Template Effects. 4. Ion Pairing of Aryloxide Ions with Alkali Cations in 99percent Me2SO: Influence on the Rate of Formation of Benzo-18-crown-6 and of Other Williamson-Type Reactions

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00341a041

The effect of alkali metal ions on the rate of formation of benzo-18-crown-6 in 99percent Me2SO by cyclization of the conjugate base of o-hydroxyphenyl 3,6,9,12-tetraoxa-14-bromotetradecyl ether has been quantitatively accounted for according to a scheme involving separate contributions from free (k_i) and cation-paired (k_ip) phenoxide ion.The study has included several additional intra- and intermolecular alkylations of phenoxide ions as reference reactions to provide a set of 25 equilibrium constants for the association of five different phenoxides with the five alkali cations.Both Coulombic interaction and coordination with the neutral oxygen donors are important in determining ion pair stability, but the order in all cases is dominated by Coulombic interaction.This suggests contact interaction in the phenoxide-cation pairs, which is also consistent with evidence from the UV spectra.Whereas the rate of formation of B18C6 is depressed by Li⁺ (k_ip/k_i < 0.01), the effect of the other alkali cations is rate enhancing, the maximum catalytic effect being exhibited by K⁺ (k_ip/k_i = 100).In contrast, in the reference reactions the ion pairs with the alkali are either negligibly reactive or much less reactive than the free anions.The association constants of the alkali cations with B18C6 have been determined under the same conditions.A comparative analysis of the extent of interaction of the cations with the reactant, transition state, and reaction product of the crown ether forming reaction shows that the transition state binds cations more strongly than the reactant or reaction product and reveals that cation interaction with both the negative charge and the neutral donors bear significant contribution to the stability of the ion pair transition state.A rationale for the template effect is presented in terms of proximity effects and chemical effects arising from interaction of the cation with the nucleophilic site of the reactant.