Captodative effect addition reactions

Already, at an early stage of the studies on the captodative effect, Viehe s group (Lahousse et ai, 1984) measured relative rates for the addition of t-butoxyl radicals to 4,4 -disubstituted 1,1-diphenylethylenes and to substituted styrenes. This study did not reveal a special character of captodative-substituted olefins in such reactions. It might be that the stability of the radical to be formed does not influence the early transition state of the addition step. The rationalization of the kinetic studies mentioned above in terms of the FMO model indicates, indeed, an early transition state for these reactions, with the consequence that product properties should not influence the reactivity noticeably. 

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