Aryl radical

Absolute rate constants for the attack of aryl radicals on a variety of substrates have been reported by Scaiano and Stewart (Ph ) 7 and Citterio at al. (/j-CIPh-).379,384 The reactions are extremely facile in comparison with additions of other carbon-centered radicals [e.g. jfc(S) = 1.1x10s M 1 s 1 at 25 °C].3,7 Relative reactivities are available for a wider range of monomers and other substrates (Tabic 3.b). Phenyl radicals do not show clear cut electrophilic or 

Absolute rate constants for the attack of aryl radicals on a variety of substrates 

The reactions are extremely facile in comparison with additions of 

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The radical phenylation of a large number of mono- and dialkyl-thiazoles has been investigated (393,395,396,399-405, for a general review cf. 398) and analyzed in terms of partial rate factors. As in other instances the alkyl groups slightly activate the substrate in certain positions toward phenyl radicals, but they also induce some steric hindrance to the approach of the aryl radical from the onho positions (Fig. 1-19). 

In the case of substituted aryl radicals, the results may be slightly different, depending on the polarity of the radicals. With electrophilic radicals the overall reactivity of the thiazole nucleus will decrease and the percentage of 5-substituted isomer (electron-rich position) will increase, in comparison with phenyl radicals. The results are indicated in Table III-28. 

Esters are named similarly, with the name of the alkyl or aryl radical replacing the name of the... 

This synthesis is only one example of a wide range of reactions which involve aryl (or alkyl) radical addition to electron-deficient double bonds resulting in reduction.The corresponding oxidative reaction using aryl radicals is the well known Meerwein reaction, which uses copper(II) salts. 

Homolytic cleavage of dlazonlum salts to produce aryl radicals is induced by titan1um(III) salt, which is also effective in reducing the a-carbonylalkyl radical adduct to olefins, telotnerization of methyl vinyl ketone, and dimerization of the adduct radicals. The reaction can be used with other electron-deficient olefins, but telomerization or dimerization are important side reactions. 

Other limitations of the reaction are related to the regioselectivity of the aryl radical addition to double bond, which is mainly determined by steric and radical delocalization effects. Thus, methyl vinyl ketone gives the best results, and lower yields are observed when bulky substituents are present in the e-position of the alkene. However, the method represents complete positional selectivity because only the g-adduct radicals give reductive arylation products whereas the a-adduct radicals add to diazonium salts, because of the different nucleophilic character of the alkyl radical adduct. ... 

IV-Nitrosqanilides are an alternative source of aryl radicals. There is a close mechanistie relationship to the decomposition of azo compounds. The JV-nitrosoanilides rearrange to intermediates that have a nitrogen-nitrogen double bond. The intermediate then decomposes to generate aryl radieals. ... 

For the acetoxy radical, the for decarboxylation is about 6.5 kcal/mol and the rate is about 10 s at 60°C and 10 s at —80°C. Thus, only very rapid reactions can compete with decarboxylation. As would be expected because of the lower stability of aryl radicals, the rates of decarboxylation of aroyloxy radicals are slower. The rate for p-methoxybenzoyloxy radical has been determined to be 3 x 10 s near room temperature. Hydrogen donation by very reactive hydrogen-atom donors such as triethylsilane can compete with decarboxylation at moderate temperatures. 

An alternative reaction mechanism has been suggested for nitroarylation of enolates. An impetus for considering other mechanisms is the fact that the by-products which might be expected from aryl radicals, such as reduction products from hydrogen abstraction from the solvent or biaryls from coupling, are not observed. One alternative is that, rather than being a chain process, the reaction may involve recombination whereby the radicals combine more rapidly than they separate. 

Kinetics of the reaction of p-nitrochlorobenzene with the sodium enolate of ethyl cyanoacetate are consistent with this mechanism. Also, radical scavengers have no effect on the reaction, contrary to what would be expected for a chain mechanism in which aryl radicals would need to encounter the enolate in a propagation step. The reactant, /i-nitrophenyl chloride, however, is one which might also react by the addition-elimination mechanism, and the postulated mechanism is essentially the stepwise electron-transfer version of this mechanism. The issue then becomes the question of whether the postulated radical pair is a distinct intermediate. 

A number of methods are available for generating aryl radicals. They have been reviewed recently as has the evidence that the processes result in the generation of free aryl radicals, Those methods which have been used for the arylation of heterocyclic compounds are described here, and their applications to the arylation of specific heterocycles are discussed and tabulated in Section II,C,D and E. 

Aryl Radicals from Compounds Containing the Azo Linkage... 

Many compounds of general type Ar—N=N—X can be thermally decomposed to aryl radicals, the driving force for the reaction being, at least in part, the stability of the nitrogen molecule. 

