The Stevens rearrangement in

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clay ...

is an

organic reaction Organic reactions are chemical reactions involving organic compounds. The basic organic chemistry reaction types are addition reactions, elimination reactions, substitution reactions, pericyclic reactions, rearrangement reactions, photochemical rea ...

converting

quaternary ammonium salt In chemistry, quaternary ammonium cations, also known as quats, are positively charged polyatomic ions of the structure , R being an alkyl group or an aryl group. Unlike the ammonium ion () and the primary, secondary, or tertiary ammonium cat ...

s and

sulfonium salt In organic chemistry, a sulfonium ion, also known as sulphonium ion or sulfanium ion, is a positively-charged ion (a "cation") featuring three organic substituents attached to sulfur. These organosulfur compounds have the formula . Together with ...

s to the corresponding

amine In chemistry, amines (, ) are compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone pair. Amines are formally derivatives of ammonia (), wherein one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced by a substituent su ...

s or

sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds l ...

s in presence of a strong base in a

1,2-rearrangement A 1,2-rearrangement or 1,2-migration or 1,2-shift or Whitmore 1,2-shift is an organic reaction where a substituent moves from one atom to another atom in a chemical compound. In a 1,2 shift the movement involves two adjacent atoms but moves over l ...

. The reactants can be obtained by

alkylation Alkylation is the transfer of an alkyl group from one molecule to another. The alkyl group may be transferred as an alkyl carbocation, a free radical, a carbanion, or a carbene (or their equivalents). Alkylating agents are reagents for effectin ...

of the corresponding amines and sulfides. The

substituent A substituent is one or a group of atoms that replaces (one or more) atoms, thereby becoming a moiety in the resultant (new) molecule. (In organic chemistry and biochemistry, the terms ''substituent'' and '' functional group'', as well as '' ...

R next the amine

methylene bridge In organic chemistry, a methylene bridge, methylene spacer, or methanediyl group is any part of a molecule with formula ; namely, a carbon atom bound to two hydrogen atoms and connected by single bonds to two other distinct atoms in the rest of ...

is an

electron-withdrawing group In chemistry, an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) is a substituent that has some of the following kinetic and thermodynamic implications: *with regards to electron transfer, electron-withdrawing groups enhance the oxidizing power tendency of the ...

. The original 1928 publication by Thomas S. Stevens concerned the reaction of ''1-phenyl-2-(N,N-dimethylamino)ethanone'' with

benzyl bromide Benzyl bromide is an organic compound with the formula . The molecule consists of a benzene ring substituted with a bromomethyl group. It is a colorless liquid with lachrymatory properties. The compound is a reagent for introducing benzyl group ...

to the ammonium salt followed by the rearrangement reaction with

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkal ...

in water to the rearranged amine. A 1932 publication described the corresponding sulfur reaction.

Reaction mechanism

The reaction mechanism of the Stevens rearrangement is one of the most controversial reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry. Key in the

reaction mechanism In chemistry, a reaction mechanism is the step by step sequence of elementary reactions by which overall chemical change occurs. A chemical mechanism is a theoretical conjecture that tries to describe in detail what takes place at each stage o ...

for the Stevens rearrangement (explained for the nitrogen reaction) is the formation of an ylide after

deprotonation Deprotonation (or dehydronation) is the removal (transfer) of a proton (or hydron, or hydrogen cation), (H+) from a Brønsted–Lowry acid in an acid–base reaction.Henry Jakubowski, Biochemistry Online Chapter 2A3, https://employees.csbsju. ...

of the ammonium salt by a strong base. Deprotonation is aided by electron-withdrawing properties of substituent R. Several reaction modes exist for the actual rearrangement reaction. A

concerted reaction In chemistry, a concerted reaction is a chemical reaction in which all bond breaking and bond making occurs in a single step. Reactive intermediates or other unstable high energy intermediates are not involved. Concerted reaction rates tend ...

requires an antarafacial reaction mode but since the migrating group displays

retention of configuration Walden inversion is the inversion of a stereogenic center in a chiral molecule in a chemical reaction. Since a molecule can form two enantiomers around a stereogenic center, the Walden inversion converts the configuration of the molecule from ...

this mechanism is unlikely. In an alternative reaction mechanism the N–C bond of the leaving group is homolytically cleaved to form a di-radical pair (3a). In order to explain the observed retention of configuration, the presence of a solvent cage is invoked. Another possibility is the formation of a cation-anion pair (3b), also in a solvent cage.

Scope

Competing reactions are the Sommelet-Hauser rearrangement and the

Hofmann elimination Hofmann elimination is an elimination reaction of an amine to form alkenes. The least stable alkene (the one with the least number of substituents on the carbons of the double bond), called the Hofmann product, is formed. This tendency, known as ...

. In one application a double-Stevens rearrangement expands a

cyclophane In organic chemistry, a cyclophane is a hydrocarbon consisting of an aromatic unit (typically a benzene ring) and a chain that forms a bridge between two non-adjacent positions of the aromatic ring. More complex derivatives with multiple aromatic ...

ring.''Macrocycle Ring Expansion by Double Stevens Rearrangement''Keisha K. Ellis-Holder, Brian P. Peppers, Andrei Yu. Kovalevsky, and Steven T. Diver Org. Lett.; 2006; 8(12) pp 2511 – 2514; (Letter) The ylide is prepared

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

by reaction of the diazo compound ''ethyl diazomalonate'' with a

catalyzed by dirhodium tetraacetate in

reflux Reflux is a technique involving the condensation of vapors and the return of this condensate to the system from which it originated. It is used in industrial and laboratory distillations. It is also used in chemistry to supply energy to reaction ...

ing

xylene In organic chemistry, xylene or xylol (; IUPAC name: dimethylbenzene) are any of three organic compounds with the formula . They are derived from the substitution of two hydrogen atoms with methyl groups in a benzene ring; which hydrogens are sub ...

. :

Enzymatic reaction

Recently, γ-butyrobetaine hydroxylase, an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...

that is involved in the human carnitine biosynthesis pathway, was found to catalyze a C-C bond formation reaction in a fashion analogous to a Stevens type rearrangement. The substrate for the reaction is meldonium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens Rearrangement Rearrangement reactions Name reactions

Reaction mechanism

Scope

Enzymatic reaction

See also

References