5.

Alkenes: Reactions and

Synthesis
Assoc.Prof. Ph. D. Tran Thuong Quang
Department of Organic Chemistry
School of Chemical Technology
HUST
Diverse Reactions of Alkenes
 Alkenes react with many electrophiles to give
useful products by addition (often through
special reagents)
◼ alcohols (add H-OH)
◼ alkanes (add H-H)
◼ halohydrins (add HO-X)
◼ dihalides (add X-X)
◼ halides (add H-X)
◼ diols (add HO-OH)
◼ cyclopropanes (add :CH2)

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5.15 Preparation of Alkenes: A Preview of
Elimination Reactions

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A Preview of Elimination Reactions
 Alkenes are commonly made by elimination of HX
from alkyl halide: (dehydrohalogenation); using
heat and KOH

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A Preview of Elimination Reactions
 elimination of H-OH from an alcohol (dehydration); requires
strong acids (sulfuric acid, 50 ºC)

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Dehydration in the Biosynthesis of Fats:

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Prac. Prob. 5.4: How many alkene
products from dehydration?

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Solution:

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5.16 Addition of Halogens to Alkenes
 Bromine and chlorine add to alkenes to give
1,2-dihaldes, an industrially important process
◼ F2 is too reactive and I2 too unreactive
 Cl2 reacts as “Cl+ Cl-”; Br2 is similar

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Possible Mechanism (by analogy with HX)?

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BUT: Addition of Br2 to Cyclopentene
 Addition is exclusively trans (stereospecific)

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Mechanism of Bromine Addition
 Br+ adds to an alkene producing a cyclic cation: a
bromonium ion, in which bromine shares charge with
carbon

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Mechanism of Bromine Addition
 Since the Br blocks one face, one must get anti
(trans) addition

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Addition of Br2 to Cyclopentene

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The Reality of Bromonium Ions
 Bromonium were postulated more than 60 years ago to
expain the stereochemical course of the addition (to give the
trans-dibromide from a cyclic alkene
 George Olah (Nobel Prize 1994) showed that bromonium ions
are stable in liquid SO2 with SbF5 and can be studied directly
by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

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5.17 Halohydrin Formation
 This is formally the addition of HO-X to an
alkene (with “+OH” as the electrophile) to
give a 1,2-halo alcohol, called a halohydrin
 The actual reagent is the dihalogen (Br2 or
Cl2 with water in an organic solvent)

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Mechanism:

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An Alternative to Bromine
 Bromine is a difficult reagent to use for this
reaction
 N-Bromosuccinimide (NBS) produces bromine in
organic solvents and is a safer source

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5.18 Addition of Water to Alkenes:
Hydration
 Hydration of an alkene is the addition of H-OH
to to give an alcohol
 Acid catalysts are used in high temperature
industrial processes: ethylene is converted to
ethanol

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Mechanism:

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Oxymercuration/Demercuration
 For laboratory-scale hydration of an alkene under mild
conditions (room temperature, neutral pH)
 Use mercuric acetate in THF followed by sodium
borohydride reduction
 Markovnikov orientation
◼ via mercurinium ion

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Mechanism: mercurinium ion

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Markovnikov Orientation:

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Problem 5.13: products of
oxymercuration?

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Problem 5.14: Which alkene?

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5.19 Addition of Water to Alkenes:
Hydroboration
 H. C. Brown (1959) discovered hydroboration
 Borane (BH3) is electron deficient: a Lewis acid
 Borane adds to an alkene to give an organoborane
 This is oxidized to the alcohol by hydrogen peroxide

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BH3 is a Lewis Acid
 Six electrons in outer shell
 Coordinates to oxygen electron pairs in
ethers

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Hydroboration-Oxidation Forms an
Alcohol from an Alkene

 Addition of H-BH2 (from BH3-THF complex) to three

alkenes gives a trialkylborane
 Oxidation with alkaline hydrogen peroxide in water
produces the alcohol derived from the alkene

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Orientation in Hydration via
Hydroboration
 Regiochemistry is opposite to Markovnikov
orientation
◼ OH is added to carbon with most H’s
 H and OH add with syn stereochemistry, to
the same face of the alkene (opposite of anti
addition)

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Mechanism of
Hydroboration
 Borane is a Lewis acid
 Alkene (p-bond) is Lewis
base
 Transition state involves
anionic development on B
 The components of BH3 are
across C=C

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Hydroboration: Orientation in
Addition Step

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Steric Preference

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Two Possible Orientations: Practice
Problem 7.1

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Practice Problem 5.5: Which alkene?

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Which alkene would work best?

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This one: anti-Markovnikov

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Problem 5.15: Major Products?

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Problem 5.16: Which Alkenes?

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5.20 Addition of Carbenes to Alkenes
 Carbenes are electrically neutral with
six electrons in the outer shell
 They add symmetrically across double
bonds to form cyclopropanes

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Formation of Dichlorocarbene

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Dichlorocarbene Structure

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Reaction of Dichlorocarbene
 Addition of dichlorocarbene is stereospecific cis

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Simmons-Smith Reaction
 Equivalent to addition of CH2:
 Reaction of diiodomethane with zinc-copper
alloy produces a carbenoid species
 Forms cyclopropanes by cycloaddition

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Problem 5.17: Major products?

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5.21: Catalytic Hydrogenation
 Addition of H-H across C=C
 Reduction in general is addition of H2 or its equivalent

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5.21 Reduction of Alkenes:
Hydrogenation

 Requires Pt or Pd as powders on carbon and H2

 Hydrogen is first adsorbed on catalyst
 Reaction is heterogeneous (process is not in solution)

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Syn Addition

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Mechanism
of Catalytic
Hydrogen-
ation

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Steric effect:

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Hydrogen Addition- Selectivity
 With Pt or Pd catalysts, selective for C=C.
No reaction with C=O, C=N

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Hydrogen Addition- Selectivity

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Problem 5.18: Major Products?

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Solid Fats from Liquid Oils

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5.22 Oxidation of Alkenes: Epoxidation
 Oxidation: decreases electron density on
carbon by:
◼ Adding –O, -N, or –X
◼ Removing –H
 Epoxidation: forming a cyclic ether:

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Mechanism (schematic):

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Older method (from halohydrins):

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Diols from epoxides:

Anti-addition:

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Oxidation of Alkenes: Hydroxylation
 Hydroxylation adds OH to each end of C=C
 Oxidizing agent is osmium tetroxide
 Stereochemistry of addition is syn
 Product is a 1,2-dialcohol or diol (also
called a glycol)

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Formation of Diols via Osmium Tetroxide

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Problem 5.19: Which Alkene?

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Polymers:

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Polymers:

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Alkene Polymers:
 Adding double bonds together, usually
head-to-tail, forms synthetic polymers like
polyethylene:

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Alkene Polymers by Radical Reactions:
Initiation:

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Alkene Polymers by Radical Reactions:
Propagation:

Termination:

Unsymmetrical alkenes (see next slide):

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Other “Vinyl” Polymers:

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More Examples:

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Natural Rubber:
 Made from the sap of a number of plants,
principally Hevea brasiliensis
 Crude rubber (latex) is Z-polyisoprene

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5.23 Biological Alkene Addition
Reactions
 Living organisms convert organic
molecules using enzymes as catalysts
 Many reactions are similar to organic
chemistry conversions, except they occur
in neutral aqueous solution at 37oC
 Usually very specific for reactant and
stereochemistry

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In the Laboratory:

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Prostaglandin
Biosynthesis:

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