Dimerization anodic

Conmarones s. Benzofurans Coupling s. a. Dimerization -, anodic, on cadmium 7, 849s32 -, mixed s. Cross-coupling -, oxidative, intramolecular 28, 888s32... 

The anodic oxidation of the carboxylate anion 1 of a carboxylate salt to yield an alkane 3 is known as the Kolbe electrolytic synthesis By decarboxylation alkyl radicals 2 are formed, which subsequently can dimerize to an alkane. The initial step is the transfer of an electron from the carboxylate anion 1 to the anode. The carboxyl radical species 4 thus formed decomposes by loss of carbon dioxide. The resulting alkyl radical 2 dimerizes to give the alkane 3 " ... 

Many anodic oxidations involve an ECE pathway. For example, the neurotransmitter epinephrine can be oxidized to its quinone, which proceeds via cyclization to leukoadrenochrome. The latter can rapidly undergo electron transfer to form adrenochrome (5). The electrochemical oxidation of aniline is another classical example of an ECE pathway (6). The cation radical thus formed rapidly undergoes a dimerization reaction to yield an easily oxidized p-aminodiphenylamine product. Another example (of industrial relevance) is the reductive coupling of activated olefins to yield a radical anion, which reacts with the parent olefin to give a reducible dimer (7). If the chemical step is very fast (in comparison to the electron-transfer process), the system will behave as an EE mechanism (of two successive charge-transfer steps). Table 2-1 summarizes common electrochemical mechanisms involving coupled chemical reactions. Powerful cyclic voltammetric computational simulators, exploring the behavior of virtually any user-specific mechanism, have... 

Faraday, in 1834, was the first to encounter Kolbe-electrolysis, when he studied the electrolysis of an aqueous acetate solution [1], However, it was Kolbe, in 1849, who recognized the reaction and applied it to the synthesis of a number of hydrocarbons [2]. Thereby the name of the reaction originated. Later on Wurtz demonstrated that unsymmetrical coupling products could be prepared by coelectrolysis of two different alkanoates [3]. Difficulties in the coupling of dicarboxylic acids were overcome by Crum-Brown and Walker, when they electrolysed the half esters of the diacids instead [4]. This way a simple route to useful long chain l,n-dicarboxylic acids was developed. In some cases the Kolbe dimerization failed and alkenes, alcohols or esters became the main products. The formation of alcohols by anodic oxidation of carboxylates in water was called the Hofer-Moest reaction [5]. Further applications and limitations were afterwards foimd by Fichter [6]. Weedon extensively applied the Kolbe reaction to the synthesis of rare fatty acids and similar natural products [7]. Later on key features of the mechanism were worked out by Eberson [8] and Utley [9] from the point of view of organic chemists and by Conway [10] from the point of view of a physical chemist. In Germany [11], Russia [12], and Japan [13] Kolbe electrolysis of adipic halfesters has been scaled up to a technical process. 

Foreign cations can increasingly lower the yield in the order Fe, Co " < Ca " < Mn < Pb " [22]. This is possibly due to the formation of oxide layers at the anode [42], Alkali and alkaline earth metal ions, alkylammonium ions and also zinc or nickel cations do not effect the Kolbe reaction [40] and are therefore the counterions of choice in preparative applications. Methanol is the best suited solvent for Kolbe electrolysis [7, 43]. Its oxidation is extensively inhibited by the formation of the carboxylate layer. The following electrolytes with methanol as solvent have been used MeOH-sodium carboxylate [44], MeOH—MeONa [45, 46], MeOH—NaOH [47], MeOH—EtsN-pyridine [48]. The yield of the Kolbe dimer decreases in media that contain more than 4% water. 

As anode material, smooth platinum in the form of a foil or net seems to be most universally applicable [32, 33]. In nonaqueous media, platinized titanium, gold, and nonporous graphite can also be used [56]. PbO -, MnOj- or FejO -anodes do not lead to Kolbe-dimers [57], except for PbO in acetic acid [58]. 

Two equal carboxylates can be coupled to symmetrical dimers (Eq. 4). In spite of the high anode potential, that is necessary for Kolbe electrolysis, a fair number of... 

The reaction conditions, normally applied, are those described in chap. 2 for the radical pathway. These are a platinum anode, high current densities, no additives and a slightly acidic medium. However, the dimerizations shown in Table 2, No. 2, also gave in some cases good yields at a carbon anode in acetonitrile-water [52] or at a baked carbon anode in methanol [48]. With propionic and butyric acid an unusually high portion of alkene is formed at the cost of the dimer. 

Hydroxy- and amino carboxylic acids can be dimerized in good to moderate yields, when the substituents are not in the a- or P-position and when they are additionally protected against oxidation by acylation (Table 2, No. 17-19). 2-Alkenoic acids cannot be dimerized but lead to more or less extensive passivation of the anode due to the formation of polymer films [136]. 3- and 4-Alkenoic acids give moderate yields when they are neutraUzed with BU3N or EtjN [136]. 3-Alkenoic acids with the structure... 

Another group of reactions involving anodic oxidation is the anodic dimerization occurring at high anodic potentials. These reactions are considered in Section 15.6. 

