Secondary 2-Norbornyl Cation Intermediates Substituted at C(5) and C(7) by Electron-withdrawing Groups. Addition of fluorosulfuric acid to unsaturated norbornane derivatives

Low temperature (?130° to ?110°) addition of exo-norborn-5-en-2-ol ( 7 ) to excess HSO₃F in SO₂CIF yielded a mixture of exo-5-(fluorosulfonyloxy)-exo-2- and endo-2-norbornylhydroxonium ions ( 9+10 ) under kinetic control that was different from the mixture of 9+10 obtained by addition of endo-norborn-5-en-2-ol ( 8 ) to HSO₃F under kinetic control. These mixtures differed from the mixture of 9+10 observed at higher temperature (?80° to ?60°) (thermodynamic control). Addition of 3-nortricyclanol ( 23 ) or exo-2, 3-epoxynorbornane ( 24 ) to HSO₃F at -?120° ± 10° yielded a mixture containing the exo-2-(fluorosulfonyloxy)-anti-7- and syn-7-norbornylhydroxonium ions ( 26+27 ) as major adducts. Qualitative rates of the isomerization of 26+27 to the more stable ions 9+10 and of the isomerization 9 ? 10 were evaluated. The solvolysis of 9+10 in HSO₃F yielded the exo-2, exo-5- and exo-2, endo-5-norbornanediyl bis (fluorosulfates) ( 21+22 ). Norbornadiene and quadricyclane added 2 equivalents of HSO₃F and furnished kinetically a mixture of exo-2, anti-7- and exo-2, syn-7-norbornanediyl bis (fluorosulfates) ( 36+37 ) as major adducts. The latter 36+37 were isomerized into a kinetic mixture of the more stable isomers 21+22 . The rates of these isomerizations were compared. The use of DSO₃F and (exo-2-D)-norborn-5-en-2-ol ( 15 ) confirmed that heterolyses of the fluorosulfates were responsible for the observed isomerization; elimination-addition processes occurred but much more slowly. The results are interpreted in terms of substituted classical and σ-bridged secondary 2-norbornyl cation intermediates. It appears that the electron withdrawing substituents FSO₃ and H₂O⁺ (HO) destabilize the σ-bridged 2-norbornyl cation more at C(5) than C(7). If the σ-bridged ions 5-Z substituted at C(5) by Z = FSO₃ or H₂O⁺ (HO) are transition states in the isomerization of the corresponding classical ions 3-Z, 4-Z , the free enthalpy difference between the ‘non-classical’ σ-bridged ion and the classical ions is not higher than the energy barrier to the quenching of the latter intermediates by FSO in HSO₃F/SO₂CIF.