Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry (Aug 2012)
Cation affinity numbers of Lewis bases
Abstract
Using selected theoretical methods the affinity of a large range of Lewis bases towards model cations has been quantified. The range of model cations includes the methyl cation as the smallest carbon-centered electrophile, the benzhydryl and trityl cations as models for electrophilic substrates encountered in Lewis base-catalyzed synthetic procedures, and the acetyl cation as a substrate model for acyl-transfer reactions. Affinities towards these cationic electrophiles are complemented by data for Lewis-base addition to Michael acceptors as prototypical neutral electrophiles.
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