Hydrogen abstraction Subject

Initiation of radical reactions with uv radiation is widely used in industrial processes (85). In contrast to high energy radiation processes where the energy of the radiation alone is sufficient to initiate reactions, initiation by uv irradiation usually requires the presence of a photoinitiator, ie, a chemical compound or compounds that generate initiating radicals when subjected to uv radiation. There are two types of photoinitiator systems those that produce initiator radicals by intermolecular hydrogen abstraction and those that produce initiator radicals by photocleavage (86—91). 

By using various trapping reagents, it has been deduced that the transannular fragmentation is rapidly reversible. The cyclization of the fragmented radical C is less favorable, and it is trapped at rates which exceed that for recyclization under most circumstances. " Radicals derived from ethers and acetals by hydrogen abstraction are subject to fragmentation, with formation of a ketone or ester, respectively. 

The microstrueture of PVC has been the subject of numerous studies (Sections 4.3.1.2 and 6.2.6.3).214 Starnes el n/.l6S determined the long chain branch points by NMR studies on PE formed by Bu,SnlI reduction of PVC. They concluded that the probable mechanism for the formation of these branches involved transfer to polymer that occurred by hydrogen abstraction of a backbone methine by the propagating radical (Scheme 6.32),... 

Two types of addition to pyrimidine bases appear to exist. The first, the formation of pyrimidine photohydrates, has been the subject of a detailed review.251 Results suggest that two reactive species may be involved in the photohydration of 1,3-dimethyluracil.252 A recent example of this type of addition is to be found in 6-azacytosine (308) which forms a photohydration product (309) analogous to that found in cytosine.253 The second type of addition proceeds via radical intermediates and is illustrated by the addition of propan-2-ol to the trimethylcytosine 310 to give the alcohol 311 and the dihydro derivative 312.254 The same adduct is formed by a di-tert-butyl peroxide-initiated free radical reaction. Numerous other photoreactions involving the formation by hydrogen abstraction of hydroxyalkyl radicals and their subsequent addition to heterocycles have been reported. Systems studied include 3-aminopyrido[4,3-c]us-triazine,255 02,2 -anhydrouri-dine,256 and sym-triazolo[4,3-fe]pyridazine.257 The photoaddition of alcohols to purines is also a well-documented transformation. The stereospecific addition of methanol to the purine 313, for example, is an important step in the synthesis of coformycin.258 These reactions are frequently more... 

The photochemical behavior of methylene cyclopropenes is a subject of current investigation170 Previous results with some 4,4-diacyl and 4,4-dicyano triafulvenes indicate that mainly dimerization, but sometimes additional solvent incorporation and hydrogen abstraction occurs. In the case of the photodimer of 1,2-diphenyl-4,4-diacetyl triafulvene (180) the structure 460 can be assigned from spectral evidence ... 

The cyclization of 8, s-unsaturated acyl radicals has been the research subject of several groups [27]. The propagation steps for the prototype reaction are illustrated in Scheme 7.4. The 5-exo 6-endo product ratio varies with the change of the silane concentration due to the competition of hydrogen abstraction from the silane with the ring expansion path. 

The alkylation of quinoline by decanoyl peroxide in acetic acid has been studied kineti-cally, and a radical chain mechanism has been proposed (Scheme 207) (72T2415). Decomposition of decanoyl peroxide yields a nonyl radical (and carbon dioxide) that attacks the quinolinium ion. Quinolinium is activated (compared with quinoline) towards attack by the nonyl radical, which has nucleophilic character. Conversely, the protonated centre has an unfavorable effect upon the propagation step, but this might be reduced by the equilibrium shown in equation (167). A kinetic study revealed that the reaction is subject to crosstermination (equation 168). The increase in the rate of decomposition of benzoyl peroxide in the phenylation of the quinolinium ion compared with quinoline is much less than for alkylation. This observation is consistent with the phenyl having less nucleophilic character than the nonyl radical, and so it is less selective. Rearomatization of the cr-complex formed by radicals generated from sources other than peroxides may take place by oxidation by metals, disproportionation, induced decomposition or hydrogen abstraction by radical intermediates. When oxidation is difficult, dimerization can take place (equation 169). 

