A Theoretical Treatment of Nucleophilic Reactivity in Additions to Carbonyl Compounds. Role of the Vertical Ionization Energy

Erwin Buncel*, Ik Hwan Um, Saul Wolfe, Sason S. Shaik

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

58 Scopus citations

Abstract

In water solvent, experimental ΔG* values for attack of X: upon several esters correlate with the vertical ionization potentials of X:-.Two kinds of nucleophiles are discerned in this way, delocalized nucleophiles (AcO, N3, NO2, etc.) exhibiting a larger slope than localized nucleophiles (F, HO, CH3O, etc.). In terms of the state correlation diagram model, the existence of a ΔG* versus IP(X)* correlation implies that an important aspect of the activation process is the single electron switch from X: to the substrate that occurs during the nucleophilic attack.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1275-1279
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume110
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Feb 1988
Externally publishedYes

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