Cycloadditions, radical cation

Luche and coworkers [34] investigated the mechanistic aspects of Diels-Alder reactions of anthracene with either 1,4-benzoquinone or maleic anhydride. The cycloaddition of anthracene with maleic anhydride in DCM is slow under US irradiation in the presence or absence of 5% tris (p-bromophenyl) aminium hexachloroantimonate (the classical Bauld monoelectronic oxidant, TBPA), whereas the Diels Alder reaction of 1,4-benzoquinone with anthracene in DCM under US irradiation at 80 °C is slow in the absence of 5 % TBPA but proceeds very quickly and with high yield at 25 °C in the presence of TBPA. This last cycloaddition is also strongly accelerated when carried out under stirring solely at 0°C with 1% FeCh. The US-promoted Diels Alder reaction in the presence of TBPA has been justified by hypothesizing a mechanism via radical-cation of diene, which is operative if the electronic affinity of dienophile is not too weak. 

Schmittel M., Woehrle C., Bohn I. Radical Cation Initiated Cycloaddition of Electron-Rich Allenes. Evidence for a Stepwise Mechanism. Acta Chem. Scand. 1997 57 151-157... 

The lattice-stabilization effects allow the isolation of [MF6]- salts (M=As, Sb) of [S3N2]2+ in the solid state from the cycloaddition of [SN]+ and [S2N]+ cations in S02.66 The S-S and S-N bond distances in the planar, monomeric dication are shorter than those in the dimeric radical cation dimer, as anticipated for the removal of an electron from a n orbital. 

Although cycloaddition reactions have yet to be observed for alkene radical cations generated by the fragmentation method, there is a very substantial literature covering this aspect of alkene radical cation chemistry when obtained by one-electron oxidation of alkenes [2-16,18-26,28-31]. Rate constants have been measured for cycloadditions of alkene and diene radical cations, generated oxidatively, in both the intra- and intermolecular modes and some examples are given in Table 4 [91,92]. 

Table 4 Rate constants for cycloadditions with alkene radical cations a ...

The gas-phase reactions of the fulvene radical cation with neutral 1,3-butadiene, alkenes and 2-propyl iodide have been investigated by Russell and Gross131a using ICR mass spectrometry. Unlike ionized benzene, ionized fulvene undergoes no C—C coupling with 2-propyl iodide. On the basis of deuterium and 13C labelling, the reaction of ionized fulvene with 1,3-butadiene was suggested to occur by [6 + 4] cycloaddition to yield tetrahydroazulene radical cations. Cycloadditions of neutral fulvene were also studied in this work. 

Electron transfer from the alkene leads to a radical cation that can undergo coupling (Scheme la). The radical cation can also react with the nucleophilic heteroatom of a reagent to afford addition or substitution products (Scheme lb). Adducts can be likewise obtained by oxidation of the nucleophile to a radical that undergoes radical addition. Reactions between alkenes and nucleophiles can be realized too with chemical oxidants that are regenerated at the anode (mediators) (see Chapter 15). Finally, cycloadditions between alkenes can be initiated by a catalytic anodic electron transfer. These principal reaction modes are subsequently illustrated by selected conversions. 

Amine-based radical cations have also served as participants in cycloaddition... 

It is important to note that the reactions are fundamentally different from similar radical cation Diels-Alder reactions initiated with the use of a photochemical electron-transfer reaction [35, 36]. In photochemical reactions, a one-electron oxidation of the substrate leads to a cycloaddition that is then terminated by a back electron transfer . No net change is made in the oxidation state of the substrate. However, the reaction outlined in Scheme 13 involves a net two-electron oxidation of the substrate. Hence, the two pathways are complementary. 

Cycloaddition Reactions with Alkenes Olefins can react with electrogenerated radicals, cationic species or dienophiles. 

The mechanism which could explain the formation of these products is described in Scheme 27. In an EC mechanism, the intermediate radical cation 48a could undergo a follow-up reaction with water as a nucleophile to form radical 48b which could than dimerize through S-N or S-S bond formation or react with 48a to yield 50 and 51 as the fianl one-electron oxidation products. In an ECE mechanism, intermediate 48b is further oxidized to 48c which reacts with acetonitrile as a solvent to give 49 as the final two-electron oxidation product. The cation intermediate 48c can react with the parent molecule 48 through [2 -f 3]-cycloaddition to give the final products 50 and 51. The [2 -f 3]-... 

Scheme 29 describes a plausible mechanism for the formation of the products which fit the observed coulometric (n 0.45 F/mol) and preparative results. The intramolecular cyclization process involves a dimerization between a radical cation 52a and the ketene imine 52 to form the intermediate radical cation 52b which then cyclizes to the radical 52c which can abstract a hydrogen atom leading to 54 or can be further oxidized and transformed through a cyclization and deprotonation reaction to 53 which involves 1 F/mol. However, it seems that the [2 -1- 3]-cycloaddition between the parent compound 52 and the cation 52d giving rise to 55 is the fastest reaction as compared with the intramolecular cyclization of 52d to 53. This can also explain the low consumption of electricity. 

Radical ions - charged species with unpaired electrons - are easily generated by a number of methods that are discussed in more detail below. Their properties have been characterized by several spectroscopic techniques, and their structures and spin density contributions have been the subject of molecular orbital calculations at different levels of sophistication. The behaviour of radical ions in rearrangement and isomerization reactions as well as in bond-cleavage reactions has been extensively studied [for recent reviews see Refs. 11-13 and references cited therein]. Useful synthetic applications, such as the radical-cation-catalyzed cycloaddition [14-20] or the anfi-Markovnikov addition of nucleophiles to alkenyl radical cations [21-25], have been well documented. In... 

A cation radical chain cycloaddition-polymerization catalysed by tris(4-bromophenyl)aminium hexachloroantimonate has been reported to afford polymers with an average molecular weight up to 150000. Both cyclobutanation and Diels-Alder polymers were obtained. " The reactivity of the phospine radical cation towards nucleophiles was studied. Tributylphosphine reacted with l,l-dimethyl-4,4-bipyridinium (methyl viologen, MV) in the presence of an alcohol or thiol (RXH X = O, S), which resulted in the gradual formation of the one-electron reduced form... 

The same group studied the radical cation cycloaddition of 2-vinylbenzofti-rans with various alkene and diene compounds initiated by photoinduced electron transfer. Depending on the unsaturated compound used, yields up to 60% were feasible. In contrast to 2-vinylindoles, 2-vinylbenzofurans prefer to react as die-nophiles, very similar to styrenes [82]. 

Detailed mechanistic information concerning an intramolecular arylalkene cycloaddition yielding cyclobutane derivatives via a radical cation process gener-... 

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