Saturday, June 23, 2018

organic chemistry - Ring expansion in cyclic compounds



enter image description here



My attempt


In the first case:
HX+ adds to the OH group, giving us a carbocation. The carbocation thus formed is exceptionally stable due to back bonding. I wonder why would it go under ring expansion even though the strain is not a factor here as the ring strain in a cyclobutane ring is ~26.3 kcal/mol, and that in a cyclopropane ring is ~27.5 kcal/mol.


In the second case:
Again the HX+ adds to the OH group, giving us a tertiary carbocation with seven hyper-conjugating structures. Why would it go under ring expansion to give secondary carbocation with just two hyper-conjugating structures? I believe is based on ring strain in this case, as the ring strain in a five-membered ring is ~6.2 kcal/mol, while the ring strain in a six-membered ring is ~0.1 kcal/mol.





Source: Advanced Problems In Organic Chemistry, MS Chouhan, 11th edition; Chapter - Hydrocarbons (Alkenes); Question 180 in latest edition




No comments:

Post a Comment

periodic trends - Comparing radii in lithium, beryllium, magnesium, aluminium and sodium ions

Apparently the of last four, MgX2+ is closest in radius to LiX+. Is this true, and if so, why would a whole larger shell ($\ce{...