The mechanism of the rearrangement of 1-benzyl-1,2-dihydroisoquinolines: some criticisms answered

The rearrangement of 2-methyl-1,2-dihydropapaverine (1a) to the corresponding 2-methyl-3-benzyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolinium ion (3a) has been shown to be a second order rate process with an unusually high entropy of activation. These data, together with an analysis of the orbital symmetry requirements, have been shown to be consistent with the previously proposed double exchange mechanism for this reaction.