Pinacol rearrangement

The pinacol–pinacolone rearrangement is a method for converting a 1,2-diol to a carbonyl compound in organic chemistry. The 1,2-rearrangement takes place under acidic conditions. The name of the rearrangement reaction comes from the rearrangement of pinacol to pinacolone. This reaction was first described by Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig in 1860 of the famed Fittig reaction involving coupling of 2 aryl halides in presence of sodium metal in dry ethereal solution. In the course of this organic reaction, protonation of one of the –OH groups occurs and a carbocation is formed. If the –OH groups are not alike (i.e. the pinacol is asymmetrical), then the one which creates a more stable carbocation participates in the reaction. Subsequently, an alkyl group from the adjacent carbon migrates to the carbocation center. The driving force for this rearrangement step is believed to be the relative stability of the resultant oxonium ion. Although the initial carbocation is already tertiary, the oxygen can stabilize the positive charge much more favorably due to the complete octet configuration at all centers. It can also be seen as the -OH's lone pairs pushing an alkyl group off as seen in the asymmetrical pinacol example. The migration of alkyl groups in this reaction occurs in accordance with their usual migratory aptitude, i.e.phenyl carbocation > hydride > tertiary carbocation (if formed by migration) > secondary carbocation (if formed by migration) > methyl carbocation. {Why carbocation? Because every migratory group leaves by taking electron pair with it.} The conclusion is that the group which stabilizes the carbocation more effectively is migrated. When a pinacol is not symmetrical, there is a choice for which hydroxyl group will leave and which alkyl shift will occur. The selectivity will be determined by the stability of the carbocations. In this case although both choices are tertiary, the phenyl groups result in significantly higher stabilization of the positive charge through resonance. In cyclic systems, the reaction presents more features of interest.