Hydrogen atom transfer specificity

The pathway of the metabolic process converting the original nutrients, which are of rather complex composition, to the simple end products of COj and HjO is long and complicated and consists of a large number of intermediate steps. Many of them are associated with electron and proton (or hydrogen-atom) transfer from the reduced species of one redox system to the oxidized species of another redox system. These steps as a rule occur, not homogeneously (in the cytoplasm or intercellular solution) but at the surfaces of special protein molecules, the enzymes, which are built into the intracellular membranes. Enzymes function as specific catalysts for given steps. 

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. 

It was found that a variety of radical precursors could be added, and that the specific electronic and steric effects exerted on the resulting radical effected the diastereoselectivity of the hydrogen atom transfer. Increasing the size of R group appeared to increase the selectivity of the trap. For instance, reaction with t-butyl radical and tributyltin hydride gave the highest selectivity, >98 2 (70% yield), for the trans product (77). Reactions with electron-deficient radicals suffered from low yields and decreased selectivity. Results also indicate that reactions with tributyltin hydride produced higher selectivities but lower yields than those per-... 

The most recent major review of metathetical reactions of atoms and radicals dealt only with hydrogen atom transfer reactions (1], and, while this type of reaction is still by far the most studied, it is now possible to include a significant proportion of results involving the transfer of other atoms, particularly halogen atoms. Some recent review articles have dealt with specific atom or radical reactions including metathesis and these will be discussed at the appropriate points of the present chapter. 

Useful synthetic methodologies are based on the cyclization or rearrangement of the nitrogen-centered radicals generated in the reaction of the appropriate amides with (diacetoxyiodo)benzene in the presence of iodine [652-655]. Specific examples are illustrated by the synthesis of bicyclic spirolactams 622 from amides 621 [653] and preparation of the oxa-azabicyclic systems (e.g., 624) by the intramolecular hydrogen atom transfer reaction promoted by carbamoyl and phosphoramidyl radicals generated from the appropriately substituted carbohydrates 623 (Scheme 3.244) [654],... 

Deuterium-labeUng studies have shown in this case, as with the ketones, that one hydrogen atom is specifically transferred from the y-position. The y,Y-dimethyl derivative of methyl nonanoate does not give the odd-electron ion (Equation 2.61). 

Since the pioneering experiments of Chupka and coworkers, which employed single-photon VUV ionization of molecular hydrogen to prepare with a specific amount of vibrational excitation, the field of study of ion-molecule reaction dynamics with vibrationally state-selected reactants has experienced a number of advances. Another important system in the history of ion-molecule reactions is the hydrogen atom transfer process (47) ... 

Figure 7.4 NAD/NADP redox reactions. NAD and NADP act as electron acceptors during the enzymatic removal of hydrogen atoms from specific substrate molecules. One hydrogen atom from the substrate is transferred as a hydride ion to the nicotinamide portion of the oxidized forms of these coenzymes to yield the reduced coenzymes NADH or NADPH, respectively the other hydrogen atom from the substrate becomes a hydrogen ion.

For exchange of non-labile organic hydrogen atoms, acid-base catalysis (or some other catalytic hydrogen-transfer agent such as palladium or platinum) is required. The method routinely gives tritiated products having a specific activity almost 1000 times that obtained by the Wilzbach method shorter times are required (2-12h) and subsequent purification is easier. 

Atom or radical transfer reactions generally proceed by a SH2 mechanism (substitution, homolytie, bimolecular) that can be depicted as shown in Figure 1.6. This area has been the subject of a number of reviews.1 3 27 97 99 The present discussion is limited, in the main, to hydrogen atom abstraction from aliphatic substrates and the factors which influence rate and specificity of this reaction. 

Figure 11-4. Mechanism of oxidation and reduction of nicotinamide coenzymes. There is stereospecificity about position 4 of nicotinamide when it is reduced by a substrate AHj. One of the hydrogen atoms is removed from the substrate as a hydrogen nucleus with two electrons (hydride ion, H ) and is transferred to the 4 position, where it may be attached in either the A or the B position according to the specificity determined by the particular dehydrogenase catalyzing the reaction. The remaining hydrogen of the hydrogen pair removed from the substrate remains free as a hydrogen ion.

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