Aminium cation

Goez M and Sartorius I 1993 Photo-CIDNP investigation of the deprotonation of aminium cations J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115 11 123-33... 

The first studies on cation-radical Diels-Alder reactions were undertaken by Bauld in 1981 who showed [33a] the powerful catalytic effect of aminium cation radical salts on certain Diels-Alder cycloadditions. For example, the reaction of 1,3-cyclohexadiene with trans, iraw5-2,4-hexadiene in the presence of Ar3N is complete in 1 h and gives only the endo adduct (Equation 1.14) [33]. 

The limited kinetic data for reactions of tin hydride with nitrogen-centered radicals apparently demonstrates the combined effects of the enthalpies of the reactions and polarization in the transition states for H-atom transfer. The aminyl and iminyl radicals are electron-rich, and the N-H bonds formed are relatively weak these radicals react relatively slowly with tin hydride. On the other hand, the electrophilic amidyl and aminium cation radicals form strong N-H bonds and react rapidly with the tin hydride reagents. 

As with arene-amine radical ion pairs, the ion pairs formed between ketones and amines can also suffer a-deprotona-tion. When triplet benzophenone is intercepted by amino acids, the aminium cation radical can be detected at acidic pH, but only the radical formed by aminium deprotonation is detectable in base (178). In the interaction of thioxanthone with trialky lamines, the triplet quenching rate constant correlates with amine oxidation potential, implicating rate determining radical ion pair formation which can also be observed spectroscopically. That the efficiency of electron exchange controls the overall reaction efficiency is consistent with the absence of an appreciable isotope effect when t-butylamine is used as an electron donor (179). 

In homogeneous solution, the aminium cation radical may generate an olefin cation radical which reacts in cyclic fashion with another olefin before reaccepting an electron. This pathway relies on rapid bond-forming reactions compared with electron exchange. 

B. Aminium Cation Radical Cyclizations from N-Chloramines and... 

C. Dialkyl Aminium Cation Radicals from PTOC Carbamates. 23... 

The electronic nature of a nitrogen centered radical, dictated by reaction conditions and/or the radical precursor employed, is crucial to the mode of reaction, to the ability to undergo efficient intramolecular cyclizations or intermolecular additions, and to the products isolated from the radical reaction. The types of radicals discussed in this review include neutral aminyl radicals, protonated aminyl radicals (aminium cation radicals), metal complexed aminyl radicals, and amidyl radicals. Sulfonamidyl and urethanyl radicals are known (71S1 78T3241), but they are not within the scope of this chapter. 

Neutral aminyl radicals (I), also referred to as amino radicals, can be considered to be nucleophilic species whereas aminium cation radicals (II), metal complexed aminyl radicals (III), and amidyl radicals (IV) are electrophilic in nature. Greater utility has been observed with electrophilic nitrogen radicals than with neutral aminyl radicals (71 SI). Aminyl radicals are easily protonated with Br0nsted acids to give aminium cation radicals and readily complex with Lewis acids to form radicals III therefore, control of the reaction conditions is critical to ensure that reactions of interest are occurring from only one species. 

The use of /V-chloramines, in principle, allows the facile generation of aminyl radicals upon UV photolysis in neutral media. A radical chain can be envisioned for the formation of 2-chIoromethylpyrrolidines (Scheme 7). In practice, however, there is a slow step in this sequence, step A and/or B, such that other reaction pathways, disproportionation or H-abstraction from the solvent, compete. Surzur has studied the reaction in Scheme 7 in the alcoholic solvents MeOH and /-PrOH, which serve as hydrogen atom sources, and achieved acceptable ratios of cyclic products 25 and 26 to acyclic amine 27 (70TL3107). Other /V-chloroalkenylamines gave similar results (71TL903 80TL287). /8-chloro-substituted amine products such as 25 were the sole products when the reactions were carried out in acetic acid-water mixtures these reactions involve aminium cation radicals and are discussed further in Section III,B. 

Aminyl radicals can be protonated with Br0nsted acids or complexed by Lewis acids to generate an electrophilic nitrogen radical. The pKa of an aminium cation radical in water is =7 as determined from a titrametric... 

The Hofmann-Loffler-Freytag (HLF) reaction is the oldest known reaction that involves aminium cation radicals (Scheme 14) (50JA2118 60JA1657). This reaction is a remote functionalization reaction where an N-chloro- or N-bromo-amine 46 is converted to a 8-haloamine 49 via the intermediate aminium cation radical 47. Pyrrolidine products are obtained by cyclization of the 8-haloamines under basic conditions. A comprehensive survey of the synthetic utility of this reaction has been reported by Wolff (63CRV55). 

