Electronic effects on the substitution reactions of benzhydrols and fluorenyl alcohols. Determination of mechanism and effects of antiaromaticity.

A range of substituted benzhydrols and fluorenols were prepared and subjected to acid catalysed methanolysis. Analysis of the rates of each of these processes showed correlation with Hammett σ(+) parameters as is consistent with the significant build-up of positive charge adjacent to the ring. In combination with the similarity of the electronic susceptibility of the processes, these data suggest that both reactions proceed through a unimolecular rate-determining step. This shows that the effect of fusion of the phenyl systems (and hence potentially introducing an antiaromatic carbocation intermediate) is only to slow the rate of reaction rather than change the mechanism of the process.

Putting corannulene in its place. Reactivity studies comparing corannulene with other aromatic hydrocarbons.

A series of aromatic hydrocarbons were investigated so as to compare the reactivity of corannulene with planar aromatic hydrocarbons. Corannulene was found to be more reactive than benzene, naphthalene and triphenylene to Friedel-Crafts acylation whilst electrophilic aromatic bromination was also used to confirm that triphenylene was less reactive than corannulene and that pyrene, perylene and acenaphthene were more so. The stabilisation of a neighbouring carbocation by the various aromatic systems was investigated through consideration of the rates of methanolysis of a series of benzylic alcohols. The reactivity series was found to parallel that observed for the electrophilic aromatic substitutions and both series are supported by computational studies. As such, a reactivity scale was devised that showed that corannulene was less reactive than would be expected for an aromatic planar species of similar pi electron count.

The effects of ionic liquids on azide-alkyne cycloaddition reactions.

The effect of a series of ionic liquids on the regioselectivity of the azide-alkyne cycloaddition process was investigated, demonstrating an increased selectivity for the least hindered triazole. The effects of an ionic liquid on the activation parameters for the process were determined and found to be intermediate between coordinating and non-coordinating salts. The importance of knowing the water content of the system is demonstrated by marked changes in the activation parameters in the presence of small concentrations of water.

Ionic liquids: just Molten salts after all?

While there has been much effort in recent years to characterise ionic liquids in terms of parameters that are well described for molecular solvents, using these to explain reaction outcomes remains problematic. Herein we propose that many reaction outcomes in ionic liquids may be explained by considering the electrostatic interactions present in the solution; that is, by recognising that ionic liquids are salts. This is supported by evidence in the literature, along with studies presented here.