Diradicals concerted

Houk, K. N. Nendel, M. Wiest, O. Storer, J. W. Thevinylcyclopropane-cyclopentene rearrangement A prototype thermal rearrangement involving competing diradical concerted and stepwise mechanisms, /. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997,119,10545-10546. 

The thermal and photolytic processes have been extensively studied in connection with the mechanism (concerted or diradical) and the stereochemistry of the decomposition. For a classical paper see (66JA3963) and for more recent studies, Table 33. 

The loss of one or two (or sometimes more) ring members from heterocyclics, concerted with or followed by formation of a new ring, is a highly versatile method for heterocyclic synthesis. Loss of N2, CO, CO2, S, SO, SO2, H2C=CH2, etc. is common. Diradical or dipolar intermediates are often encountered, and valence isomerization before the actual fragmentation is characteristic for some systems. 

Thiirane 1,1-dioxides extrude sulfur dioxide readily (70S393) at temperatures usually in the range 50-100 °C, although some, such as c/s-2,3-diphenylthiirane 1,1-dioxide or 2-p-nitrophenylthiirane 1,1-dioxide, lose sulfur dioxide at room temperature. The extrusion is usually stereospeciflc (Scheme 10) and a concerted, non-linear chelotropic expulsion of sulfur dioxide or a singlet diradical mechanism in which loss of sulfur dioxide occurs faster than bond rotation may be involved. The latter mechanism is likely for episulfones with substituents which can stabilize the intermediate diradical. The Ramberg-Backlund reaction (B-77MI50600) in which a-halosulfones are converted to alkenes in the presence of base, involves formation of an episulfone from which sulfur dioxide is removed either thermally or by base (Scheme 11). A similar conversion of a,a -dihalosulfones to alkenes is effected by triphenylphosphine. Thermolysis of a-thiolactone (5) results in loss of carbon monoxide rather than sulfur (Scheme 12). 

The transition state involves six partially delocalized electrons being transformed from one 1,5-diene system to another. The transition state could range in character from a 1,4-diradical to two nearly independent allyl radicals, depending on whether bond making or bond breaking is more advanced. The general framework for understanding the substituent effects is that the reactions are concerted with a relatively late transition state with well-developed C(l)—C(6) bonds. 

Fluorinated cyclobutanes and cyclobutenes are relatively easy to prepare because of the propensity of many gem-difluoroolefins to thermally cyclodimerize and cycloadd to alkenes and alkynes. Even with dienes, fluoroolefins commonly prefer to form cyclobutane rather than six-membered-ring Diels-Alder adducts. Tetrafluoroethylene, chlorotrifluoroethylene, and l,l-dichloro-2,2-difluoroethyl-ene are especially reactive in this context. Most evidence favors a stepwise diradical or, less often, a dipolar mechanism for [2+2] cycloadditions of fluoroalkenes [S5, (5], although arguments for a symmetry-allowed, concerted [2j-t-2J process persist [87], The scope, characteristic features, and mechanistic studies of fluoroolefin... 

In a definitive study of butadiene s reaction with l,l-dichloro-2,2-difluoio-ethylene, Bartlett concluded that [2+4] adducts of acyclic dienes with fluorinated ethylenes are formed through a mixture of concerted and nonconcerted, diradical pathways [67] The degree of observed [2+4] cycloaddition of fluorinated ethylenes IS related to the relative amounts of transoid and cisoid conformers of the diene, with very considerable (i.e., 30%) Diels-Alder adduct being observed in competition with [2+2] reaction, for example, in the reaction of 1,1 -dichloro-2,2-difluoro-ethylene with cyclopentadiene [9, 68]... 

For most Diels-Alder reactions a concerted mechanism as described above, is generally accepted. In some cases, the kinetic data may suggest the intermediacy of a diradical intermediate 18 ... 

The overall reaction includes allylic transposition of a double bond, migration of the allylic hydrogen and formation of a bond between ene and enophile. Experimental findings suggest a concerted mechanism. Alternatively a diradical species 4 might be formed as intermediate however such a species should also give rise to formation of a cyclobutane derivative 5 as a side-product. If such a by-product is not observed, one might exclude the diradical pathway ... 

For the mechanistic course of that reaction two pathways are discussed " a concerted [l,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement, and a pathway via an intermediate diradical species. Experimental findings suggest that both pathways are possible. The actual pathway followed strongly depends on substrate structure the diradical pathway appears to be the more important. 

Hydrogen shifts are often observed in thermal isomerizations of vinylaziridines. Heating of compounds 221 at 180 °C produced mixture of 3-pyrrolines 222 and hydrazones 223 (Scheme 2.54) [87]. The formation of 223 can be explained in terms either of a concerted hydrogen shift as depicted in 224 or of diradical intermediates 225, both of which would be followed by thermal isomerization of the (Z)-carbon-carbon double bonds to provide the ( ) isomers 223. 

