Methyl allyl radical

When considering the stability of spin-delocalized radicals the use of isodesmic reaction Eq. 1 presents one further problem, which can be illustrated using the 1-methyl allyl radical 24. The description of this radical through resonance structures 24a and 24b indicates that 24 may formally be considered to either be a methyl-substituted allyl radical or a methylvinyl-substituted methyl radical. While this discussion is rather pointless for a delocalized, resonance-stabilized radical such as 24, there are indeed two options for the localized closed shell reference compound. When selecting 1-butene (25) as the closed shell parent, C - H abstraction at the C3 position leads to 24 with a radical stabilization energy of - 91.3 kj/mol, while C - H abstraction from the Cl position of trans-2-butene (26) generates the same radical with a RSE value of - 79.5 kj/mol (Scheme 6). The difference between these two values (12 kj/mol) reflects nothing else but the stability difference of the two parents 25 and 26. 

The methyl allyl radical (I) can decompose by either addition of a hydrogen atom to give 2-butene isomers or by loss of a hydrogen atom (abstraction by another radical) to give butadiene (see Reactions 3 and 4). Reaction 3 would be favored at lower temperatures, while Reaction 4 would predominate at higher temperatures. This is supported... 

The analysis of the primary decomposition products from the decomposition of methyl-cyc/o-pentane requires the addition of only a few reactions to the scheme shown in Fig. 6. Three methyl-cyc/o-pentyl radicals were already formed from the successive isomerization reactions of cyc/o-hexy 1-radical, and thus only the tertiary radical, with its isomerization and decomposition reactions to form methyl-allyl radical and ethylene, needs to be included... 

Alternating sign of spin density proven experimentally for this and the methylated allyl radicals. ... 

The usefulness of spin density surfaces can be seen in the following models of methyl radical, CH3, and allyl radical, CH2=CHCH2. In each case, the surface is shaped somewhat like a 2p atomic orbital on carbon. There are some interesting differences between the two radicals, however. While the unpaired electron is confined to the carbon atom in methyl radical, it is delocalized over the two terminal carbons in allyl radical. 

Several studies characterizing the reactions of alkenyl radicals with quinone dumines and quino-neimines were published in the late 1970s. Quinone dumines react with allylic radicals yielding both the reduced PPD and the alkylated product. In these experiments 2-methyl-2-pentene served as a model olefin (model for NR). Samples of the olefin and quinoneimines or quinone diimine were heated to 140°C. Isolation and analysis of products demonstrated that 40%-70% of the imine or diimine was reduced to the corresponding PPD, while 20%-50% was isolated as the alkylated product. This alkylation reaction (via an allylic radical) represents the pathway to the formation of rubber-bound antidegradant. ... 

Shida and Hamill23 found that the positive and negative molecular ions of 1,3-butadiene and its homologs have similar absorption spectra. Band maxima of the anions are not sensitive to substituent alkyl groups, whereas those of the cations are red-shifted as the number of substituent methyl groups increases. In alcoholic matrices the butadiene anions abstract the alcoholic proton to form an allylic radical (equation 23), as was proven by ESR spectroscopy. 

The trapping of allyl radicals with other open-shell species can be studied in all reactions in which a sufficiently high concentration of radicals is created and in which the concentration of nonradical trapping agents is low. This prerequisite has been met in Kolbe electrolysis reactions, in which radicals are generated by one-electron oxidation of carboxylate anions. One of the simplest systems, the reaction of methyl radicals with... 

If photolyzed with light of the intensity I, HBr adds to propadiene (la) in the gas phase with a rate given by v=kexp[HBr]I<). This transformation affords within the detection limit (GC) 2-bromo-l-propene (5a) as sole reaction product (Table 11.1). The conversion of methyl-substituted allenes, such as lc and If, under these conditions follows the same kinetic expression [37]. Results from competition experiments indicate that the reactivity of an allene towards HBr increases progressively with the number of methyl substituents from propadiene (la) (= 1.00) to 2,4-dimethylpenta-2,3-diene (If) (1.65). In all instances, Br addition occurs exclusively at Cp to furnish substituted allyl radicals, which were trapped in the rate determining step by HBr. 

Addition of the dicyanomethyl radical to propadiene (la) occurs exclusively at Q (not shown in Scheme 11.8) [60]. On the other hand, methyl-substituted allenes, e.g. Id, undergo /3-selective reactions with 2-bromomalodinitrile (15). The significant /3-selectivity has been associated with the steric demand of the incoming radical 16, which favors addition to the sterically least hindered site at the diene Id to provide allylic radical 17. However, it seems likely that a stabilization of an intermediate allylic radical, e.g. 17, by methyl substituents contributes significantly to the observed regioselectivity of product formation. Trapping of intermediate 17 with bromine atom donor 15 proceeds at the least substituted carbon to afford allylic bromide 18. 

Fig. 21 Qualitative depiction of favorable cyclization pathways for representative peroxy radicals of methyl heteroaromatics (top, pyridine and bottom, furan). Cyclization for the alkylated six-membered heteroaromatics is driven by the thermodynamic stability of the resulting ring, while cyclization for the alkylated five-membered heteroaromatics is dictated by which pathway allows the generation of a stable allylic radical system.

Delocalization of the odd electron into extended n systems results in considerable radical stabilization. The C—H BDE at C3 of propene is reduced by 13 kcal/mol relative to that of ethane. That the stabilization effect in the allyl radical is due primarily to delocalization in the n system is shown by the fact that the rotational barrier for allyl is 9 kcal/mol greater than that for ethyl. Extending the conjugated system has a nearly additive effect, and the C—H BDE at C3 of 1,4-pentadiene is 10 kcal/mol smaller than that of propene. Delocalization of the odd electron in the benzyl radical results in about one-half of the electron density residing at the benzylic carbon, and the C—H BDE of the methyl group in toluene is the same as that in propene. 

In the area of reaction energetics. Baker, Muir, and Andzehn have compared six levels of theory for the enthalpies of forward activation and reaction for 12 organic reactions the unimolecular rearrangements vinyl alcohol -> acetaldehyde, cyclobutene -> s-trans butadiene, s-cis butadiene s-trans butadiene, and cyclopropyl radical allyl radical the unimolecular decompositions tetrazine -> 2HCN -F N2 and trifluoromethanol -> carbonyl difluoride -F HF the bimolecular condensation reactions butadiene -F ethylene -> cyclohexene (the Diels-Alder reaction), methyl radical -F ethylene -> propyl radical, and methyl radical -F formaldehyde -> ethoxyl radical and the bimolecular exchange reactions FO -F H2 FOH -F H, HO -F H2 H2O -F H, and H -F acetylene H2 -F HC2. Their results are summarized in Table 8.3 (Reaction Set 1). One feature noted by these authors is... 

Here the CH2 is presumed to insert into the methyl CH bond. If the reaction occurred through a radical intermediate, a symmetrical allyl radical would have been obtained which on recombination would have had the C -activity redistributed equally between terminal olefin and the 3-position ... 

Boddy and Robb have also studied the reactions of hydrogen atoms with propylene (11) and with 2-butene and isobutene (12). In all these reactions they observed decomposition of the hot alkyl radicals and also suggested an enhanced abstraction of hydrogen from the parent olefins by the hot radicals. The reaction with propylene appeared to be complicated by the ocurrence of a number of side reactions. One of the isolated products was 4-methyl-l-pentene, indicating the presence of allyl radicals, which the authors postulated to be formed in the reaction... 

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