Allyl radicals bromination

Surprisingly, the allylic radical bromination of the nonfluorinated glycal 10 had not been reported, although the allyl bromide could obviously provide a shorter route to 16-substituted derivatives than the previously described approaches from artemisitene or artemisinic acid [28, 29, 59a, 65, 66], Conversely, reactivity of 10 toward electrophilic brominating agents was well documented. Dibromides [44,67] and bromohydrins [68,69] have been used for the introduction of ionizable functions in artemisinin at C-10 and C-9. 

As we saw when discussing allylic bromination in Section 10.4, A-bromosuccin-imide (NBS) is a convenient free-radical brominating agent. Benzylic brominations with NBS are nonnally perfonned in carbon tetrachloride as the solvent in the presence of peroxides, which are added as initiators. As the exanple illustrates, free-radical bromination is selective for substitution of benzylic hydrogens. 

The allylic bromination of an olefin with NBS proceeds by a free-radical chain mechanism. The chain reaction initiated by thermal decomposition of a free-radical initiator substance that is added to the reaction mixture in small amounts. The decomposing free-radical initiator generates reactive bromine radicals by reaction with the N-bromosuccinimide. A bromine radical abstracts an allylic hydrogen atom from the olefinic subsfrate to give hydrogen bromide and an allylic radical 3 ... 

The chain propagation step consists of a reaction of allylic radical 3 with a bromine molecule to give the allylic bromide 2 and a bromine radical. The intermediate allylic radical 3 is stabilized by delocalization of the unpaired electron due to resonance (see below). A similar stabilizing effect due to resonance is also possible for benzylic radicals a benzylic bromination of appropriately substituted aromatic substrates is therefore possible, and proceeds in good yields. 

As mentioned in an earlier section (cf. Chapter 1, Section III), allylic positions are subject to attack by free radicals resulting in the formation of stable allyl radicals. A-Bromosuccinimide (NBS) in the presence of free-radical initiators liberates bromine radicals and initiates a chain reaction bromination sequence by the abstraction of allylic or benzylic hydrogens. Since NBS is also conveniently handled, and since it is unreactive toward a variety of other functional groups, it is usually the reagent of choice for allylic or benzylic brominations (7). 

This allylic bromination with NBS is analogous to the alkane halogenation reaction discussed in the previous section and occurs by a radical chain reaction pathway. As in alkane halogenation, Br- radical abstracts an allylic hydrogen atom of the alkene, thereby forming an allylic radical plus HBr. This allylic radical then reacts with Br2 to yield the product and a Br- radical, which cycles back... 

In addition to its effect on stability, delocalization of the unpaired electron in the allyl radical has other chemical consequences. Because the unpaired electron is delocalized over both ends of the nr orbital system, reaction with Br2 can occur at either end. As a result, allylic bromination of an unsymmetrical alkene often leads to a mixture of products. For example, bromination of 1-octene gives a mixture of 3-bromo-l-octene and l-bromo-2-octene. The two products are not formed in equal amounts, however, because the intermediate allylic radical is... 

Simple alkyl halides can be prepared by radical halogenation of alkanes, but mixtures of products usually result. The reactivity order of alkanes toward halogenation is identical to the stability order of radicals R3C- > R2CH- > RCH2-. Alkyl halides can also be prepared from alkenes by reaction with /V-bromo-succinimide (NBS) to give the product of allylic bromination. The NBS bromi-nation of alkenes takes place through an intermediate allylic radical, which is stabilized by resonance. 

When the allylic cation reacts with Br to complete the electrophilic addition, reaction can occur either at Cl or at C3 because both carbons share the positive charge (Figure 14.4). Thus, a mixture of 1,2- and 1,4-addition products results. (Recall that a similar product mixture was seen for NBS bromination of alkenes in Section 10.4, a reaction that proceeds through an allylic radical.)... 

