Homolytic Cleavages

State correlation diagram for heteronuclear case in which both heterolytic bond cleavage products are energetically favored relative to homolytic cleavage. 

Some of the evidence indicating that alkyl substituents stabilize free radicals comes from bond energies The strength of a bond is measured by the energy required to break It A covalent bond can be broken m two ways In a homolytic cleavage a bond between two atoms is broken so that each of them retains one of the electrons m the bond... 

We assess the relative stability of alkyl radicals by measuring the enthalpy change (AH°) for the homolytic cleavage of a C—H bond m an alkane... 

Homolytic cleavage (Section 4 16) Dissociation of a two electron covalent bond in such a way that one electron is re tamed by each of the initially bonded atoms... 

Free-Radical Formation. Hydrogen peroxide can form free radicals by homolytic cleavage of either an O—H or the O—O bond. 

Diall l Peroxydicarbonates. Some commercially available diaLkyl peroxydicarbonates and their corresponding 10-h half-life temperatures (deterrnined in trichloroethylene solutions) are Hsted in Table 7 (45). These peroxides are active at low temperatures and initially undergo homolytic cleavage to produce alkoxycarbonyloxy radical pairs that may subsequendy decarboxylate to produce alkoxy radicals ... 

Homolytic cleavage of dlazonlum salts to produce aryl radicals is induced by titan1um(III) salt, which is also effective in reducing the a-carbonylalkyl radical adduct to olefins, telotnerization of methyl vinyl ketone, and dimerization of the adduct radicals. The reaction can be used with other electron-deficient olefins, but telomerization or dimerization are important side reactions. 

FIGURE 24.21 A mechanism for the methylmalonyl-CoA mntase reaction. In the first step, Co is rednced to Co dne to homolytic cleavage of the Co —C bond in cobalamin. Hydrogen atom transfer from methylmalonyl-CoA yields a methylmalonyl-CoA radical that can undergo rearrangement to form a snccinyl-CoA radical. Transfer of an H atom regenerates the coenzyme and yields snccinyl-CoA. 

C. Tautomerism and Photochromism by Homolytic Cleavage IN Triarylimidazole Dimers... 

The reaction is likely to proceed by a radical-chain mechanism, involving intermediate formation of carboxyl radicals, as in the related Kolbe electrolytic synthesis. Initially the bromine reacts with the silver carboxylate 1 to give an acyl hypobromite species 3 together with insoluble silver bromide, which precipitates from the reaction mixture. The unstable acyl hypobromite decomposes by homolytic cleavage of the O-Br bond, to give a bromo radical and the carboxyl radical 4. The latter decomposes further to carbon dioxide and the alkyl radical 5, which subsequently reacts with hypobromite 3 to yield the alkyl bromide 2 and the new carboxyl radical 4Z... 

Since the quantum yield of the Norrish type I reaction is generally low, it has been assumed that the initial homolytic cleavage is a reversible process. Evidence came from an investigation by Barltrop et al. which has shown that erythro-2,3-dimethylcyclohexanone 12 isomerizes to t/zreo-2,3-dimethylcyclohexanone 13 upon irradiation ... 

Following the radical pathway" the next step is a homolytical cleavage of the N-R bond. The rearrangement to yield the tertiary amine 3 then proceeds via an intermediate radical-pair 4a. The order of migration is propargyl > allyl > benzyl > alkyl ... 

The direction of ring opening by homolytic cleavage of a cyclopropane bond is controlled by the stability of the diradical species formed. Upon heating of the mono-deuterated vinylcyclopropane 3, a mixture of the two isomeric mono-deuterated cyclopentenes 4 and 5 is formed ... 

Alkyl halides can be reduced to alkanes by a radical reaction with tributyltin hydride, (C4H9)3SnH, in the presence of light (hv). Propose a radical chain mechanism by which the reaction might occur. The initiation step is the light-induced homolytic cleavage of the Sn— H bond to yield a tributyltin radical. 

It is important to emphasize that the hydroxy dithioketal cyclization can be conducted under mild reaction conditions and can be successfully applied to a variety of substrates.15 However, the utility of this method for the synthesis of didehydrooxocane-contain-ing natural products requires the diastereoselective, reductive removal of the ethylthio group. Gratifyingly, treatment of 13 with triphenyltin hydride and a catalytic amount of the radical initiator, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN), accomplishes a homolytic cleavage of the C-S bond and furnishes didehydrooxocane 14 in diastereo-merically pure form (95 % yield), after hydrogen atom transfer. 

The cyclization of imines 7, induced by the isopropyloxycarbonyloxy radical (i-PrOC02). obtained by homolytic cleavage of diisopropyl peroxydicarbonate, leads to dibenz[6,/][l,4]-oxazepines 8, accompanied by traces of biphenyls and benzoxazoles.424... 

Holmium, tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione)-photosubstitution, 1,408 Holmium complexes 1,3-diketones, 2,387 phenanthroline, 3,1069 Homoazaporphyrins synthesis, 2, 817 Homolytic cleavage catalysis... 

Kim and coworkers introduced silyl radical mediated addition of alkyl radical to silyloxy enamine 76. The silyloxy enamine moiety is readily accessible from a variety of functionalities. The mechanistic concept is illustrated in the Scheme 12 and involves the addition of R radical to 76 to give the radical adduct 77 and the subsequent homolytic cleavage of N-O bond to yield the desired product 78 and a silyloxy radical 79. The latter undergoes 1,2-phenyl migration to give the silyl radical 80 that abstracts halogen from the alkyl halide to regenerate the R radical. 

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