Water as a Powerful solvent for accelerating reactions

Dr. Anil Kumar

Spectacular rate enhancement of Diels- Alder reactions in water and aqueous salt solutions originate as a result of enhanced hydrophobic packing or the solubility effect during the reaction. A quantitative criterion of measuring the hydrophobic effects will be discussed enabling us to understand the origin of forces responsible for such a rate enhancement in Diels- Alder and many other organic transformations.

An effort will be made to discuss how and where water plays a powerful role in synthesizing organic molecules. An unusual variation with temperature of the salt effects in aqueous Wittig reactions will be discussed to show that hydrophobic acceleration of reactions comprising “on water” reactants is fundamentally different from that for reactions with small non- polar solutes.