between the O and the nucleophile.
So instead of the nucleophile coming in at 90° , it actually comes at 107°, either above or below the C.
order these from most to least reactive: acid anhydride, amide, ester, acyl chloride
acyl chloride, acid anhydride, ester, amide,
Difference Between Inductive Effect and Resonance Effect?
Inductive effect is the effect caused by the induced electrical charges in atoms of a molecule. This charge induction occurs due to the differences in the electronegativity values of atoms.
The resonance effect of a molecule arises when there are double bonds in that molecule.
The main difference between inductive effect and resonance effect is that inductive effect describes the transmission of electrical charges between atoms in a molecule whereas resonance effect describes the transmission of electron pairs between atoms in a molecule.
How are carbonyls like aromatics are affected by resonance and inductive effects?
lone pairs on molecules, can donate into the pi system, which reduces the electropositivity at the carbonyl carbon atom, therefore making it less reactive.
So for acyl chlorides, the Cl pulls a lot out for its bond but it doesn’t put much back in from its lone pairs.
But for an amide molecule with the NH2 group, since N is less electronegative, it doesn’t pull as much out from the bond but it drops a lot back in from its lone pair, making the carbonyl carbon more electron rich.
Why are carboxylic acids not included in the carbonyl reactivity series?
When treated with a nucleophile, they get deprotonated and form acetate.
Why are aldehydes and ketones different from other carbonyls?
They contain alkyl groups on the carbonyl.
Do aldehydes and ketones undergo substitution at the carbonyl centre, and why?
Aldehydes and ketones do not undergo substitution at the carbonyl centre since they both have really poor leaving groups.
What is more reactive: aldehyde or ketone? Why?
Aldehyde is more reactive.
Inductive effects of alkyl groups surrounding carbonyl.
The aldehyde only has one alkyl group next to the carbonyl carbon so only one alkyl can donate electron density onto the carbonyl carbon whilst a ketone has 2, 2 alkyl groups is better than 1 so that makes the carbonyl carbon more electropositive.
Aldehydes are less hindered than ketones (a hydrogen atom is smaller than any other organic group).
The carbonyl carbon in aldehydes generally has more partial positive charge than in ketones due to the electron-donating nature of alkyl groups. Aldehydes only have one e- donor group while ketones have two.
Electronically, aldehydes have only one R group to supply electrons toward the partially positive carbonyl carbon, while ketones have two electron‐supplying groups attached to the carbonyl carbon. The greater amount of electrons being supplied to the carbonyl carbon, the less the partial positive charge on this atom and the weaker it will become as a nucleus.
What is acid strength affected by?
Acid strength is affected by:
Strength on H-X bond.
Stability of conjugate base (most important for organic acids)
How do Carbonyls fit into acid base equilibrium?
Can delocalise the negative charge - form a resonance form and stick it on the O.
Why do carbonyl CHs have a lower pKa?
This is why carbonyl CHs have a much lower pKa because they can form a conjugate base.
Oxidation level definition?
Oxidation level: refers to the number of heteroatom bonds that are bonded to the atom in question.
What happens when you oxidise a primary alcohol?
Primary alcohols can be readily oxidised all the way to carboxylic acids.
What happens when you oxidise a secondary alcohol?
Secondary alcohols oxidised to ketones
What are two “Classic Methods’’ to achieve the oxidation of alcohols to carboxylic acids?
Jones Oxidation (Na2Cr2O7 , H2SO4 , H2O) Potassium Permanganate (H+ or HO- )
What is the problem with Jones oxidation?
The problem with Jones oxidation is that it uses stoichiometric amounts of Cr, so every time you do oxidation for primary alcohols you create2 eq of Cr (III) waste.
Chromium waste is particularly toxic and is hard to dispose of.
Three main types of selectivity?
Chemoselectivity
regioselectivity
stereoselectivity
What is Chemoselectivity?.
Chemoselectivity: which functional group will react.
What is Regioselectivity?
Regioselectivity: where it will react.