Electrophilic radical cyclizations of alkenyl aminium cation radicals have shown synthetic utility. Hofmann-Loffler-Freytag reactions do not compete with 5-exo cyclizations (75BSF1429). The homolytic cyclization of Af-chloroalkenylamines under acidic or Lewis acidic conditions has been studied primarily by Surzur and Stella, and the chemistry of these precursors for electrophilic aminyl radical generation has been reviewed [83AG(E)337]. Radical chain reactions can be initiated by heat, UV photol-... 

Aminium cation radical cyclizations can also be accomplished from N-nitrosoalkenylamines under mildly acidic conditions (pH > 1). Ultraviolet... 

At this time, no absolute rate constants have been determined for a reaction of an aminium cation radical. However, for synthetic utility, one needs to consider the relative rate constants for competing reactions. Competition between two unimolecular reactions depends only upon the relative rate constants for the processes. For competition between a unimolecular and a bimolecular reaction whose rate constants are comparable, product distributions can easily be controlled by the concentration of the second species in the ratio of rate laws. The ratio of reaction products from cyclization (unimolecular) versus hydrogen atom trapping before cyclization (bimolecular) can be expressed by the equation %(42 + 65)/%41 = Ar/(A H[Y - H]) (Scheme 20). Competition between two bimolecular reactions is dependent on the relative rate constants for each process and the effective, or mean, concentration of each reagent. The ratio of the products from H-atom transfer trapping of the cyclized radical versus self-trapping by the PTOC precursor can be expressed by the equation %42/%65 = (kH /kT) ([Y - H]/[PTOC]). 

Contrary to aminyl radicals, aminium cation radicals are not trapped by r-BuSH in competition with cyclization. Trapping of the cyclic /3-... 

A variety of alkaloid skeletons can be prepared from 5-exo cyclizations of aminium cation radicals derived from PTOC carbamates, and some are listed in Table VI (90T2329). Perhydroindoles (entry 1), 1-, 2-, and 3-substituted pyrrolizidines (entry 2-4), tropanes (entry 5), and other pyrrolidine containing ring systems were obtained in 50-96% yields. Direct com-... 

Intermolecular addition and addition-cyclization reactions of aminium cation radicals with electron-rich alkenes such as ethyl vinyl ether (EVE) allow an entry into products containing the N—C—C—O moiety of 13-amino ethers 70 or the equivalent of /3-amino aldehydes 71. The mild conditions under which aminium cation radicals are generated from PTOC carbamates makes the reactions described in Scheme 22 possible. In the absence of hydrogen atom donors, the /3-amino ethoxy(2-pyridylthio) acetal 71 was the major product. The mixed acetal can easily be converted... 

Monoalkyl aminium radicals cannot be prepared from PTOC carbamates 29 due to an equilibrium in solution favoring 2-mercaptopyridine-Ar-oxide and an alkyl isocyanate [Eq.(ll)]. With Af-(monoalkyl)thiazole-2-thione carbamates, TTOC carbamates, the equilibrium lies far to the side of the carbamate 84, and these precursors can be prepared from an isocyanate and Ar-hydroxythiazole-2-thione [Eq. (12)]. Under UV photoinitiation in acidic media, TTOC carbamates are efficient precursors for monoalkyl aminium cation radicals (Scheme 26). Monoalkylaminium radical 85 ey-clizes as efficiently as its analogous dialkylaminium radical 66, and the resulting carbon radical 86 can be trapped by a variety of radicophiles (91JOC1309) to prepare substituted pyrrolidines. 

An amidyl radical is intermediate in reactivity between a neutral aminyl and an aminium cation radical due to the electron withdrawing ability of the carbonyl group. An intuitive advantage of amidyl radicals over aminium cation radicals is that reactions can be carried out under strictly neutral conditions, and, by reduction or hydrolysis of the amide, amidyl radical reactions become equivalent to reactions of neutral dialkyl or monoalkyl aminyl radicals. Preparation of AMraloamides and their rearrangements have been reviewed (71S1). 

Amidines, N-(l,2,4-thiadiazol-5-yl)-, rearrangement, 56, 103 Amidoximes, 1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl-, rearrangements, 56, 55 Amidyl radicals, see Radicals, nitrogen Amination, asymmetric, of carboxylic acids by chiral nitroso compds, 57, 41 Amines, catalysis of 3-acyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole arylhydrazone rearrangement by, 56, 87 Amines, thionitroso-, formation, 55, 20 Aminium cation radicals, see Radicals, nitrogen... 

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