Carboxylic acid radical

Following this mechanism, luciferase-bound reduced FMN (FMNH intermediate I) reacts with oxygen to form the 4a-hydroperoxy-4a,5-dihydroFMN intermediate II (HF-OCT). The addition of a long-chain aliphatic aldehyde generates the 4a-peroxyhemiacetal-4a,5-dihydroFMN intermediate III (HF-OOCH(OH)R), which is subsequently converted to a radical pair of 4a-hydroxy-4a,5-dihydroFMN radical cation (IV+ HF-OH+ ) and a carboxylic acid radical anion RC(0H)0" A 1-e transfer from RC(0H)0- to IV+ produces the excited 4a-hydoxy-4a,5-dihydroFMN intermediate IV. Relaxation of IV to the ground state produces bio luminescence ( max 490 nm) with a quantum yield of about 0.16. Finally, IV decays to form FMN and water. The present report addresses several key issues of this mechanism with respect to the identity of the proposed excited emitter HF-OH, the energetics of its formation, and the requirement of a hydrophobic luciferase active site for a high quantum yield of the emitter. 

Weiske, T, Schwarz, H., 1983. Pseudo one-step cleavage of carbon-carbon bonds in the decomposition of ionized carboxylic acids. Radical-Kke reactions in mass spectrometry. Chemische Berichte 116 (1), 323-347. Language German, Database CAPLUS. (4). 

Interest in synthetic naphthenic acid has grown as the supply of natural product has fluctuated. Oxidation of naphthene-based hydrocarbons has been studied extensively (35—37), but no commercially viable processes are known. Extensive purification schemes must be employed to maximize naphthene content in the feedstock and remove hydroxy acids and nonacidic by-products from the oxidation product. Free-radical addition of carboxylic acids to olefins (38,39) and addition of unsaturated fatty acids to cycloparaffins (40) have also been studied but have not been commercialized. 

Alkyl radicals produced by oxidative decarboxylation of carboxylic acids are nucleophilic and attack protonated azoles at the most electron-deficient sites. Thus imidazole and 1-alkylimidazoles are alkylated exclusively at the 2-position (80AHC(27)241). Similarly, thiazoles are attacked in acidic media by methyl and propyl radicals to give 2-substituted derivatives in moderate yields, with smaller amounts of 5-substitution. These reactions have been reviewed (74AHC(i6)123) the mechanism involves an intermediate cr-complex. 

Naphthenic acid is a collective name for organic acids present in some but not all crude oils. In addition to true naphthenic acids (naphthenic carboxylic acids represented by the formula X-COOH in which X is a cycloparaffin radical), the total acidity of a crude may include various amounts of other organic acids and sometimes mineral acids. Thus the total neutralization number of a stock, which is a measure of its total acidity, includes (but does not necessaiily represent) the level of naphthenic acids present. The neutralization number is the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to neutralize one gram of stock as determined by titration using phenolphthalein as an indicator, or as determined by potentiometric titration. It may be as high as 10 mg KOH/gr. for some crudes. The neutralization number does not usually become important as a corrosion factor, however, unless it is at least 0.5 mg KOH/gm. 

Similarly, carboxylic acid and ester groups tend to direct chlorination to the / and v positions, because attack at the a position is electronically disfavored. The polar effect is attributed to the fact that the chlorine atom is an electrophilic species, and the relatively electron-poor carbon atom adjacent to an electron-withdrawing group is avoided. The effect of an electron-withdrawing substituent is to decrease the electron density at the potential radical site. Because the chlorine atom is highly reactive, the reaction would be expected to have a very early transition state, and this electrostatic effect predominates over the stabilizing substituent effect on the intermediate. The substituent effect dominates the kinetic selectivity of the reaction, and the relative stability of the radical intermediate has relatively little influence. 

Functional groups that stabilize radicals would be expected to increase susceptibility to autoxidation. This is illustrated by two cases that have been relatively well studied. Aldehydes, in which abstraction of the aldehyde hydrogen is fecile, are easily autoxidized. The autoxidation initially forms a peroxycarboxylic acid, but usually the corresponding carboxylic acid is isolated because the peroxy acid oxidizes additional aldehyde in a... 

Carboxylic acids react with xenon difluoride to produce unstable xenon esters The esters decarboxylate to produce free radical intermediates, which undergo fluonnation or reaction with the solvent system Thus aliphatic acids decarboxylate to produce mainly fluoroalkanes or products from abstraction of hydrogen from the solvent Perfluoro acids decarboxylate in the presence of aromatic substrates to give perfluoroalkyl aromatics Aromatic and vinylic acids do not decarboxylate [91] (equation 51)... 

Suitable starting materials for the Kolbe electrolytic synthesis are aliphatic carboxylic acids that are not branched in a-position. With aryl carboxylic acids the reaction is not successful. Many functional groups are tolerated. The generation of the desired radical species is favored by a high concentration of the carboxylate salt as well as a high current density. Product distribution is further dependend on the anodic material, platinum is often used, as well as the solvent, the temperature and the pH of the solution." ... 

Free radical additions to mono-olefins are quite common and can frequently be employed to advantage on a synthetic scale. Formamide, for example, on exposure to sunlight or UV radiation adds to olefins in an anti-Markovnikov sense giving 1 1 adducts that are readily isolated and crystallized. Moreover, since alkyl formamides may be conveniently converted to carboxylic acids by conventional means, the reaction represents a general method of chain extension. 

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