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Topic: Which would form the greater enolate in acidic/basic conditions?  (Read 2646 times)

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Offline nothincomin825

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Which would form the greater enolate in acidic/basic conditions and why?

2-cyclopentenone or cyclopentanone?

My answer is 2-cyclopentenone because of the double bond making the alpha hydrogen (proton) much more acidic compared to the hydrogen on the cyclopentanon. Am I correct or incorrect? Thanks

Offline Schrödinger

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Re: Which would form the greater enolate in acidic/basic conditions?
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2011, 03:45:08 PM »
I think the answer is 2-cyclopentanone in basic conditions. But I believe your reasoning is incorrect.
Try the hydrogen that is not attached to the sp2 carbon. See if you can find other factors that stabilize the enolate.
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