Alkyl iodides reduction

Although Curran s rate data for the reduction of radicals to organosamar-iums allow for an element of predictablity,2 problems can arise when multifunctional substrates are involved. For example, in the attempted intramolecular Barbier reaction of alkyl iodide 13, treatment with Sml2 results in the formation of side product 15 in addition to the expected product cyclohexanol 14 (Scheme 3.7).8 In this case, the p-keto amide motif in 13 is reduced at a rate competitive with alkyl iodide reduction, indicating that there are likely two mechanistic pathways through which the reaction proceeds a thermodynamic pathway initiated by reduction of the R I bond providing the... 

The carbonylation of aryl iodides in the presence of alkyl iodides and Zn Cu couple affords aryl alkyl ketones via the formation of alkylzinc species from alkyl iodides followed by transmetallation and reductive elimination[380]. The Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of the diaryliodonium salts 516 under mild conditions in the presence of Zn affords ketones 517 via phenylzinc. The a-diketone 518 is formed as a byproduct[381],... 

The coupling of alkyl Grignard reagents with alkyl iodides to afford alkanes by use of dppf as a ligand has been reported[449], but re-examination of the reaction has shown that only reduction takes place, and no coupling was observed[450]. 

Oxaziridines are powerful oxidizing agents. Free halogen is formed from hydrobromic acid (B-67MI50800). Reduction by iodide in acidic media generally yields a carbonyl compound, an amine and two equivalents of iodine from an oxaziridine (1). With 2-alkyl-, 2-acyl and with N-unsubstituted oxaziridines the reaction proceeds practically quantitatively and has been used in characterization. Owing to fast competing reactions, iodide reduction of 2-aryloxaziridines does not proceed quantitatively but may serve as a hint to their presence. 

Deghenghi et al studied the reductive alkylation of 16-dehydropregneno-lone acetate in ammonia-tetrahydrofuran using excess lithium and alkyl iodides. Alkylation with methyl iodide followed by reacetylation of the 3-hydroxyl group affords 17a-methylpregnenolone acetate in 20% yield after purification by column chromatography. Ethyl iodide affords the 17a-ethyl analog in 40% yield, but n-propyl iodide affords the 17a-propyl compound in only a 12 % yield. 

Application of the reductive alkylation process to the -20-ketone (4) yields the 17a-alkyl derivatives (5a-c). As expected, the presence of the angular 13-methyl group favors the approach of the alkyl iodide from the a-side. ... 

C-C bonds can be formed by reaction with alkyl iodides or more usefully by reaction with metal carbonyls to give aldehydes and ketones e.g. Ni(CO)4 reacts with LiR to form an unstable acyl nickel carbonyl complex which can be attacked by electrophiles such as H+ or R Br to give aldehydes or ketones by solvent-induced reductive elimination ... 

A completely different method of synthesis of azo compounds from diazonium salts involving radical intermediates was found by Citterio et al. (1980, 1982 c), Cit-terio and Minisci (1982), and Fontana et al. (1988). It is a new general synthesis of arylazoalkanes based on the addition of an alkyl radical to an arenediazonium ion followed by reduction of the intermediate azo radical cation adduct by a metal salt (Scheme 12-80). The preferred source for the alkyl radical R in this reaction is an alkyl iodide, which gives rise to alkyl radicals cleanly in the presence of an arenediazonium salt and a Ti3+ or Fe2+ salt as in Scheme 12-81. The overall stoichiometric equation is therefore as given in Scheme 12-82. The yields vary between 36% and 79% (with respect to alkyl iodide). 

Indeed a detailed kinetic investigation of the reduction of alkyl iodides at a lead electrode in dimethylformamide shows that the process is complex and involves catalysis by a lead alkyl species at the surface (Fleischmann et al., 1971a). The catalytic cycle proposed was... 

Secondary bromides and tosylates react with inversion of stereochemistry, as in the classical SN2 substitution reaction.24 Alkyl iodides, however, lead to racemized product. Aryl and alkenyl halides are reactive, even though the direct displacement mechanism is not feasible. For these halides, the overall mechanism probably consists of two steps an oxidative addition to the metal, after which the oxidation state of the copper is +3, followed by combination of two of the groups from the copper. This process, which is very common for transition metal intermediates, is called reductive elimination. The [R 2Cu] species is linear and the oxidative addition takes place perpendicular to this moiety, generating a T-shaped structure. The reductive elimination occurs between adjacent R and R groups, accounting for the absence of R — R coupling product. 

Since vinyl anions generally retain configuration 39> while isomeric vinyl radicals rapidly interconvert 40) these results constitute evidence that reductions of alkyl iodides do proceed via radical intermediates. Isomerization of stereoisomeric vinyl anions is ruled out by the lack of effect of phenol on the stereochemistry of the products (Scheme III). Since cis and trans-3-hexene are formed in differing proportions from the two halides, it may be concluded that the stereoisomeric vinyl radicals are being intercepted by electron trans-... 

