Reactions of Charged Substrates. 7. The Methoxymethyl Carbenium Ion Problem. 2. A Semiempirical Study of the Kinetic and Thermodynamic Stabilities of Linear and Cyclic Oxo- and Thiocarbenium Ions Generated from Aldehyde Hydrates, Hemiacetals, Acetals, and Methyl Ribosides and Glucosides

Factors affecting the cleavage of the carbon-oxygen bond in linear and cyclic aldehyde hydrates, heimacetals, acetals, and methyl ribosides and glucosides have been investigated using semiempirical calculations (AM1 and PM3). (For some systems, low- and high-level ab initio energies are available for comparison with the semiempirical results. With one exception, the results obtained by the two methods show excellent agreement in relative energies and trends in reactivity.) The effects on reactivity and stability caused by substituting a sulfur for the alpha oxygen in the oxocarbenium ion were also studied. In general, systems that can have an antiperiplanar alignment of lone pairs on the leaving group and potential oxocarbenium ion oxygens undergo spontanteous cleavage. An examination of various conformers of the leaving group relative to the potential oxocarbenium oxygen shows, however, that lone pair repulsion and steric factors for MeOH as the leaving group are more important than the antiperiplanar effect for bond cleavage. All compounds in which the alpha-oxygen in the potential carbenium ion is replaced by sulfur undergo spontaneous cleavage regardless of the leaving group or structure of the compound. Energy profiles, DeltaH(), and DeltaH(R) values show that linear and cyclic thiocarbenium ions are much more stable than the corresponding oxocarbenium ions. Comparison of results for methyl ribosides and glucosides with results for corresponding pyridinium substrates suggests that both should hydrolyze through an A-1 mechanism. General-acid catalysis with hydronium as the acid was studied. With solution results, the computations suggest that substrates with either a good leaving group or stable oxocarbenium ion react with rate-limiting proton transfer from the acid to the leaving group but that substrates with both a good leaving group and stable carbenium ion react with concerted proton transfer and bond cleavage.