P.. Wagner, in P. de Mayo (ed.). Rearrangements in Ground and fxc/ted States, vol. 3, Academic Press (1980). The photorearrangements of a simple carbonyl compounds that occur by way ol biradicals are the subject of this account, including reactions that involve intramolecular hydrogen abstraction. 

The exact mechanism of lattice oxygen incorporation and second hydrogen abstraction, and the precise sequence of elementary events is still a subject of speculation. Several authors assume that two distinct active sites are involved in the acrolein formation. The first, presumably a cation, participates in the formation of the initial allyl complex, while the second, which may contain a different cation and reactive oxygen anions, is the place where further hydrogen abstraction and oxygen incorporation take place. 

It was then found that a tertiary center is not required at C-5, and that tetra-0-acetyl-/ -D-xylopyranose (27), treated with radicals derived from N-bromosuccinimide, affords a mixture of (55)- and (5R)-tetra-O-acety 1-5-bromo-/ -D-xylopyranose (28 and 29 see Scheme 6), which is in accord with, but does not necessarily follow from, the finding that 27 exists in solution in both chair conformations, each of which is subject to axial hydrogen abstraction and subsequent axial bromination27 35 (see Section III,2). In this... 

The photodecomposition of oxiran and alkyloxirans both in the gas phase and in solution has been extensively investigated. Processes arising by carbon-oxygen bond homolysis and hydrogen abstraction have been reported, and the subject has been reviewed in detail elsewhere.48 The most recent studies include the photoaddition of methanol to alicyclic epoxides, a process that appears to be promoted by acid,49 and the interesting if unusual photochemically induced conversion of the epoxyalcohol (56) to sugiresinol dimethyl ether (57).50... 

The alkyl radical formed by hydrogen abstraction reacts with oxygen to form primary photoproducts 3 and 4. These intermediate products are, in turn, subject to hydroxyl radical attack with resultant formation of the secondary photoproducts 5 and 6 (Scheme 4). 

Benzil has frequently been used as a means of generating free radicals in polymerization systems subjected to ultra-violet irradiation 11, 16, 56—58). In studies of the benzil-photoinitiated polymerizations of methyl methacrylate, and vinyl acetate, Melville (16) assumed that initiation was brought about by fragmentation of photoexcited benzil into two benzoyl radicals. However a survey of the photochemistry of benzil 34) indicates that such a cleavage does not in fact take place in solution studies of the products formed on irradiation of benzil in cyclohexane (59), cumene and isopropanol (60) can be rationalised on the basis of initial hydrogen abstraction from solvent by photoexcit i benzil, e.g. 

The indirect reduction of many organic substrates, in particular alkyl and aryl halides, by means of radical anions of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds has been the subject of numerous papers over the last 25 years [98-121]. Many issues have been addressed, ranging from the exploration of synthetic aspects to quantitative descriptions of the kinetics involved. Saveant et al. coined the expression redox catalysis for an indirect reduction, in which the homogeneous reaction is a pure electron-transfer reaction with no chemical modification of the mediator (i.e., no ligand transfer, hydrogen abstraction, or hydride shift reactions). In the following we will consider such reactions and derive the relevant kinetic equations to show the kind of kinetic information that can be extracted. 

The reactions of bicyclobutane with radicals have been the subject of a relatively limited number of investigations. Two types of reactions have been observed (1) addition to the central bond and (2) hydrogen abstraction. Which of the two reactions will occur is determined by the nature of the attacking radical. Thus, reagents such as thiyl radicals add across the central bond. On the other hand, t-butoxyl, which is generally the radical of preference for hydrogen abstraction, reacts with bicyclobutane to give the 2-bicyclobutyl radical. 

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