John H. Atherton

Copper(I)-Catalyzed Amination of Aryl Halides in Liquid Ammonia

The amination of aryl halides in liquid ammonia (LNH(3)) is catalyzed by a copper(I) salt/ascorbate system to yield primary aromatic amines in good to excellent yields. The low concentrations of catalyst required and the ease of product isolation suggest that this process has potential industrial applications. Commonly used ligands for analogous metal-catalyzed reactions are not effective. The rate of amination of iodobenzene in liquid ammonia is first order in copper(I) catalyst concentration. The small Hammett ρ = 0.49 for the amination of 4-substituted iodobenzenes in liquid ammonia at 25 °C indicates that the C-I bond is not significantly broken in the transition state structure and that there is a small generation of negative charge in the aryl ring, which is compatible with the oxidative addition of the copper ion being rate limiting.

The Kinetics and Mechanisms of Aromatic Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions in Liquid Ammonia

The rates of aromatic nucleophilic substitution reactions in liquid ammonia are much faster than those in protic solvents indicating that liquid ammonia behaves like a typical dipolar aprotic solvent in its solvent effects on organic reactions. Nitrofluorobenzenes (NFBs) readily undergo solvolysis in liquid ammonia and 2-nitrofluorobenzene is about 30 times more reactive than the 4-substituted isomer. Oxygen nucleophiles, such as alkoxide and phenoxide ions, readily displace fluorine of 4-NFB in liquid ammonia to give the corresponding substitution product with little or no competing solvolysis product. Using the pK(a) of the substituted phenols in liquid ammonia, the Brønsted β(nuc) for the reaction of 4-NFB with para-substituted phenoxides is 0.91, indicative of the removal of most of the negative charge on the oxygen anion and complete bond formation in the transition state and therefore suggests that the decomposition of the Meisenheimer σ-intermediate is rate limiting. The aminolysis of 4-NFB occurs without general base catalysis by the amine and the second-order rate constants generate a Brønsted β(nuc) of 0.36 using either the pK(a) of aminium ion in acetonitrile or in water, which is also interpreted in terms of rate limiting breakdown of the Meisenheimer σ-intermediate. Nitrobenzene and diazene are formed as unusual products from the reaction between sodium azide and 4-NFB, which may be due to the initially formed 4-nitroazidobenzene decomposing to give a nitrene intermediate, which may then give diazene or be trapped by ammonia to give the unstable hydrazine which then yields nitrobenzene.

Liquid Ammonia as a Dipolar Aprotic Solvent for Aliphatic Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions

The rate constants for the reactions of a variety of nucleophiles reacting with substituted benzyl chlorides in liquid ammonia (LNH(3)) have been determined. To fully interpret the associated linear free-energy relationships, the ionization constants of phenols ions in liquid ammonia were obtained using UV spectra. These equilibrium constants are the product of those for ion-pair formation and dissociation to the free ions, which can be separated by evaluating the effect of added ammonium ions. There is a linear relationship between the pK(a) of phenols in liquid ammonia and those in water of slope 1.68. Aminium ions exist in their unprotonated free base form in liquid ammonia and their ionization constants could not be determined by NMR. The rates of solvolysis of substituted benzyl chlorides in liquid ammonia at 25 °C show a Hammett ρ of zero, having little or no dependence upon ring substituents, which is in stark contrast with the hydrolysis rates of substituted benzyl halides in water, which vary 10(7) fold. The rate of substitution of benzyl chloride by substituted phenoxide ions is first order in the concentration of the nucleophile indicative of a S(N)2 process, and the dependence of the rate constants on the pK(a) of the phenol in liquid ammonia generates a Brønsted β(nuc) = 0.40. Contrary to the solvolysis reaction, the reaction of phenoxide ion with 4-substituted benzyl chlorides gives a Hammett ρ = 1.1, excluding the 4-methoxy derivative, which shows the normal positive deviation. The second order rate constants for the substitution of benzyl chlorides by neutral and anionic amines show a single Brønsted β(nuc) = 0.21 (based on the aqueous pK(a) of amine), but their dependence on the substituent in substituted benzyl chlorides varies with a Hammett ρ of 0 for neutral amines, similar to that seen for solvolysis, whereas that for amine anions is 0.93, similar to that seen for phenoxide ion.

The kinetics and mechanisms of organic reactions in liquid ammonia

Liquid ammonia is a potentially useful solvent for a variety of organic reactions and so understanding the kinetics and mechanisms of these processes is important. In contrast to the hydrolysis rates of the substituted benzyl halides in water which vary 107-fold, the rates of the solvolysis of substituted benzyl chlorides in liquid ammonia at 25 °C have little or no dependence upon ring substituents and vary only 2-fold between 4-methoxy- and 4-nitro- derivatives. The Hammett ρ-value is practically zero, which suggests there is no significant charge developed on the central carbon in the transition state. Activation energies for solvolysis of 4-nitro-, 4-methoxy-, 4-chloro- and unsubstituted benzyl chloride in liquid ammonia vary from 40.3 to 43.8 kJ mol−1 in the order of NO2 99%) selectivity towards O-benzylation of phenoxide ion, and with 1,2,4-triazolate anion gives predominantly (92%) substitution in the 1-position.

