Thorpe-Ingold acceleration of oxirane formation is mostly a solvent effect

Jakub Kostal1, William L Jorgensen

  • 1Department of Chemistry, Yale University, 225 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, USA.

Summary

The Thorpe-Ingold hypothesis explains the gem-dimethyl effect in cyclization reactions. Computational studies show solvent effects, not intrinsic reactivity, drive the observed rate increases with alpha-methylation.

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