Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => Organic Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: xshadow on March 28, 2021, 07:24:42 AM
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HI!!
I have a doubt about the reaction of:
β-naphthol + CH3CH2I -----> nerolin
The reaction is done with KOH + EtOH (or MeOH).
In the first step the base KOH deprotones the b-naphthol so I get a better nucleophile, a charged one
Then the naphtholate gives a Sn2 reaction with iodoethane to give the desired product
NOW my question is why cant't OH- (from KOH) compete with the naphtolate giving a Sn2 reaction, with the formation ethanol as side product?
OH- is also a strong nucleophile and I have lots of OH- ions in the mixture.
Can it happen actually?
Is it perhaps better using a base like NaH that is a strong base but a worst nucleophile (H- ha actually a strong steric hindrance cause solvatation)?
Thanks
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In the acid-base equilibrium involving KOH and naphthol, where does the equilibrium lie?
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In the acid-base equilibrium involving KOH and naphthol, where does the equilibrium lie?
2-naphthol pka= 9.5
H2O pka= 15
2-naphthol + OH- -----> naphtholate + H2O
The equilibrium should be shifted towards the products.
( I thought NaOH should be added in large excess so I had anyway also some OH- anions that competes with naphtholate. )
must KOH/NaOH be added in stochiometric quantity? So it all reacts with the naphthol....
thanks
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Naphtolate ion is much softer nucleophile then OH- and reacts faster.
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Naphtolate ion is much softer nucleophile then OH- and reacts faster.
Is it much more softer than OH- because its negative charge is delocalized on the two rings...is it correct?
But how can I say that CH2CH3I is a soft electrophile?
Because the C-I carbon has only a small partial positive charge?
I've never used the hard-soft theory in order to predict the competition between two nucleophiles in a Sn2 reaction...usually I say that stronger nucleophile is the species that will attack the substrate. (In in this case was OH- the stronger nucleophile)
Thanks
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The naphtolate is more polarizable just as the ethyl iodide, that makes them softer. You can compare, a ester carbonyl is a hard electrophile and it will not be attacked by naphtolate but by hydroxide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSAB_theory
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Are you working from a particular procedure that specifies what the ratio of KaOH to naphthol is?
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If you have OH- in the solution you will get some hydrolysis of the ethyl iodide, its not neccesary to have excess hydroxide.