Alkyl iodides, benzyl chlorides, benzyl bromides, and adamantyl bromides and iodides undergo reduction with triethylsilane/palladium chloride.195 The reduction of a /3-chloro ether occurs in excellent yield with this system (Eq. 56).195... 

Diiodosilane reduces acetals to alkyl iodides in a reductive iodination reaction (Eq. 312).358,505 Alkyl bromides are formed from the reductive bromination of benzaldehyde acetals with the combination Et3SiH/SnBr2.506... 

If the provoked or spontaneous acid-base reactions overcome the radical reactions of the primary radical, the secondary radical is easier to reduce, or to oxidize, than the substrate in most cases. Exceptions to this rule are scarce, but exist. They involve substrates that are particularly easy to reduce thanks to the presence of a strongly electron-withdrawing substituent (for reductions, electron-donating for oxidation), which is expelled upon electron transfer, thus producing a radical that lacks the same activation. Alkyl iodides and aryl diazonium cations are typical examples of such systems. 

Hydrogen atom transfer implies the transfer of hydrogen atoms from the chain carrier, which is the stereo-determining step in enantioselective hydrogen atom transfer reactions. These reactions are often employed as a functional group interconversion step in the synthesis of many natural products wherein an alkyl iodide or alkyl bromide is converted into an alkane, which, in simple terms, is defined as reduction [ 19,20 ]. Most of these reactions can be classified as diastereoselective in that the selectivity arises from the substrate. Enantioselective H-atom transfer reactions can be performed in two distinct ways (1) by H-atom transfer from an achiral reductant to a radical complexed to a chiral source or alternatively (2) by H-atom transfer from a chiral reductant to a radical. 

The direct reduction of haloalkynes using either mercury or vitreous carbon as the cathode has been examined in considerable detail [80-84] one example is portrayed in Eq (77). The influence of reduction potential, current consumption, proton donor, electrode, and substrate concentration on the course of the process has been examined. Vitreous carbon electrodes are preferred, though mercury has been used in many instances. Unfortunately, these reactions suffer from the formation of diorganomercurials. While both alkyl iodides and bromides can be used, the former is generally preferred. Because of their higher reduction potential, alkyl chlorides react via a different mechanism, one involving isomerization to an allene followed by cyclization [83]. 

Reduction of alkyl and benzyl halides proceeds in two one-electron addition steps. The first detectable product is the alkyl or benzyl radical and this is reduced further to the carbanion. Some alkyl iodides show two polarographic waves corresponding to the two steps. Alkyl bromides show only one two-electron wave and alkyl chlorides are not reducible in the available potential window. Benzyl halides also show only one wave and benzyl chlorides are reducible in the available potential range. Reduction potentials measured in dimethylformamide are collected in... 

For secondary alkyl iodides, the two one-electron polarographic waves are more separated. Reduction of 2-iodooctane at the potential of the first wave alfords the dialkylmercury and 7,8-dimethyl-tetradecane by reactions of the sec-octyl radical. At the potential of the second wave only octane and octenes are isolated [37]. 2-Bromooctane shows only one polarographic wave and yields octane and octene on reduction at any potential [37]. Radicals generated by reduction of primary and secondary iodoalkanes will react with other cathode materials including tin, lead and thallium to form metal alkyls [48,49],... 

In addition to small amounts of methane, acetaldehyde or acetic anhydride can be generated in substantial quantities depending on conditions. However, they are not present simultaneously in any appreciable quantity. Acetic anhydride and acetaldehyde must be competitively formed (equation 6), and subsequently react with each other to form EDA (step C). This reaction (step C) is generally catalyzed by protic acids (2-4). The reaction solution for reductive carbonylation is quite acidic HI is an intermediate generated under reaction conditions of high alkyl iodide concentration and hydrogen pressure. The thermodynamic equilibrium of this condensation is quite favorable for diester formation existence of an abundance of either anhydride or aldehyde in the presence of the other is not found. Yields of stoichiometric preparations are in excess of 95%... 

Under these conditions, a broad range of polyfunctional alkyl iodides are converted to the corresponding organozinc halides in high yields . In the case of primary alkyl iodides, the insertion occurs at 40-50 °C whereas secondary alkyl iodides already react at 25-30°C. Secondary alkyl bromides also react under these conditions , but primary alkyl bromides are usually inert with this type of activation and much better results are obtained by using Rieke zinc L Thus, the reduction of zinc chloride with finely cut lithium and naphthalene produces within 1.5 h highly reactive zinc (Rieke zinc). 

In this case, however, the yields are lower than those obtained by the two-step procedure (21-59% isolated yields). This is likely due to the occurrence of several competing reduction steps. The Pd(0) species generated by a two-electron reduction may thus react with the alkyl iodide by oxidative addition preferentially to the aryl halide. 

It was reported that the iodine-zinc exchange process induced by treatment of alkyl iodides with EbZn could be catalyzed by Cul, leading to shorter reaction times and reduction of the amount of Et2Zn38. The use of palladium or nickel catalysts turned out to be also extremely efficient but produced an organozinc iodide instead of a dialkylzinc, with evolution of ethane and ethylene34 (equation 20). 

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