User:Chem540f09grp9/Sandbox2

=Introduction=

=Free Energy Considerations=

Entropic Components
=Table of A-Values=

=Applications=

Predicting Reactivity
One of the original experiments performed by Winston and Holness6 was measuring the rate of oxidation in trans and cis substituted rings using a Chromium catalyst. The large tBu group used locks the conformation of each molecule placing it equatorial (cis compound shown).



It was observed that the cis compound underwent oxidation at a much faster rate than the trans compound. The proposition was that the large hydroxyl group in the axial position was disfavored and formed the carbonyl more readily to relieve this strain. The trans compound had rates identical to those found in the monosubstituted cyclohexanol.



=Limitations= A-Values are measured using a mono-substituted cyclohexane ring, and are an indication of only the sterics a particular substituent imparts on the molecule. This leads to a problem when there are possible stabilizing electronic factors in a different system. The carboxylic acid substituent shown below is axial in the ground state, despite a positive A-Value. From this observation, it is clear that there are other possible electronic interactions that stabilize the axial conformation.