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9: Alkynes - An Introduction to Organic Synthesis

  • Page ID
    448622
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    Learning Objectives

    After you have completed Chapter 9, you should be able to

    1. fulfillall of the detailed objectives listed under each individual section.
    2. solve road-map problems involving any of the reactions introduced to this point.
    3. design multistep syntheses using any of the reactions introduced to this point, and determine the viability of a given synthesis.
    4. define, and use in context, the key terms introduced.

    Addition reactions not only dominate the chemistry of alkenes, they are also the major class of reaction you will encounter. This chapter discusses an important difference between (terminal) alkynes and alkenes, that is, the acidity of the former; it also addresses the problem of devising organic syntheses. Once you have completed this chapter you will have increased the number of organic reactions in your repertoire, and should be able to design much more elaborate multistep syntheses. As you work through Chapter 9, you should notice the many similarities among the reactions described here and those in Chapters 7 and 8.

    • 9.0: Why This Chapter?
      Alkynes are less common than alkenes, both in the laboratory and in living organisms, so we won’t cover them in great detail. The real importance of this chapter is that we’ll use alkyne chemistry as a vehicle to begin looking at some of the general strategies used in organic synthesis—the construction of complex molecules in the laboratory. Without the ability to design and synthesize new molecules in the laboratory, many of the medicines we take for granted would not exist and few new ones wou
    • 9.1: Naming Alkynes
      Alkynes are organic molecules made of the functional group carbon-carbon triple bonds and are written in the empirical formula of CnH2n−2 . They are unsaturated hydrocarbons. Like alkenes have the suffix –ene, alkynes use the ending –yne; this suffix is used when there is only one alkyne in the molecule.
    • 9.2: Preparation of Alkynes - Elimination Reactions of Dihalides
      Alkynes can be a useful functional group to synthesize due to some of their antibacterial, antiparasitic, and antifungal properties. One simple method for alkyne synthesis is by double elimination from a dihaloalkane.
    • 9.3: Reactions of Alkynes - Addition of HX and X₂
      As a general rule, electrophiles undergo addition reactions with alkynes much as they do with alkenes.
    • 9.4: Hydration of Alkynes
      As with alkenes, hydration (addition of water) to alkynes requires a strong acid, usually sulfuric acid, and is facilitated by mercuric sulfate. However, unlike the additions to double bonds which give alcohol products, addition of water to alkynes gives ketone products ( except for acetylene which yields acetaldehyde ). The explanation for this deviation lies in enol-keto tautomerization.
    • 9.5: Reduction of Alkynes
      Reactions between alkynes and catalysts are a common source of alkene formation. Because alkynes differ from alkenes on account of their two procurable π bonds, alkynes are more susceptible to additions. Aside from turning them into alkenes, these catalysts affect the arrangement of substituents on the newly formed alkene molecule. Depending on which catalyst is used, the catalysts cause anti- or syn-addition of hydrogens. Alkynes can readily undergo additions because of their availability of tw
    • 9.6: Oxidative Cleavage of Alkynes
      Alkynes, similar to alkenes, can be oxidized gently or strongly depending on the reaction environment. Since alkynes are less stable than alkenens, the reactions conditions can be gentler.
    • 9.7: Alkyne Acidity - Formation of Acetylide Anions
      Terminal alkynes are much more acidic than most other hydrocarbons. Removal of the proton leads to the formation of an acetylide anion, RC=C:-. The origin of the enhanced acidity can be attributed to the stability of the acetylide anion, which has the unpaired electrons in an sp hybridized orbital. The stability results from occupying an orbital with a high degree of s-orbital character.
    • 9.8: Alkylation of Acetylide Anions
      The alkylation of acetylide ions is important in organic synthesis because it is a reaction in which a new carbon-carbon bond is formed; hence, it can be used when an organic chemist is trying to build a complicated molecule from much simpler starting materials.
    • 9.9: An Introduction to Organic Synthesis
      There are many reasons for carrying out the laboratory synthesis of an organic compound. In the pharmaceutical industry, new molecules are designed and synthesized in the hope that some might be useful new drugs. In the chemical industry, syntheses are done to devise more economical routes to known compounds. In academic laboratories, the synthesis of extremely complex molecules is sometimes done just for the intellectual challenge involved in mastering so difficult a subject.
    • 9.10: Chemistry Matters - The Art of Organic Synthesis
      If you think some of the synthesis problems at the end of this chapter are difficult, try devising a synthesis of vitamin B12 starting only from simple substances you can buy in a chemical catalog. This extraordinary achievement was reported in 1973 as the culmination of a collaborative effort headed by Robert B. Woodward of Harvard University and Albert Eschenmoser of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich.
    • 9.11: Key Terms
    • 9.12: Summary
      Alkynes are less common than alkenes, both in the laboratory and in living organisms, so we haven’t covered them in great detail. The real importance of this chapter is that alkyne chemistry is a useful vehicle for looking at the general strategies used in organic synthesis—the construction of complex molecules in the laboratory.
    • 9.13: Summary of Reactions


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