Mechanism of the unusual substituent exchange in the reactions of alkylene oxides with organic compounds bearing β-hydroxyalkyl groups at heteroatoms S, Se, N, and P

The review summarizes the data on the study of the unusual exchange reaction between alkylene oxides and organic compounds of groups 15 and 16 of the Periodic Table bearing β-hydroxyalkyl substituents at the S, Se, N, and P heteroatoms. Despite the apparent identity of one of the starting reagents and the reaction product (retention of the three-membered ring), the structures of the formed alkylene oxide and organic compound with β-hydroxyalkyl group at the heteroatom differ from the structures of the starting materials. Using β-hydroxyalkyl sulfides as a model, the plausible mechanisms of the exchange reactions were discussed taking into account the change in the reaction order in β-hydroxyalkyl sulfide with its concentration increase. Irrespectively of the mechanism, the first stage of the reaction is the formation of an intermediate H-complex due to the H-bond formation between the OH sulfide group and the alkylene oxide oxygen atom and subsequent (for the dilute solutions) monomolecular intracomplex transformation of this H-complex. The mechanism was confirmed by semi-empirical quantum chemical calculations. In the case of concentrated solutions of β-hydroxyalkyl sulfides, possibility of the formation of intermediate sulfonium salt was discussed. Each pathway proceeds via its unique intermediates and transition states but the final stage results in the same intermediate bipolar ion with an intramolecular H-bond thus leading to the same nature and compositions of the reaction products for all reaction pathways.