Elimination reaction

An elimination reaction is a type of organic reaction in which two substituents are removed from a molecule in either a one or two-step mechanism.[2] The one-step mechanism is known as the E2 reaction, and the two-step mechanism is known as the E1 reaction. The numbers do not have to do with the number of steps in the mechanism, but rather the kinetics of the reaction, bimolecular and unimolecular respectively. In rare cases, for molecules possessing particularly poor leaving groups, a third type of reaction, E1CB exists.

In most organic elimination reactions, at least one hydrogen is lost to form the double bond: the unsaturation of the molecule increases. It is also possible that a molecule undergoes reductive elimination, by which the valence of an atom in the molecule decreases by two; though this is more common in inorganic chemistry. An important class of elimination reactions is those involving alkyl halides, with good leaving groups, reacting with a Lewis base to form an alkene. Elimination may be considered the reverse of an addition reaction. When the substrate is asymmetric, regioselectivity is determined by Zaitsev's rule or through Hofmann elimination if the Carbon with the most substituted Hydrogen is inaccessible.

E2 mechanism

During the 1920s, Sir Christopher Ingold proposed a model to explain a peculiar type of chemical reaction; the E2 mechanism. E2 stands for bimolecular elimination. The reaction involves a one-step mechanism in which carbon-hydrogen and carbon-halogen bonds break to form a double bond (C=C Pi bond).

The specifics of the reaction are as follows:

An example of this type of reaction in scheme 1 is the reaction of isobutylbromide with potassium ethoxide in ethanol. The reaction products are isobutylene, ethanol and potassium bromide.

E1 mechanism

E1 is a model to explain a particular type of chemical elimination reaction. E1 stands for unimolecular elimination and has the following specificities.

Only reaction product A results from antiperiplanar elimination, the presence of product B is an indication that an E1 mechanism is occurring.[3]

An example in scheme 2 is the reaction of tert-butylbromide with potassium ethoxide in ethanol.

E1 eliminations happen with highly substituted alkyl halides due to 2 main reasons.

Specific features : 1 . Rearrangement possible 2 . Independent of concentration and basicity of base

Competition among mechanisms

The reaction rate is influenced by halogen's reactivity, iodide and bromide being favored. Fluoride is not a good leaving group, so eliminations with fluoride as the leaving group have slower rates than other halogens. There is a certain level of competition between elimination reaction and nucleophilic substitution. More precisely, there are competitions between E2 and SN2 and also between E1 and SN1. Substitution generally predominates and elimination occurs only during precise circumstances. Generally, elimination is favored over substitution when

In one study [4] the kinetic isotope effect (KIE) was determined for the gas phase reaction of several alkyl halides with the chlorate ion. In accordance with an E2 elimination the reaction with t-butyl chloride results in a KIE of 2.3. The methyl chloride reaction (only SN2 possible) on the other hand has a KIE of 0.85 consistent with a SN2 reaction because in this reaction type the C-H bonds tighten in the transition state. The KIE's for the ethyl (0.99) and isopropyl (1.72) analogues suggest competition between the two reaction modes.

See also

References

  1. Coleman, G. H.; Johnstone, H. F. (1925). "Cyclohexene". Organic Syntheses 5: 33. doi:10.15227/orgsyn.005.0033.
  2. March, Jerry (1985), Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure (3rd ed.), New York: Wiley, ISBN 0-471-85472-7
  3. Nash, J. J.; Leininger, M. A.; Keyes, K. (April 2008). "Pyrolysis of Aryl Sulfonate Esters in the Absence of Solvent: E1 or E2? A Puzzle for the Organic Laboratory". Journal of Chemical Education 85 (4): 552. Bibcode:2008JChEd..85..552N. doi:10.1021/ed085p552.
  4. Stephanie M. Villano, Shuji Kato, and Veronica M. Bierbaum (2006). "Deuterium Kinetic Isotope Effects in Gas-Phase SN2 and E2 Reactions: Comparison of Experiment and Theory". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128 (3): 736–737. doi:10.1021/ja057491d. PMID 16417360.

External links

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