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4 votes
1 answer
567 views

Mechanism of three-membered lactone hydrolysis in base

I was reading up on the participation of neighboring functional groups and in the reaction below, I was wondering why hydroxide attacks the C–O bond instead of the carbonyl group of the lactone. ...
sweetandtangy's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
49 views

Solvent shell collapse

In "advanced organic chemistry part A" book page:306&307 , the author uses the term 'solvent shell collapse' when talking about the reason for retention of conformation in tertiary ...
mohamed's user avatar
  • 567
0 votes
1 answer
100 views

A question about geometry of benzenetetrol

In the 3d conformation of 1,2,4,5 - benzenetetrol, how could i determine the direction to which hydrogen atoms of hydroxyl groups would point? and if there were tertiary butyl groups in positions 3 &...
mohamed's user avatar
  • 567
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why is a 7-endo radical cyclisation favoured over a 6-exo in this synthesis?

Normally, according to Baldwin's rules, 3-exo to 7-exo cyclisations are preferred over endo cyclisations. But in the following example, a 7-endo-trig reaction is favoured over a 6-exo-trig and I am ...
TheChemist's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
264 views

Regioselectivity in iodolactonisation of γ,δ-unsaturated carboxylic acid

In the last step of the iodolactonisation of 3,3-dimethylpent-4-enoic acid,[1,2] why does the carboxylate attack the iodonium to form a 5-membered ring, when a more stable 6-membered ring is possible? ...
Avyansh Katiyar's user avatar
12 votes
0 answers
246 views

Rationalising diastereoselectivity of hydroboration using stereoelectronics

Using bulky reagents such as 9-BBN, hydroboration is often highly diastereoselective, giving rise to the 1,2-anti diastereomer: This is easily explained using a steric argument, with the major ...
NotEvans.'s user avatar
  • 17.2k
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why is 1-bromotriptycene inert to nucleophilic substitution?

According to my textbook, 1-bromotriptycene is inert to any nucleophilic substitutions. Due to steric hinderance we can say SN2 reactions cannot occur, but I think SN1 reactions should be favoured as ...
Ritwik Das's user avatar
  • 2,239
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is methyl α-D-glucopyranoside preferentially formed from glucopyranose in acidic methanol?

According to my textbook Organic Chemistry 2e by David Klein, the formation of a glycoside from glucopyranose favors the α form (see picture below). Why does this happen? Shouldn't the equilibrium ...
Teoc's user avatar
  • 1,796
10 votes
1 answer
730 views

Stereoelectronic effects in torquoselectivity of 4π electrocyclic opening

Thermal 4π electrocyclic ring openings of cyclobutenes to form butadienes are known to proceed in a conrotatory manner, consistent with the Woodward–Hoffmann rules. However, there are two different ...
orthocresol's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
5k views

Stereoelectronics of the Houk model

In Clayden's Organic Chemistry it gives the Houk model as a way for predicting selectivity for alkene reactions where an existing stereocentre is present (diastereoselectivity). Unlike the ...
James Dealon's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
6k views

Stabilisation of carbocations through hyperconjugation

Our teachers told us that greater the number of alpha H, greater is the stability of carbocation. But consider this: $\ce{CH3CH2+}$ and. $\ce{CH3CH2CH2+}$ The first one has 3 alpha H ...
user46625's user avatar
18 votes
2 answers
2k views

Gauche effect and bond length

Which of the following compounds has the longest bond length? (A) $\ce{H3C-CF3}$ (B) $\ce{FCH2-CH2F}$ (C) $\ce{F2CH-CHF2}$ (D) $\ce{F3C-CF3}$ My logic was based on the relative electronegativities of ...
Sanika Khadkikar's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

Baldwin's rules exceptions: cations

Why do cations violate Baldwin's rules? For example, the following acetalization mechanism is plausible even though it contains a 5-endo-trig step: Image taken from: Clayden, J. Organic Chemistry; ...
EJC's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
4k views

Hydrolysis of Sucrose over Sn1Ac or Sn2Ac

In "March's Advanced Organic Chemistry" I have read about the general mechanism of the acetal hydrolysis. It names the acid-catalyzed SN1 or SN2 as a possible mechanism for a Acetal-hydrolysis. Now I ...
Nilsfrank99's user avatar
25 votes
3 answers
7k views

How are SN2 transition states stabilised by adjacent double bonds and carbonyl groups?

It is my understanding that transition states in an SN2 reaction have some filled and some empty orbital character, as we have the backside of the C-X σ* beginning to fill with electrons from the HOMO ...
loolipop's user avatar
  • 498
13 votes
1 answer
685 views

Stereoelectronic effects in carbamate carbonyl oxygen attack on halide

2-Bromoethyl (2-bromoethyl)carbamate can react through either Path A or Path B to form salt 1 or salt 2. In both instances the carbonyl oxygen functions as the nucleophile in an intramolecular ...
EJC's user avatar
  • 14.4k
20 votes
1 answer
7k views

Why are lactones more acidic than esters?

Lactones ($\mathrm pK_\mathrm a \sim 25$) tend to be more acidic than esters ($\mathrm pK_\mathrm a \sim 30$). I know that the lactone is fixed in a (E)-conformation, due to the ring: and that in ...
RedPen's user avatar
  • 963
30 votes
4 answers
14k views

Why are DCM and chloroform so resistant towards nucleophilic substitution?

In the book Organic Chemistry by J. Clayden, N. Greeves, S. Warren, and P. Wothers I found the following reasoning: You may have wondered why it is that, while methyl chloride (chloromethane) is a ...
Philipp's user avatar
  • 18k