Chemoselectivities in acetalization, thioacetalization, oxathioacetalization and azathioacetalization.

In the present article (experimental as well theoretical) the relative yields of cyclic (O,O), (S,S), (S,O), and (S,N) acetals, formed from p-(NO2)C6H4CHO and p-(OH)C6H4CHO, are compared. Atomic charges, global electrophilicity descriptor (w) [as proposed by Parr et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 1922] and hard-soft acid-base concept of Pearson (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1963, 85, 3533) are used to explain the experimental observations. Although the w values can explain the yields, charge and local softness values of the interacting sites explain the plausible reaction mechanism. The bisnucleophiles chosen for acetalization are CH2(OH)-CH2(OH) (glycol), CH2(SH)-CH2(SH) (dithiol), CH2(OH)-CH2(SH) (oxathiol) and CH2(SH)-CH2(NH2) (azathiol). For p-(NO2)C6H4CHO, the experimental yield of cyclic acetals were found to follow the trend as (S,N) > (S,O) > (O,O) > (S,S), which is also supported by theoretical explanation based on the w values and applying the concept of hard-hard (i.e., charge-controlled) and soft-soft (i.e., orbital-controlled) interaction between the interacting sites of the substrates (i.e., aldehydes) and the reactants (bisnucleophiles). Similarly, for p-(OH)C6H4CHO the relative yields of cyclic acetals follow the trend (S,N) approximately (S,S) > (S,O) > (O,O). It is argued that the attack on C(CHO) (i.e., C-atom of the CHO group) in p-(NO2)C6H4CHO by O(OH) (i.e., O-atom of OH group) or N(NH2) (i.e., N-atom of NH2 group) is mainly charge-controlled but the attack on C(CHO) in p-(OH)C6H4CHO) by S(SH) (i.e., S-atom of SH group) is orbital-controlled.