Modifications of this method, such as the use of the more stable diazonium trifluoroacetates and the decomposition of benzenedia-zonium zincichloride with zinc dust, have been used as sources of aryl radicals, although not in the arylation of heterocyclic compounds. Pyridine, quinoline, and thiophene can be phenylated by treatment with benzenediazonium chloride and aluminum trichloride. ... 

The low bond-strength of the O—0 bond renders peroxides susceptible to homolytic fission to give oxy radicals on heating. Diacyl peroxides give rise to acyloxy radicals which then decompose to aryl radicals and carbon dioxide, Eq. (5). For example, dibenzoyl... 

The production of aryl radicals from peroxides normally provides a cleaner method of arylation than the methods based on the decomposition of azo and diazo compounds, and, in the case of benzenoid compounds, better yields of arylated products are obtained. The... 

Phenyl radicals can be generated by the thermal decomposition of lead tctrabcnzoate, phenyl iodosobenzoate, and diphenyliodonium hydroxide,- - and by the electrolysis of benzoic acid.- These methods have been employed in the arylation of aromatic compounds, including heterocycles. A method of promise which has not been applied to the arylation of heterocycles is the formation of aryl radicals by the photolysis of aromatic iodides at 2537... 

The results are consistent with the rate-determining step being addition of the aryl radical to the aromatic ring, Eq. (9). Support for this mechanism is derived from the results of three other studies (a) When A -nitrosoacetanilide is decomposed in pyridine, the benzene formed by abstraction of hydrogen from pyridine by phenyl radical accounts for only 1 part in 120 of the reaction leading to phenyl-pyridines. (b) 9,9, 10,lCK-Tetrahydro-10,10 -diphenyl-9,9 -bianthryl is formed in the reaction between phenyl radicals and anthracene, probably by the addition mechanism in Eq. (11). Adducts are also formed in the reactions of benzyl radicals with anthracene- and acridine. ... 

Free-radical arylation of heterocyclic compounds is a relatively inefficient process in which yields of particular products greater than 50% are rare. This is the inevitable result of the high reactivity and low selectivity of aryl radicals not only is it usual for the heterocyclic compound to be attacked at each of its available positions, but, as shown in preceding sections, other by-products are numerous. Nevertheless, the method often presents the only short route to a given compound and it has been widely applied. Preparative uses are grouped in this section under the heading of the heterocyclic system concerned. 

Fewer methods are available for the generation of alkyl than of aryl radicals and a number of these can only be used to produce methyl radicals. Methylation has been, therefore, the most commonly studied alkylation. 

Grignard reagents are a very important class of organometallic compounds. For their preparation an alkyl halide or aryl halide 5 is reacted with magnesium metal. The formation of the organometallic species takes place at the metal surface by transfer of an electron from magnesium to a halide molecule, an alkyl or aryl radical species 6 respectively is formed. Whether the intermediate radical species stays adsorbed at the metal surface (the A-modelf, or desorbs into solution (the D-model), still is in debate ... 

The reaction mechanism is not rigorously known, but is likely to involve the following steps." " First the arenediazonium ion species 1 is reduced by a reaction with copper-(l) salt 2 to give an aryl radical species 4. In a second step the aryl radical abstracts a halogen atom from the CuXa compound 5, which is thus reduced to the copper-1 salt 2. Since the copper-(l) species is regenerated in the second step, it serves as a catalyst in the overall process. 

Mechanistically, these diazonio replacement reactions occur through radical rather than polar pathways. In the presence of a copper(I) compound, for instance, it s thought that the arenediazonium ion is first converted to an aryl radical plus copper(II), followed by subsequent reaction to give product plus regenerated copper(l) catalyst. 

The -elimination of a thiyl radical (RS ) terminated a remarkably productive tandem radical bicyclization in Parker s formal total syntheses of ( )-codeine and ( )-morphine (see Scheme 14).29 Subjection of aryl bromide 72 to the conditions indicated generates transient aryl radical 73, an intermediate which engages the substi-... 

In this section wc consider the properties and reactions of three classes of carbon-centered radicals alkyl radicals (3.4. l.l), aryl radicals (3.4.1,2) and acyl radicals (3.4.1.3). 

Aryl radicals are produced in the decomposition of alkylazobenzenes and diazonium salts, and by f)-scission of aroyloxy radicals (Scheme 3.73). Aryl radicals have been reported to react by aromatic subsitution (e.g. of Sh) or abstract hydrogen (e.g. from MMA10) in competition with adding to a monomer double bond. However, these processes typically account for <1% of the total. The degree of specificity for tail vs head addition is also very high. Significant head addition has been observed only where tail addition is retarded by sleric factors e.g. methyl crotonate10 and -substituted methyl vinyl ketones 79, 84). 

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