Addition of the dicyanomethyl radical to propadiene (la) occurs exclusively at Q (not shown in Scheme 11.8) [60]. On the other hand, methyl-substituted allenes, e.g. Id, undergo /3-selective reactions with 2-bromomalodinitrile (15). The significant /3-selectivity has been associated with the steric demand of the incoming radical 16, which favors addition to the sterically least hindered site at the diene Id to provide allylic radical 17. However, it seems likely that a stabilization of an intermediate allylic radical, e.g. 17, by methyl substituents contributes significantly to the observed regioselectivity of product formation. Trapping of intermediate 17 with bromine atom donor 15 proceeds at the least substituted carbon to afford allylic bromide 18. 

The selectivity of radical bromination reactions depends, in part, on the increased stability of secondary or tertiary radical intermediates compared with primary radicals. In Section 9.2 we noted that allyl and benzyl radicals were especially... 

For example, radical allylic bromination of pent-2-ene must produce a mixture of three products. There are two allylic positions in the substrate, and either can suffer hydrogen abstraction. If hydrogen is abstracted from the methylene, then the two contributing resonance structures for the allylic radical are equivalent, and one product results when this captures a bromine atom. Abstraction... 

Radical addition of HBr to an alkene depends upon the bromine atom adding in the first step so that the more stable radical is formed. If we extend this principle to a conjugated diene, e.g. buta-1,3-diene, we can see that the preferred secondary radical will be produced if halogenation occurs on the terminal carbon atom. However, this new radical is also an allylic radical, and an alternative resonance form may be written. 

Wohl in 1919 reported that A -bromoacetamide (CH CONHBr) induced allylic bromination. " Then iV-bromosuccinimide (30) was described in 1942 by Ziegler and co-workers to be useful in such free radical bromination reactions (equation 41), " and this widely utilized procedure is known as the Wohl-Ziegler reaction. In 1963 the mechanism of the reaction was proposed to involve halogen atoms in the hydrogen abstraction step " " " instead of succinimidyl radicals as had been commonly supposed. The halogen atom mechanism had previously been proposed by Gosselain et al. for reactions of yV-chlorosuccinimide. " ... 

Problem 8.43 CH3CH==CH2 is subjected to allylic free-radical bromination. Will the reaction product be exclusively labeled H C = CH CHjBr Explain. ... 

The bromine radical abstracts an allylic hydrogen atom of the cyclohexene, and forms a resonance stabilized allylic radical and hydrogen bromide. 

Hydrogen bromide reacts with NBS to produce a Br2 molecule, which reacts with the allylic radical to form 3-bromocyclohexene, and a bromine radical is produced to continue the chain. 

Olefins. When the substrate molecule contains a double bond, treatment with chlorine or bromine usually leads to addition rather than substitution. However, for other radicals (and even for chlorine or bromine atoms when they do abstract a hydrogen) the position of attack is perfectly clear. Vinylic hydrogens are practically never abstracted, and allylic hydrogens are greatly preferred to other positions of the molecule, This is generally attributed41 to resonance stabilization of the allylic radical ... 

In gas-phase hydrobromination, where a radical mechanism is operative, the bromine atom always adds to the central carbon atom of the allenic system. As a result, vinylic bromides are formed through the stable allylic radical. In the solution phase under ionic addition conditions, either the vinylic or the allylic cation may be the intermediate, resulting in nonselective hydrobromination. Allylic rearrangement or free-radical processes may also affect product distributions. 

When chlorination or bromination of alkenes is carried out in the gas phase at high temperature, addition to the double bond becomes less significant and substitution at the allylic position becomes the dominant reaction.153-155 In chlorination studied more thoroughly a small amount of oxygen and a liquid film enhance substitution, which is a radical process in the transformation of linear alkenes. Branched alkenes such as isobutylene behave exceptionally, since they yield allyl-substituted product even at low temperature. This reaction, however, is an ionic reaction.156 Despite the possibility of significant resonance stabilization of the allylic radical, the reactivity of different hydrogens in alkenes in allylic chlorination is very similar to that of alkanes. This is in accordance with the reactivity of benzylic hydrogens in chlorination. 

Novel results were reported for allylic bromination. In radical bromination of cyclohexene in CCI4 under light the selectivity of substitution over addition was shown to be controlled by bromine concentration.304 Substitution via the corresponding allyl radical, while relatively slow, is irreversible and fast enough to maintain the concentration of bromine at a sufficiently low level to prevent significant addition. The reaction of two strained alkenes, fZ)-1,2-dimethyl-1,2-di-ferf-butylethylene and the -isomer (14), leads to the corresponding bromosubstituted product, instead of addition 305... 

