Strain and reactivity: electrophilic addition of bromine and tribromide salts to cyclic allenes.

The kinetics and the products of the bromination of several cyclic allenes, from C(9) to C(13) (1 a-e), with tetrabutylammonium tribromide (TBAT) and Br(2) have been investigated in 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) and methanol. The first product of the interaction between the allene and Br(2) is a 1:1 pi complex. The stability constant of this complex, determined at 25 degrees C for allene 1 a, is 7.4 M(-1). The comparison of this value with those reported for several alkenes and alkynes further support the hypothesis of the existence of sizeable structural effects on the stability of these complexes. The negative values of the apparent activation energy for the reaction of allenes 1 a-e with Br(2) in DCE demonstrate the involvement of these complexes as essential intermediates along the reaction coordinate. Different stereochemical behavior was observed in the bromine addition on going from the strained 1,2-cyclononadiene to the larger compounds. Furthermore, a solvent-dependent stereochemistry has been observed for each compound. The kinetic and product distribution data have been interpreted in terms of the influence of the strain on the nature of the intermediate and by considering the competition between pre-association and ion-pair pathways on going from aprotic to nuclophilic solvents or when nucleophilic bromide ions are added. Ab initio (MP2/6-311+G**) and density functional (B3LYP/6-311+G**) computations of 1:1 Br(2) complexes showed that the association energies of allene x Br(2) and ethene x Br(2) complexes are nearly the same but are greater than that of acetylene x Br(2) complexes. Allene x 2 Br(2) complexes are more stable than their ethene x 2 Br(2) counterparts. Br(2) x allene x Br(2) structures, in which the bromine molecules interact either with a single allene double bond or individually with both double bonds, are not preferred significantly over alternatives with Br(2)...Br(2) interactions. As a result of the entropy, the association of bromine with unsaturated hydrocarbons is usually unfavorable in the gas phase (except at extremely low temperatures); complexes are observed in solution (under ambient conditions), since the entropy loss is reduced as a result of restricted translation and rotation and possible association to the solvent. The 1,2-cycloheptadiene x Br(2) > 1,2-cyclononadiene x Br(2) > 1,3-dimethylallene x Br(2) association energies increase with ring strain.