The Effects of Substituents on the Degenerate Cope Rearrangement of Semibullvalenes and Barbaralanes

Abstract

The activation parameters [ΔG# (200 K), ΔH#, and ΔS#] for the degenerate Cope rearrangements of barbaralane (1a) and several semibullvalenes (3a, 7a, 8a), and for those of a number of their 3,7- and 2,6-disubstituted derivatives, have been determined by variable-temperature carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy at 126 and 151 MHz. the disubstituted compounds studied include the barbaralanes 1c, d, e, h, j, k, and 2e, h, j, and the semibullvalenes 3d, e, h, 4e, h, i, l, m, and 5h–8h. Careful attention has been given to the measurement of temperatures. The data for these compound, together with those for related compounds previously reported in the literature, show that conjugating subsituents (e. g. aryl, CH, CO2R) in the 2,6 positions lower the barriers of the degenerate Cope rearrangement, whereas substituents that are electron-withdrawing through the inductive effect (e. g. Cl, CF3, SO2Ar) retard the reaction. Substituents in the 3,7-positons have little effect or are rate-retarding. The presence of 1,5-tri- and tetramethylene bridges in semibullvalenes accelerates the rearrangements, the effect being larger in the case of the former.