Several mechanistic explanations98—including both concerted symmetry-allowed nonlinear chelatropic paths96, and nonconcerted stepwise mechanisms (such as that in which a diradical species is involved99)—have been advanced to accommodate the stereospecific experimental results2,173,73,99. 

The higher strain energy in thiirene dioxides (19) compared to thiirane dioxides (17) is obvious. Yet, the elimination of sulfur dioxide from the latter is significantly faster than one would expect for a thermally allowed concerted process. Consequently, either aromatic-type conjugative stabilization effects are operative in thiirene dioxides2,12 or the relative ease of S02 elimination reflects the relative thermodynamic stability of the (diradical )99 intermediates involved in the nonconcerted stepwise elimination process. 

No firm decision, between an anion diradical mechanism and a concerted S ->0 1,2-anionic shift, could be made from the available evidence106. Interestingly, the use of a stronger base such as ethylmagnesium bromide results in rearrangement to trans-1,2-diphenylcyclopropanesulfinic acid in highly stereoselective manner (equation 36)107. 

There are, broadly speaking, three possible mechanisms that have been considered for the uncatalyzed Diels-Alder reaction. In mechanism a there is a cyclic six-centered transition state and no intermediate. The reaction is concerted and occurs in one step. In mechanism b, one end of the diene fastens to one end of the dienophile first to give a diradical, and then, in a second step, the other ends become fastened. A diradical formed in this manner must be a singlet that is, the... 

The mechanisms of these ring expansions are not certain. Both concerted" and diradical" pathways have been proposed, and it is possible that both pathways operate, in different systems. 

Photocycloaddition of Alkenes and Dienes. Photochemical cycloadditions provide a method that is often complementary to thermal cycloadditions with regard to the types of compounds that can be prepared. The theoretical basis for this complementary relationship between thermal and photochemical modes of reaction lies in orbital symmetry relationships, as discussed in Chapter 10 of Part A. The reaction types permitted by photochemical excitation that are particularly useful for synthesis are [2 + 2] additions between two carbon-carbon double bonds and [2+2] additions of alkenes and carbonyl groups to form oxetanes. Photochemical cycloadditions are often not concerted processes because in many cases the reactive excited state is a triplet. The initial adduct is a triplet 1,4-diradical that must undergo spin inversion before product formation is complete. Stereospecificity is lost if the intermediate 1,4-diradical undergoes bond rotation faster than ring closure. 

Addition reactions with alkenes to form cyclopropanes are the most studied reactions of carbenes, both from the point of view of understanding mechanisms and for synthetic applications. A concerted mechanism is possible for singlet carbenes. As a result, the stereochemistry present in the alkene is retained in the cyclopropane. With triplet carbenes, an intermediate 1,3-diradical is involved. Closure to cyclopropane requires spin inversion. The rate of spin inversion is slow relative to rotation about single bonds, so mixtures of the two possible stereoisomers are obtained from either alkene stereoisomer. 

In principle, the triplet state of ketones could react in either of two modes to produce the product ketone and olefin. These are via a concerted pathway or by a distinct diradical species ... 

This may indicate that the reaction to form the carbene is concerted or at least indicates that if a diradical is involved, reaction must be too fast to permit rotation around the C-2-C-3 bond,... 

Thus BCP seems to follow two competitive pathways in the cycloaddition with dienes (i) a stepwise diradical process giving the [2 + 2] adduct, or (ii) a concerted pathway giving the [4 + 2] adduct. Accordingly, the proportion of the latter increases with the reactivity of diene in Diels-Alder reactions. Conversely, the reaction with 2,3-dicyanobutadiene (529), generated in situ by electrocyclic ring-opening of 1,2-dicyanoeyelobutene [142], furnishes selectively the [2 + 2] cycloadduct 530 (Table 42, entry 4) due to the presence of substituents able to stabilize the diradical intermediate [13b],... 

Numerous examples of intermolecular and intramolecular photocycloaddition to heterocyclic systems (including the dimerization of individual heterocycles) have now been reported. Two types of cycloaddition can readily be effected photochemically, namely, [n2 + 2] and [ 4 + 4] additions. Although concerted suprafacial additions of this type are allowed photochemical processes, in reality many cycloadditions occur via diradicals, zwitterions or exciplexes. 

Cycloadditions give rise to four-membered rings. Thermal concerted [2+2] cycloadditions have to be antarafacial on one component and the geometrical and orbital constraints thus imposed ensure that this process is encountered only in special circumstances. Most thermal [2+2] cycloadditions of alkenes take place by a stepwise pathway involving diradical or zwitterionic intermediates [la]. Considerably fewer studies have been performed regarding the application of microwave irradiation in [2+2] cydoadditions than for other kinds of cydoaddition (vide supra). Such reactions have been commonly used to obtain /1-lactam derivatives by cycloaddition of ketenes with imines [18-20,117,118],... 

A special problem is the high yield of triplet carbonyl compounds being formed — neither the concerted nor the diradical mechanism are fully explaining this fact. Further data on the identities and yields of excited products from different dioxetanes are needed. 

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