Aryl halides radical cyclizations

Little attention has been paid to the capture of aryl radicals but an example of dihydrobenzofuran synthesis published this year uses just this reaction. Thus the aryl halides (62) cyclize in the... 

Examples of the intermolecular C-P bond formation by means of radical phosphonation and phosphination have been achieved by reaction of aryl halides with trialkyl phosphites and chlorodiphenylphosphine, respectively, in the presence of (TMSlsSiH under standard radical conditions. The phosphonation reaction (Reaction 71) worked well either under UV irradiation at room temperature or in refluxing toluene. The radical phosphina-tion (Reaction 72) required pyridine in boiling benzene for 20 h. Phosphinated products were handled as phosphine sulfides. Scheme 15 shows the reaction mechanism for the phosphination procedure that involves in situ formation of tetraphenylbiphosphine. This approach has also been extended to the phosphination of alkyl halides and sequential radical cyclization/phosphination reaction. ... 

Germanes are also used for the reduction of various organic halides at ambient temperature under Et3B/C>2 initiation. For example, tri-2-furylgermane mediated radical cyclizations of aryl iodides proceed in good yields (Scheme 6, Eq. 6a) and are also possible with NaBH4 in the presence of a catalytic amount of triphenylgermane (Eq. 6b) [ 16]. 

Electrochemically Induced Radical Cyclization Reactions of Aryl Halides... 

Phenyl o-radicals generated by reduction of aryl halides can also interact with an intramolecular alkene bond. Ihe method has been developed for the formation of dihydroindoles by reductive cyclization of N-allyl-2-chloroacetanilides. The results indicate the importance of a time interval between electron addition to give a radical-anion and the fragmentation of this species to give the active a-radical, The time interval allows the radical-anion to diffuse away from the electrode surface so that when the a-radical is foimed, it has time to cyclize before it can be reduced at the surface. 

Radical cyclization is an effective approach to the synthesis of isoquinolines (Scheme 8). In some cases these offer an alternative to the palladium-catalyzed reactions with aryl halide intermediates <99EJOC1925, 99TL1125>. For example, the radical cyclization of the iodide 37 onto the vinylsulfide moiety was followed by a cascade cyclization to form the benzo[n]quinolizidine system <99TL1149>. In some cases the radical cyclization can take place without the need for a halo intermediate. The reactive intermediate of 38 was formed on the nitrogen as an amidyl radical, which underwent tandem cyclizations to the lycorane system <99TL2125, 99SL441>. 

Free-radical cyclization reactions nicely complement the Pd(0)-catalyzed intramolecular Heck reaction, which also provides cyclic products from unsaturated halides. Free radicals can be generated easily at saturated carbons from saturated alkyl bromides, and the products are reduced relative to the reactants. In contrast, intramolecular Heck reactions work best for vinyl and aryl bromides (in fact they do not work for alkyl halides), and the products are at the same oxidation level as the reactants. Moreover, free radicals attack the double bond at the internal position, whereas palladium insertion causes cyclization to occur at the external carbon. 

Reductive radical cyclization and tandem radical addition/cyclization reactions catalyzed by Ni(II) complexes, such as Ni(cyclam)(C104)2 98a, were studied starting in the 1990s by Ozaki s group [128]. The reaction conditions are applicable to alkyl and aryl halides bearing suitable positioned olefin units. Iodides and bromides can be used in some cases even aryl chlorides were successfully applied. The field was reviewed recently, and thus only more recent results are summarized here [19, 20]. 

Ring closure reactions taking place by intramolecular addition of an aromatic radical to a double bond have been widely studied on both their regio- and stereochemical aspects [93]. Aryl halides and diazonium salts substituted at ortho- position with a 0-allyl or TV-allyl chain were used for the preparation of 2,3-dihydrobenzofuranes and 2,3-dihydro-1/7-indoles under different reaction conditions. The reaction pattern involves the generation of an aryl radical 20, which reacts with the double bond in a 5-exo trig fashion to afford the exocyclic radical 21, plausible of reduction by a hydrogen donor to obtain the reduced-cyclized product 22 (Sch. 23) [93d,94]. 

The cyclization of aryl halides provides a useful route to benzo-fused carbo- and heterocycles as illustrated in equations 122 and 123762-767. In some cases isomerization of the intermediate radical may cause product mixtures and hence decreased synthetic utility762. 

Electrochemical reduction of aryl halides in the presence of olefins (94), (equation 54) leads to the formation of arylated products (95). Electroreduction of several aralkyl halides at potentials ranging from -1.24 V to -1.54 V (see) gives products which involve dimerization, cyclization, and reduction to the arylalkanes. Carbanions and/or free radicals were again postulated as intermediates79. Aryl radicals generated from the electrochemical reduction of aryl halides have been added to carbon-carbon double bonds80,81. Electrochemical reduction of aryl halides in the presence of olefins leads to the formation of arylated products78. Preparative scale electrolyses were carried out in solvents such as acetonitrile, DMF and DMSO at constant potential or in liquid ammonia at constant current. The reaction is proposed to involve an S l mechanism. 

A similar strategy has been applied to the synthesis of kainoids and related compounds (eq 3). Both stoichiometric and catalytic amounts of cobalt reagents have been used in these and other cyclization studies. Several examples of these types of cyclizations have been published, including cyclizations using aryl halides as precursors to aryl radicals. ... 

On reduction of aryl halides the initially formed ion radical decomposes to halide ion and aryl radical [13-16]. In appropriate substituted compounds the radical may in an intramolecular attack effect a ring closure. This is exemplified in the reductive cyclization of 5-(2-chlorophenyl)-l-phenylpyrazole to pyrazolo[l, 5-/]phenanthridine [13] and iV-allyl-... 

Photocatalysis of radical cyclization. This system, when irradiated, can effect dchalogcnation of aliphatic bromides and aryl halides via a radical intermediate.1 It can also effect radical cyclization of l-allyloxy-2-halobenzenes (equation I) in 76% isolated yield.2... 

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