Cyclohexane radical bromination

The kinetic deuterium/hydrogen isotope effects for cyclohexane and adaman-tane are approximately 5 [30] (in contrast with, for example, radical bromination of cyclohexane with Br which gives a KIE value of approximately 2.4 [37] or 4 [38]) which shows that the transferred hydrogen atom lies about half-way between the carbon centers in the transition structure [30]. 

All the hydrogen atoms in cyclohexane are equivalent, and free-radical chlorination gives a usable yield of chlorocyclohexane. Formation of dichlorides and trichlorides is possible, but these side reactions are controlled by using only a small amount of chlorine and an excess of cyclohexane. Free-radical bromination is highly selective (Section 4-14), and it gives good yields of products that have one type of hydrogen atom... 

NBS can also be used to brominate alkanes. For example, cyclopropane, cyclopentane, and cyclohexane give the corresponding bromides when irradiated in a solution of NBS in dichloromethane. Under these conditions, the succinimidyl radical appears to be involved as the hydrogen-abstracting intermediate ... 

In an earlier paper Barton and Onyon considered the unimolecular mechanism of dehydrochlorination to be of more universal application than the radical chain mechanism and postulated that a chloro-compound will decompose by a radical chain mechanism only so long as neither the compound itself nor the reaction products will be inhibitors for the chains . On the basis of this postulate the authors correctly predicted the mechanism of decomposition of a number of chlorine compounds. The postulate does not hold well for bromine compounds which show a greater tendency to decompose via radical chain mechanisms. However, from their early studies on 2-bromopropane 2-bromobutane, t-butyl bromide, and bromo-cyclohexane, Maccoll et a/.234,235,397,410,412 concluded that these compounds also decompose unimolecularly via a four-centre transition state similar to that proposed by Barton and Head. 

Other examples of nitroxyl radicals such as TEMPO [3Id, j] have been used successfully in several examples of environmentally friendly liquid-phase oxidations with. oxygen. Sheldon et al. have reported on the use of N-hydroxysaccharin as an alternative to NHPI in the oxidation of cycloalkanes to dicarboxylic acids [31h]. Other examples include the aerobial oxidation in the presence of NHPI, o-phenanthroline and bromine, in an acetonitrile/CCU solvent and in the absence of metals, at 100 °C. The selectivity was 75% to AA and 22% to cyclohexanone, at 48% cyclohexane conversion [31i]. 

The chlorination has been compared with bromination by BrCClj carried out under radical chain conditions. In this reaction, cyclohexane is about one-fifth as reactive as toluene, but in the chlorination by trichloromethanesulfonyl chloride, cyclohexane is about three time more reactive that toluene. Does this information permit a choice between the chain sequences you have written in part (a) ... 

Allylic bromination by NBS is a radical-chain reaction occurring on the surface of the NBS crystals. A solution of NBS in tetrachloroethane or nitro-methane adds bromide to a C=C group 354 solvents are therefore used in which NBS and, if possible, also the succinimide formed, are difficultly soluble dry CC14 is usually chosen, but for reactive substances cyclohexane or benzene may also be used. The more polarized the N-halogen is, i.e.9 the more positive the Br is rendered, the more easily does the A-halogenated compound cause addition to the C=C bond NBS is particularly suitable for allylic bromination because of its steric structure and the almost apolar nature of its N-Br bond. 

C 2,hv Radical chlorination Under these conditions, an alkane undergoes chlorination. This reaction is less selective than bromination (but faster), and as such, it is generally most useful in situations where only one legiochemical outcome is possible (such as chlorination of cyclohexane or chlorination of 2,2-dimethylpropane). 

---