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16 - WITTING REACTION AND REAGENTS

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Total cards: 24•Content version: v4•Public deck•Updated: 8/1/2026

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#1
Front (Question)

why are witting reactions used?

Back (Answer)

make an alkene from an aldehyde or a ketone and control the stereochemistry (E or Z)

#2
Front (Question)

what is an ylide?

Back (Answer)

a species with opposite formal charges on adjacent atoms

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#3
Front (Question)

what drives wittig reactions forward?

Back (Answer)

the highly stable P=O bond formed as a side product drives the reaction forward

#4
Front (Question)

how were alkenes formed before wittig?

Back (Answer)

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#5
Front (Question)

how are simple ylides prepared?

Back (Answer)

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#6
Front (Question)

what is the ylide form and what is the phosphorane form?

Back (Answer)

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#7
Front (Question)

what are the characteristics of non stabilized vs stabilized ylides?

Back (Answer)

non stabilized ylides: R=simple alkyl reacts with aldehydes and ketones good nucleophile stabilized ylides: R=aryl, alkenyl, CO2R, or anything that stabilizes the anion (EWG) react with aldehydes only not reactive enough for ketones lower pKa

#8
Front (Question)

what are the characteristics of phosphonate stabilized anions

Back (Answer)

react with aldehydes and ketones W= CO2- CO2R, CN, aryl, vinyl, SO2R, SR, OR, NR2 phosphonate stabilized carbanions are more nucleophilic and more basic than the corresponding stabilized phosphonium ylides

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#9
Front (Question)

why are aldehydes more reactive than ketones?

Back (Answer)

• sterics: ketone has more alkyl groups, gives hindrance • inductive effect: delta + on C is greater in aldehydes which makes them more reactive to nucleophiles

#10
Front (Question)

what is the mechanism of an ylide reaction?

Back (Answer)

the arrows go to make the P=O bond

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#11
Front (Question)

how is wittig a thermal concerted [2+2] cycloaddition that allows to form?

Back (Answer)

the ylide and carbonyl approach approach each other perpendicularly the large substituents are kept apart, and the P-C bond is long enough so that the ring can form when we break the ring, we make a Z alkene

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#12
Front (Question)

what happens if you use the sulfur ylide and how does the S=O bond compare to the P=O bond?

Back (Answer)

if you use a sulfur ylide you get an epoxide, if you use a phosphorus ylide you get the alkene the P=O bond is is stronger than the S=O bond the driving force is weaker in the sulfur analogue

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#13
Front (Question)

what stereochemistry does a non stabilized ylide give?

Back (Answer)

Z stereochemistry

#14
Front (Question)

if there is a ketone and an aldehyde on the same molecule, how can you select for one?

Back (Answer)

get one equivalent only and put the ylide into the reactant not the opposite

#15
Front (Question)

why is the puckered ring conformation preferred for non stabilized ylides

Back (Answer)

minimizes angle strain and ecliping bond interactions that occur if the ring was planar this transition state will lead to the Z alkene

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#16
Front (Question)

why is the E alkene not favored for non stabilized ylides?

Back (Answer)

more steric interaction, when it’s puckered when it’s planar, less sterics but more angular strain

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#17
Front (Question)

what do stabilized ylides give?

Back (Answer)

more E than Z

#18
Front (Question)

what do CisTS and transTS yield?

Back (Answer)

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#19
Front (Question)

what is (Z)-tricos-9-ene?

Back (Answer)

commonly available pheromone for control of the housefly in indoor areas

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#20
Front (Question)

what are the two ways you can make this pheromone with a wittig reaction?

Back (Answer)

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#21
Front (Question)

how is vitamin A industrially synthesized with a wittig reaction?

Back (Answer)

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#22
Front (Question)

why is a normal ylide not used for the synthesis of juvenile hormone?

Back (Answer)

gives a very poor yield

#23
Front (Question)

what kind of ylide can be used for the synthesis of juvenile hormone?

Back (Answer)

Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons modification phosphonate stabilized carbanion more nucleophilic and more basic

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#24
Front (Question)

mechanism to make juvenile hormone

Back (Answer)

makes the E alkene so that there is the least amount of steric effects between the CO2Me and the largest group

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