Captodative effect allyl radicals

The study of substituted allyl radicals (Sustmann and Brandes, 1976 Sustmann and Trill, 1974 Sustmann et al., 1972, 1977), where pronounced substituent effects were found as compared to the barrier in the parent system (Korth et al., 1981), initiated a study of the rotational barrier in a captodative-substituted allyl radical [32]/[33] (Korth et al., 1984). The concept behind these studies is derived from the stabilization of free radicals by delocalization of the unpaired spin (see, for instance, Walton, 1984). The... 

Similarly to the triphenylmethyl system, captodative-substituted 1,5-hexa-dienes, which can be cleaved thermally in solution into the corresponding substituted allyl radicals [15], dissociate more easily than dicaptor-substituted systems (Van Hoecke et al., 1986). Since ground-state and radical substituent effects cannot be separated cleanly, not only because of electronic but also because of steric effects, a conclusive answer cannot be provided. 

The experimental result seems to support this model. Table 11 lists values for rotational barriers in some allyl radicals (Sustmann, 1986). It includes the rotational barrier in the isomeric 1-cyano-l-methoxyallyl radicals [32]/ [33] (Korth et al., 1984). In order to see whether the magnitude of the rotational barriers discloses a special captodative effect it is necessary to compare the monocaptor and donor-substituted radicals with disubstituted analogues. As is expected on the basis of the general influence of substituents on radical centres, both captor and donor substituents lower the rotational barrier, the captor substituent to a greater extent. Disubstitution by the same substituent, i.e. dicaptor- and didonor-substituted systems, do not even show additivity in the reduction of the rotational barrier. This phenomenon appears to be a general one and has led to the conclusion that additivity of substituent effects is already a manifestation of a special behaviour, viz., of a captodative effect. The barrier in the 1-cyano-l-methoxyallyl radicals [32]/... 

An error-propagation analysis allows the conclusion that the captodative substituent effect on the rotational barrier in this allyl radical is at least additive and perhaps slightly greater. 

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