Ionization of Carbon Acids in Liquid Ammonia

The acidities of various carbon acids in liquid ammonia (LNH(3)) at room temperature were determined by NMR and rates of D-exchange. There is a reasonable linear correlation of the pK(a)s in LNH(3) with those in water and DMSO of slope 0.7 and 0.8, respectively. Carbon acids with an aqueous pK(a) of less than 12 are fully ionized in liquid ammonia. Nucleophilic substitution of benzyl chloride by carbanions in liquid ammonia generates a Brønsted β(nuc) = 0.38.

Copper catalysed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) in liquid ammonia

Copper(I) catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions (CuAAC) occur smoothly in liquid ammonia (LNH(3)) at room temperature to give exclusively 1,4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles with excellent yields (up to 99%). The CuAAC reactions in liquid ammonia require relatively small amounts of copper(I) catalyst (0.5 mole%) compared with that in conventional solvents. The product can be obtained conveniently by simply evaporation of ammonia, indicating its potential application in industry. The rate of the CuAAC reaction in liquid ammonia shows a second order dependence on the copper(I) concentration and the reaction occurs only with terminal alkynes. Deuterium exchange experiments with phenyl acetylene-d(1) show that the acidity of the alkyne is increased at least 1000-fold with catalytic amounts of copper(I) in liquid ammonia. The mechanism of the CuAAC reaction in liquid ammonia is discussed.

Mechanism of the sulfurisation of phosphines and phosphites using 3-amino-1,2,4-dithiazole-5-thione (xanthane hydride)

Contrary to a previous report, the sulfurisation of phosphorus(III) derivatives by 3-amino-1,2,4-dithiazole-5-thione (xanthane hydride) does not yield carbon disulfide and cyanamide as the additional reaction products. The reaction of xanthane hydride with triphenyl phosphine or trimethyl phosphite yields triphenyl phosphine sulfide or trimethyl thiophosphate, respectively, and thiocarbamoyl isothiocyanate which has been trapped with nucleophiles. The reaction pathway involves initial nucleophilic attack of the phosphorus at sulfur next to the thiocarbonyl group of xanthane hydride followed by decomposition of the phosphonium intermediate formed to products. The Hammett rho-values for the sulfurisation of substituted triphenyl phosphines and triphenyl phosphites in acetonitrile are approximately -1.0. The entropies of activation are very negative (-114+/-15 J mol-1 K-1) with little dependence on solvent which is consistent with a bimolecular association step leading to the transition state. The negative values of DeltaS(not equal) and rho values indicate that the rate limiting step of the sulfurisation reaction is formation of the phosphonium ion intermediate which has an early transition state with little covalent bond formation. The site of nucleophilic attack has been also confirmed using computational calculations.

The Strecker reaction: kinetic and equilibrium studies of cyanide addition to iminium ions.

Kinetics studies are reported of the reactions of benzylidene benzylamine 4a, and of benzylidene allylamine 4b, with cyanide in aqueous buffers to give the corresponding [small alpha]-aminonitriles. The results allow the calculation of values of rate and equilibrium constants for reaction of the iminium ions formed from 4a and 4b with cyanide ions. These values are compared with those, obtained from the hydrolysis reactions, for reaction of the iminium ions with hydroxide ions and with water. Comparison with some other iminium ions reveals that those formed from 4a and 4b are relatively unreactive due to the possibilities of charge delocalisation.

Mechanism of solid|liquid interfacial reactions. The reactive dissolution of p-chloranil in aqueous solution as studied by the channel flow cell with electrochemical detection and atomic force microscopy

Abstract A quantitative study of the hydrolytic dissolution of solid p-chloranil at alkaline pH using a combination of the channel flow cell and in situ atomic force microscopy measurements shows that the dissolution is driven by reaction of the substrate with hydroxide ions at, or very close to, the dissolving surface. The dissolution rate equation, deduced from the channel flow cell for single crystals of p-chloranil, is rate/mol cm −2 s −1 = 3.8 × 10 −7 [OH − ] 0 where [OH − ] 0 /M is the hydroxide ion concentration adjacent to the solid surface. An analogous rate law is derived for pressed pellet substrates. The novel application of the atomic force microscope to make absolute measurements of surface averaged dissolution rates is described. Comparison with the independent channel flow cell data reveals good mechanistic agreement and consistency of rate constants provided it is recognised that a thick stagnant diffusion layer can be present under the usual conditions employed for AFM.

Carbanion reactivity; kinetics of the reactions of benzyl cyanide anions with aromatic nitro-compounds

Rate and equilibrium measurements are reported for the reactions in methanol of carbanions derived from 12 ring-substituted benzyl cyanides with 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene to give σ-adducts. Some data for reaction of the carbanions with 4-nitrobenzofuroxan were also measured. With increasing carbanion reactivity, rate constants approach a limit of just below 109 dm3 mol–1 s–1. Intrinsic reactivities of carbanions in σ-adduct forming reactions and in proton transfer reactions are compared.