Aromatic rings bond cleavage

Tetracyanoethylene oxide [3189-43-3] (8), oxiranetetracarbonitnle, is the most notable member of the class of oxacyanocarbons (57). It is made by treating TCNE with hydrogen peroxide in acetonitrile. In reactions unprecedented for olefin oxides, it adds to olefins to form 2,2,5,5-tetracyanotetrahydrofuran [3041-31-4] in the case of ethylene, acetylenes, and aromatic hydrocarbons via cleavage of the ring C—C bond. The benzene adduct (9) is 3t ,7t -dihydro-l,l,3,3-phthalantetracarbonitrile [3041-36-9], C22HgN O. 

Examine the geometry of the most stable radical. Is the bonding in the aromatic ring fuUy delocalized (compare to model alpha-tocopherol), or is it localized Also, examine the spin density surface of the most stable radical. Is the unpaired electron localized on the carbon (oxygen) where bond cleavage occurred, or is it delocalized Draw all of the resonance contributors necessary for a full description of the radical s geometry and electronic structure. 

Data are also available with a-acetylenic aliphatic sulphones, which involve only two steps i.e., saturation of the triple bond without subsequent cleavage of the Caliphalic—S bond, since it is not reactive. However, the introduction of an aromatic ring to the S02 group does not lead, contrary to what is observed with enones, to a potential shift toward less reducing potential values. Thus, the aromatic moiety introduced apparently does not bring any additional conjugation effect but even seems to decrease the activation of the unsaturated bond, as shown by data in Tables 6 and 7 where most of the potentials refer to the same saturated calomel electrode under similar experimental conditions. 

On the basis of the obtained results and the literature[17-18], we assume that during the oxidative decomposition of p-coumaric acid 1, three kind of reaction can happen before the opening of the aromatic ring (Scheme 1) cleavage of the very reactive exocyclic double bond to give p-hydroxybenzaldehyde 2, hydroxylation of the aromatic ring to yield 3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid 3 and oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids such as oxidation of 2 to p-hydroxybenzoic acid 4. Compound 2 can be hydroxylated to yield 3,4- dihydroxybenzaldehyde 6. and Compound 4 can also be hydroxylated to yield 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid 5. 

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