Displacement reactions radical anion

The unique chemical behavior of KO2 is a result of its dual character as a radical anion and a strong oxidizing agent (68). The reactivity and solubiHty of KO2 is gready enhanced by a crown ether (69). Its usefiilness in furnishing oxygen anions is demonstrated by its appHcations in SN2-type reactions to displace methanesulfonate and bromine groups (70,71), the oxidation of benzyHc methylene compounds to ketones (72), and the syntheses of a-hydroxyketones from ketones (73). 

Such nucleophilic displacements are likely to be addition-elimination reactions, whether or not radical anions are also interposed as intermediates. The addition of methoxide ion to 2-nitrofuran in methanol or dimethyl sulfoxide affords a deep red salt of the anion 69 PMR shows the 5-proton has the greatest upfield shift, the 3- and 4-protons remaining vinylic in type.18 7 The similar additions in the thiophene series are less complete, presumably because oxygen is relatively electronegative and the furan aromaticity relatively low. Additional electronegative substituents increase the rate of addition and a second nitro group makes it necessary to use stopped flow techniques of rate measurement.141 In contrast, one acyl group (benzoyl or carboxy) does not stabilize an addition product and seldom promotes nucleophilic substitution by weaker nucleophiles such as ammonia. Whereas... 

Another case for which ET could be expected as a viable alternative to the SN2 displacement mechanism concerns the reactions of CH3I and CC14 with the nitric oxide anion, NO-263. Because of the extremely low electron affinity of NO (0.024- 0.55 kcalmof1), an ET process to the halo-compounds would be exothermic. However, in neither case was the substrate radical anion observed, despite the fact that both have bound molecular anions. Both reactions yield only the halide ion, a product which can arise via dissociative ET (a) or S 2 (b) (Scheme 38). The mechanism could not be assigned. 

With an E° value of —0.75 V, entry no. 19 of Table 17, reaction between alkyl halides and alkyllithium compounds, represents a strongly exergonic electron-transfer reaction which is expected to proceed at a diffusion-controlled tate. Experimental rate constants are not available, but such reactions are qualitatively known to be very fast. As we proceed to entry no. 21, two model cases of the nucleophilic displacement mechanism, it can first be noted that the nosylate/[nosylate]- couple is electrochemically reversible the radical anion can be generated cathodically and is easily detected by esr spectroscopy (Maki and Geske, 1961). Hence its E° = —0.61 V is a reasonably accurate value. E° (PhS /PhS-) is known with considerably less accuracy since it refers to an electrochemically irreversible process (Dessy et al., 1966). The calculated rate constant is therefore subject to considerable uncertainty and it cannot at present be decided whether the Marcus theory is compatible with this type of electron-transfer step. In the absence of quantitative experimental data, the same applies to entry no. 22 of Table 17. For the PhS-/BuBr reaction we again suffer from the inaccuracy of E° (PhS /PhS-) what can be concluded is that for an electron-transfer step to be feasible the higher E° value (—0.74 V) should be the preferred one. The reality of an electron-transfer mechanism has certainly been strongly disputed, however (Kornblum, 1975). 

The macromolecular silyl chloride reacts with sodium in a two-electron-transfer reaction to form macromolecular silyl anion. The two-electron-trans-fer process consists of two (or three) discrete steps formation of radical anion, precipitation of sodium chloride and generation of the macromolecular silyl radical (whose presence was proved by trapping experiments), and the very rapid second electron transfer, that is, reduction to the macromolecular silyl anion. Some preliminary kinetic results indicate that the monomer is consumed with an internal first-order-reaction rate. This result supports the theory that a monomer participates in the rate-limiting step. Thus, the slowest step should be a nucleophilic displacement at a monomer by macromolecular silyl anion. This anion will react faster with the more electrophilic dichlorosilane than with a macromolecular silyl chloride. Therefore, polymerization would resemble a chain growth process with a slow initiation step and a rapid multistep propagation (the first and rate-limiting step is the reaction of an anion with degree of polymerization n[DP ] to form macromolecular silyl chloride [DP +J, and the chloride is reduced subsequently to the anion). 

Some nucleophilic displacement reactions (particularly those involving ketone enolates and other carbon nucleophiles) proceed routinely in low yield, with poor material balance. There is increasing evidence that these reactions are actually radical chain processes catalyzed, in principle, by a single electron transfer from the anion to the heterocycle. In such cases... 

Another reaction that cannot be an SN2, because of the impossibility of carrying it out on an aryl halide, is the displacement from the aryl bromide 7.187. The mechanism is an Sr jI reaction (see p. 147), involving an electron transfer from the enolate 7.186 to the halide 7.187. The radical anion 7.189 loses the bromide ion to give the aryl radical 7.190, and this couples with the radical 7.188 derived from the nucleophile to give the ketone 7.191.252 The m-mcthyl group shows that the reaction did not take place by way of a benzyne. 

The Skv I radical chain mechanism lor nucleophilic substitution [I70. as illustrated generally in eqs (2.64a-c), has been absent from our discussions. This mechanism has been shown to occur itt malty displacement reactions of leaving groups front both aromatic and aliphatic substrates. I low ever, in most of the aliphatic eases the substrates have a nitro or nilrophcnyl group (or other effective electron acceptor) in the a-position to the leaving group. The combination of I he nucleophile with the radical from the substrate must also lot m a relatively stable radical-anion in step 2.6lb. which is capable of propagating the chain... 

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