Hydrogen atom, free-radical transfer reactions with

Vitamin E actually consists of a family of compounds, the most active of which is a-tocopherol. The mechanism of the vitamin s action is not completely certain, but it seems likely that it might undergo hydrogen atom transfer reactions with free radicals to give a stable radical (see also Chapter 17, Problem 7). 

In vitro tests, used in evaluation of antioxidant properties make use of the ability of antioxidants to quench free radicals. Based on this mechanism, the methods are divided into two groups SET - single electron transfer, and HAT - hydrogen atom transfer. Reactions with antioxidants in assays with the DPPH radical, ABTS and the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent both operate according to the SET and HAT mechanism. Due to the kinetics of the reaction, they are included in the... 

Laser flash photolysis of [CpM(CO>3]2 (M = W, Mb, and Cr) provides a convenient source of CpM(CO)3, an organometallic free radical with 17 valence electrons. It is a transient and highly reactive species. Depending on the circumstances and the other reagents present, the radical will dimerize, undergo halogen and hydrogen atom abstraction reactions, and electron transfer reactions. With tetramethyl-phenylenediamine, there is a cyclic process of electron transfer steps, the net result of which is the catalyzed disproportionation of the metal radical. 

Photopolymerization reactions are widely used for printing and photoresist appHcations (55). Spectral sensitization of cationic polymerization has utilized electron transfer from heteroaromatics, ketones, or dyes to initiators like iodonium or sulfonium salts (60). However, sensitized free-radical polymerization has been the main technology of choice (55). Spectral sensitizers over the wavelength region 300—700 nm are effective. AcryUc monomer polymerization, for example, is sensitized by xanthene, thiazine, acridine, cyanine, and merocyanine dyes. The required free-radical formation via these dyes may be achieved by hydrogen atom-transfer, electron-transfer, or exciplex formation with other initiator components of the photopolymer system. 

The use of free-radical reactions in organic synthesis started with the reduction of functional groups. The purpose of this chapter is to give an overview of the relevance of silanes as efficient and effective sources for facile hydrogen atom transfer by radical chain processes. A number of reviews [1-7] have described some specific areas in detail. Reaction (4.1) represents the reduction of a functional group by silicon hydride which, in order to be a radical chain process, has to be associated with initiation, propagation and termination steps of the radical species. Scheme 4.1 illustrates the insertion of Reaction (4.1) in a radical chain process. 

This study indicates that the oxidation of dihydroanthracene in a basic medium involves the formation of a monocarbanion, which is then converted to a free radical by a one-electron transfer step. It is postulated that the free radical reacts with oxygen to form a peroxy free radical, which then attacks a hydrogen atom at the 10-position by an intramolecular reaction. The reaction then proceeds by a free-radical chain mechanism. This mechanism has been used as a basis for optimizing the yield of anthraquinone and minimizing the formation of anthracene. 

Triplet carbenes have a singly occupied p orbital, as is the case for radicals, and hence react like those radicals. Hydrogen atom transfer reactions are fundamental reaction pathways of triplet carbenes. The reaction of a triplet carbene with a hydrocarbon is quite analogous to the free radical hydrogen atom transfer process (Scheme 9.6). 

The HCo(CO)4 complex is therefore inferred to be involved in initial hydrogen transfer to carbon monoxide. This step was initially proposed to comprise rate-determining hydrogen atom transfer from HCo(CO)4 to free CO, affording a formyl radical, HtO subsequent reaction with further HCo(CO)4 would lead to the observed products (35). However, kinetic observations (the zero-order dependence on CO partial pressure) were later made which are inconsistent with such a process (36). 

This stabilization may also be interpreted in terms of oxygen anions, which, due, to the vacancy, are initially double bonded to Mo. One electron is transferred to the catalyst in this reaction step. To form acrolein, a second hydrogen atom is transferred (to form water) and an oxygen atom is bonded to the allyl radical. In this (rather complex) process, another three electrons are transferred to the catalysts and doubtless distributed over several Mo ions. Reoxidation takes place at the bismuth cations, where oxygen molecules are attracted by the free electron pair. The intermediate result is a surface bismuth with an oxygen coordination similar to that in the bulk, viz. 

Reaction 11 involves hydrogen atom transfer as proposed by Halpern et al. (13) in the mechanism of formic acid oxidation by cobalt (III) in aqueous solutions. In this reaction one could consider that as peracetic acid approaches the coordination sphere of Co111 and transfers the hydrogen atom to the coordinated acetate, the Co111 atom is transformed into a Co11 complex of peracetoxy radical (or Co111 complex of peracetate anion). Complexes of free radicals with metal ions have been postulated by Kochi (16). The substitution rate in this complex could be intermediate between the rate of substitution of cobalt (III) and cobalt (II) complexes owing to the contribution of the resonance structures ... 

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