It had been shown in the preceding sections that the initial step in a number of cathodic and anodic reactions yields organic radicals, which then undergo further oxidation, reduction, or dimerization. In some cases reactions of another type are possible reaction of the radical with the electrode metal, yielding organometallic compounds which are then taken up by the solution. Such reactions can be used in the synthesis of these compounds. 

Oxides of Platinum Metals Anodes of platinum (and more rarely of other platinum metals) are used in the laboratory for studies of oxygen and chlorine evolution and in industry for the synthesis of peroxo compounds (such as persulfuric acid, H2S2O8) and organic additive dimerization products (such as sebacic acid see Section 15.6). The selectivity of the catalyst is important for all these reactions. It governs the fraction of the current consumed for chlorine evolution relative to that consumed in oxygen evolution as a possible parallel reaction it also governs the current yields and chemical yields in synthetic electrochemical reactions. 

The electrode reaction of an organic substance that does not occur through electrocatalysis begins with the acceptance of a single electron (for reduction) or the loss of an electron (for oxidation). However, the substance need not react in the form predominating in solution, but, for example, in a protonated form. The radical formed can further accept or lose another electron or can react with the solvent, with the base electrolyte (this term is used here rather than the term indifferent electrolyte) or with another molecule of the electroactive substance or a radical product. These processes include substitution, addition, elimination, or dimerization reactions. In the reactions of the intermediates in an anodic process, the reaction partner is usually nucleophilic in nature, while the intermediate in a cathodic process reacts with an electrophilic partner. 

Studies of cathodic reduction have been few. Amusingly, attempted anodic oxidation of the furyl ketone 123 actually resulted in cathodic reduction to the dimer 124 the corresponding ester was oxidized normally, however.301 Sometimes the dimethoxydihydrofurans formed in oxidation processes are reduced in a side reaction leading to the tetrahydrofuran derivatives.302 By using dimethylformamide as solvent instead of the protic solvents used formerly, a Czech group has demonstrated that the cathodic reductions of furans can produce fairly stable anion radicals having ESR spectra which agree well with theory.3023... 

Anodic decarboxylation proceeds via a C—C bond scission of carboxylate anions to afford the Kolbe dimer,197 i.e.,... 

The products of electrochemical oxidation of conjugated dienes are considerably affected by the reaction conditions such as the material of the electrode, the supporting electrolyte and the solvent. The oxidation of butadiene with a graphite or carbon-cloth anode in 0.5 M methanolic solution of NaClCU mainly yields dimerized products along with small amounts of monomeric and trimeric compounds (equation 5)1. The use of platinum or glassy carbon mainly gives monomeric products. Other dienes such as isoprene, 1,3-cyclohexadiene, 2,4-hexadiene, 1,3-pentadiene and 2,3-dimethyl-l,3-butadiene yield complex mixtures of isomers of monomeric, dimeric and trimeric compounds, in which the dimeric products are the main products. 

This novel anodic methoxyiation may proceed via the fluorosulfonium ion B in a Pummerer-type mechanism as shown in Scheme 6.11. In this mechanism, the cation radical A of the sulfide is trapped by a fluoride ion, and this step should suppress side reactions from the cation radical A (such as dimerization and nucleophilic attack on an aromatic ring) even when deprotonation of A is slow due to the weak electron-withdrawing Rf groups or electron-donating substituents on the benzene ring. Since fluoride ions are much weaker nucleophiles compared to methoxide, it is reasonable that the methoxyiation predominates in methanol. 

Schafer reported that the electrochemical oxidation of silyl enol ethers results in the homo-coupling products. 1,4-diketones (Scheme 25) [59], A mechanism involving the dimerization of initially formed cation radical species seems to be reasonable. Another possible mechanism involves the decomposition of the cation radical by Si-O bond cleavage to give the radical species which dimerizes to form the 1,4-diketone. In the case of the anodic oxidation of allylsilanes and benzylsilanes, the radical intermediate is immediately oxidized to give the cationic species, because oxidation potentials of allyl radicals and benzyl radicals are relatively low. But in the case of a-oxoalkyl radicals, the oxidation to the cationic species seems to be retarded. Presumably, the oxidation potential of such radicals becomes more positive because of the electron-withdrawing effect of the carbonyl group. Therefore, the dimerization seems to take place preferentially. 

The electrolysis in aqueous sulfuric acid with methanol as a cosolvent was perfomed in a filterpress membrane cell stack developed at Reilly and Tar Chemicals. Because of the low current density of the process, a cathode based on a bed of lead shot was used. A planar PbOa anode was used. The organic yield was 93% with approximately 1% of a dimer. The costs of the electrochemical conversion were estimated as one-half of the catalytic hydrogenation on a similar scale. 

FIGURE 2.13. Radical-radical electrodimerization (Scheme 2.7). a Variations of the peak potential with the kinetic parameter, aj. h Procedure for determining the dimerization rate constant from the anodic-to-cathodic peak current ratio. 

Although several examples of anodic dimerizations involving the coupling of cation radicals have been described,34 the most systematic mechanistic analyses have concerned electropolymerizations leading to conducting polymers.35 They involve a series of successive cation radical-cation radical coupling steps as represented in Scheme 2.33 for the case of pyrrole. Deprotonation of the first... 

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