It was envisaged that the enones were produced following abstraction of H-1 (a process facilitated by the ability of sulfur atoms to stabilize radicals on bonded carbon centers), radical bromination, elimination of hydrogen bromide to give substituted glycals, allylic bromination at C-3, and loss of acetyl bromide. In the formation of compound 6, hydrogen abstraction from C-5 was deemed to compete with that from C-1, and to lead to substitution at the former site with the formation of a relatively stable product. 

The propagation steps are analogous to those of other free-radical brominations. An allylic hydrogen is removed by a bromine atom in the first step. 

The allylic radical formed in the first step abstracts a bromine atom from Br2 in the second propagation step. 

Allylic bromination normally uses NBS as bromine itself would add to the alkene. Thus cyclohexene gives the dibromide 18 with Br2 but the allylic bromide with NBS. Bromine radicals abstract one of the marked H atoms from 19 and the intermediate allylic radical 21 is delocalised so we don t know which end of the allylic system5 ends up attached to Br. 

An allyl radical can be brominated at both termini of the radical. This is why two allyl bromides can result from the Wohl-Ziegler bromination of an alkene if the allyl radical intermediate is unsymmetrical (examples see Figures 1.29-1.31). Even more than two allyl bromides may form. This happens if the substrate possesses constitutionally different allylic H atoms, and if, as a result thereof, several constitutionally isomeric allyl radicals form and react with bromine without selectivity. 

Fig 1.29. With Wohl-Ziegler brominations unsymmetric allyl radicals can basically react with the bromine atom at any of their nonequivalent ends. The product in which the bromine is localized on the less alkylated C atom and in which the higher alkylated C=C bond is present will form preferentially. 

The bromination depicted in Figure 1.29 proceeds via an unsymmetrical allyl radical. This radical preferentially (80 20) reacts to yield the bromination product with the more highly substituted C=C double bond. As this reaction proceeds under kinetic control, the selectivity is based on product development control the more stable (since higher alkylated) alkene is formed more rapidly than the isomer. 

The bromination shown in Figure 1.30 also proceeds via an unsymmetrical allyl radical intermediate, and the bromination product with the aryl-substituted C=C double bond is formed exclusively. Since this process, too, is under kinetic control, the selectivity is again due to product development control the alkene isomer, which is strongly favored because of conjugation, is formed so much faster than the non-conjugated isomer that the latter is not observed at all. 

Fig. 1.30. In some cases the allyl radical intermediate of Wohl-Ziegler brominations is available from alkene double bond isomers, which can profitably be used when one of the substrates is more easily accessible or cheaper than its isomer.

Because of the greater selectivity of the bromine atom, radical brominations can be useful in synthesis as long as the compound to be brominated has one hydrogen that is considerably more reactive than the others. The reaction of 2-methylpentane with bromine, shown previously, gives predominantly a single product because there is only one tertiary hydrogen. Because allylic and benzylic radicals are stabilized by resonance, bromination at these positions can also be successfully accomplished. An example is provided by the following equation ... 

NBS has proved to be especially useful in brominations at allylic positions because competition from the addition of bromine to the double bond is not a problem. Apparently, the fact that only a low concentration of Br2 is ever present in NBS brominations somehow inhibits the addition reaction. Examples are provided in the following equations. Note that the reaction is best if only a single type of allylic hydrogen is available to be abstracted. In addition, the resonance-stabilized allylic radical provides two sites that can abstract a bromine atom. If these two sites are different, a mixture of products is formed, as shown in the second example ... 

Although free-radical halogenation is a poor synthetic method in most cases, free-radical bromination of alkenes can be carried out in a highly selective manner. An allylic position is a carbon atom next to a carbon-carbon double bond. Allylic intermediates (cations, radicals, and anions) are stabilized by resonance with the double bond, allowing the charge or radical to be delocalized. The following bond dissociation enthalpies show that less energy is required to form a resonance-stabilized primary allylic radical than a typical secondary radical. 

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