The rates of the epoxidation reactions of aldehydes, of the aziridination reactions of aldimines, and of the cyclopropanation reactions of α,β-unsaturated ketones with aryl-stabilized dimethylsulfonium ylides have been determined photometrically in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). All of these sulfur ylide-mediated cyclization reactions as well as the addition reactions of stabilized carbanions to N-tosyl-activated aldimines have been shown to follow a second-order rate law, where the rate constants reflect the (initial) CC bond formation between nucleophile and electrophile. The derived second-order rate constants (log k(2)) have been combined with the known nucleophilicity parameters (N, s(N)) of the aryl-stabilized sulfur ylides 4a,b and of the acceptor-substituted carbanions 4c-h to calculate the electrophilicity parameters E of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes (1a-i), N-acceptor-substituted aromatic aldimines (2a-e), and α,β-unsaturated ketones (3a-f) according to the linear free-energy relationship log k(2) = s(N)(N + E) as defined in J. Am. Chem. Soc.2001, 123, 9500-9512. The data reported in this work provide the first quantitative comparison of the electrophilic reactivities of aldehydes, imines, and simple Michael acceptors in DMSO with carbocations and cationic metal-π complexes within our comprehensive electrophilicity scale.

The kinetics of the reactions of four phosphoryl-stabilized carbanions 1a-d and four phosphorus ylides 1e-h with benzhydrylium ions 2a-h and structurally related quinone methides 2i-m have been determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. The second-order rate constants (k) correlated linearly with the electrophilicity parameters E of 2a-m, as required by the correlation log k = s(N + E) (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 9500-9521), allowing us to calculate the nucleophile-specific parameters N and s for phosphoryl-substituted carbanions and phosphorus ylides. In this way, a direct comparison of the nucleophilic reactivities of Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons carbanions and Wittig ylides became possible. Ph(2)PO- and (EtO)(2)PO-substituted carbanions are found to show similar reactivities toward Michael acceptors, which are 10(4)-10(5) times higher than those of analogously substituted phosphorus ylides. The relative reactivities of these nucleophiles toward benzaldehydes differ significantly from those toward carbocations and Michael acceptors, in accordance with a concerted [2 + 2] cycloaddition being the initial step of these olefinations reactions. Effects of the counterion (K(+), Na(+), or Li(+)) on the nucleophilicities of the phosphoryl-stabilized carbanions in DMSO have been studied. Whereas the effects of K(+) and Na(+) are almost negligible for all types of carbanions investigated, Li(+) coordination reduces the reactivities of phosphonate-substituted acetic ester anions (1a) by a factor of 10(2) while the reactivities of phosphonate-substituted acetonitrile anions (1b) remain almost unaffected.

The rates of the reactions of the stabilized and semistabilized sulfur ylides 1a-g with benzhydrylium ions (2a-e) and Michael acceptors (2f-v) have been determined by UV-vis spectroscopy in DMSO at 20 °C. The second-order rate constants (log k(2)) of these reactions correlate linearly with the electrophilicity parameters E of the electrophiles 2 as required by the correlation log k(2) = s(N + E), which allowed us to calculate the nucleophile-specific parameters N and s for the sulfur ylides 1a-g. The rate constants for the cyclopropanation reactions of sulfur ylides with Michael acceptors lie on the same correlation line as the rate constants for the reactions of sulfur ylides with carbocations. This observation is in line with a stepwise mechanism for the cyclopropanation reactions in which the first step, nucleophilic attack of the sulfur ylides at the Michael acceptors, is rate determining. As the few known pK(aH) values for sulfur ylides correlate poorly with their nucleophilic reactivities, the data reported in this work provide the first quantitative approach to sulfur ylide reactivity.

Prediction of lg k = s(N+E) verified: In contrast to previous statements, ordinary alpha,beta-unsaturated iminium ions do react with sulfur ylides. Electrostatic interactions accelerate the reactions by a factor of more than 10(5) and are responsible for the high stereoselectivity.

Rate constants for the reactions of benzaldehyde-derived iminium ions with C-nucleophiles (enamines, silylated ketene acetals, and enol ethers) have been determined photometrically in CH3CN solution and used to determine the electrophilicity parameters E of the cations defined by the correlation log k(20°C) = s(N)(E + N) (Mayr, H.; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 9500-9512). With electrophilicity parameters from E = -10.69 (Ar = p-MeOC6H4) to E = -8.34 (Ar = p-CF3), the iminium ions Ar-CH═NMe2(+) have almost the same reactivities as analogously substituted arylidenemalononitriles Ar-CH═C(CN)2 and are 10 orders of magnitude more reactive than the corresponding aldehydes. The rate constants for the reactions of iminium ions with amines and water in acetonitrile are 10(3)-10(5) times faster than predicted by the quoted correlation, which is explained by the transition states which already experience the anomeric stabilization of the resulting N,N- and O,N-acetals.