Electrophilic aromatic substitution arene radical cations

Mechanistically there is ample evidence that the Balz-Schiemann reaction is heterolytic. This is shown by arylation trapping experiments. The added arene substrates are found to be arylated in isomer ratios which are typical for an electrophilic aromatic substitution by the aryl cation and not for a homolytic substitution by the aryl radical (Makarova et al., 1958). Swain and Rogers (1975) showed that the reaction takes place in the ion pair with the tetrafluoroborate, and not, as one might imagine, with a fluoride ion originating from the dissociation of the tetrafluoroborate into boron trifluoride and fluoride ions. This is demonstrated by the insensitivity of the ratio of products ArF/ArCl in methylene chloride solution at 25 °C to excess BF3 concentration. 

In the non-phenolic oxidative coupling reaction the electron-rich arene 19 undergoes electron transfer yielding the radical cation 20, which is preferably treated in chlorinated solvents or strongly acidic media. Attack of 20 on the electron-rich reaction partner 21 will proceed in the same way as an electrophilic aromatic substitution involving adduct 22 which extrudes a proton. The intermediate radical 23 is subsequently oxidized to the cationic species 24 which forms the biaryl 25 by rearomatization. In contrast with the mechanism outlined in Scheme 5, two different oxidation steps are required. 

We suggest that electron transfer and electrophilic substitutions are, in general, competing processes in arene oxidations. Whether the product is formed from the radical cation (electron transfer) or from the aryl-metal species (electrophilic substitution) is dependent on the nature of both the metal oxidant and the aromatic substrate. With hard metal ions, such as Co(III), Mn(III), and Ce(IV),289 reaction via electron transfer is preferred because of the low stability of the arylmetal bond. With soft metal ions, such as Pb(IV) and Tl(III), and Pd(II) (see later), reaction via an arylmetal intermediate is predominant (more stable arylmetal bond). For the latter group of oxidants, electron transfer becomes important only with electron-rich arenes that form radical cations more readily. In accordance with this postulate, the oxidation of several electron-rich arenes by lead(IV)281 289 and thallium(III)287 in TFA involve radical cation formation via electron transfer. Indeed, electrophilic aromatic substitutions, in general, may involve initial charge transfer, and the role of radical cations as discrete intermediates may depend on how fast any subsequent steps involving bond formation takes place. 

J.4 The Relevance of Arene Radical Cations in Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution... 

In keeping with the seminal work of Kita, we proposed that the I(III)-mediated amination involved a radical cation intermediate that was generated by single electron transfer from the arene to the I(III) oxidant. The consequent radical cation should be highly reactive, and the attack of a phthalimide nucleophile would lead to a mixture of regiomeric products, like the 5 6 3 mixture that was observed for our toluene reaction (Scheme 10). This hypothesis contrasts with the mechanisms proposed by Chang and Antonchick, as electrophilic aromatic substitution, even with a reactive R2N species, should favor the para product. 

Homolytic aromatic substitution can also be performed with electrophihc het-eroatom-centered radicals. The radical amination of arenes with electrophilic diaUcyl aminyl radical cations represents a valuable method for the preparation of aniUne derivatives [2e, 111a]. The radical cations (R2HN ) are generally prepared from the corresponding N-chloroamines in an acidic medium, using catalytic amounts of a metal salt [Fe(II)-, Ti(III)-, Cu(I)- and Cr(II)-salts]. The reaction func-... 

The nitrosonium cation can serve effectively either as an oxidant or as an electrophile towards different aromatic substrates. Thus the electron-rich polynuclear arenes suffer electron transfer with NO+BF to afford stable arene cation radicals (Bandlish and Shine, 1977 Musker et al., 1978). Other activated aromatic compounds such as phenols, anilines and indoles undergo nuclear substitution with nitrosonium species that are usually generated in situ from the treatment of nitrites with acid. It is less well known, but nonetheless experimentally established (Hunziker et al., 1971 Brownstein et al., 1984), that NO+ forms intensely coloured charge-transfer complexes with a wide variety of common arenes (30). For example, benzene, toluene,... 

---