Methyl scission

The chain scission also can start truly randomly and not only at the weaker bond. For polymers containing linear backbones, in addition to p-scissions, it is possible to have a-scissions, methyl scissions or even hydrogen scissions. The scission of a C-H bond is thermodynamically unfavorable at low temperatures and is not too common at temperatures where the other scission can take place. The a-scission is more frequent. It refers to the breaking of a o bond to an sp2 carbon. For polystyrene for example, the a-scission leads to the formation of a phenyl radical and a polymeric radical (and it is not a chain scission). 

A methyl scission at the end of the polymeric chain can be written as follows ... 

For polymeric chains with various groups, more than one a-scission, p-scission, or methyl scission may take place. For example, in the case of polyisoprene, the a-scission (shown for the end of the chain) may take place in the following two ways ... 

The bond dissociation energy for the a-scission is 83-94 kcal mol , and for the p-scission is 61.5 - 63 kcal mol . The radical formation is therefore more likely to occur as a p-scission. For polyisoprene decomposition, the methyl scission initiation is also possible, and the bond dissociation energy is similar to that for a-scission. For polymers with more than one methyl group, more than one type of free radical can be formed. 

An example of a calculation for the evaluation of the bond dissociation energy using rel. (2.2.29) for an isoprene trimer shows the preference for dissociation following a p-scission compared to a- or methyl-scission. The a-scission, p-scission, and methyl-scission are shown below ... 

The extent of decarboxylation primarily depends on temperature, pressure, and the stabihty of the incipient R- radical. The more stable the R- radical, the faster and more extensive the decarboxylation. With many diacyl peroxides, decarboxylation and oxygen—oxygen bond scission occur simultaneously in the transition state. Acyloxy radicals are known to form initially only from diacetyl peroxide and from dibenzoyl peroxides (because of the relative instabihties of the corresponding methyl and phenyl radicals formed upon decarboxylation). Diacyl peroxides derived from non-a-branched carboxyhc acids, eg, dilauroyl peroxide, may also initially form acyloxy radical pairs however, these acyloxy radicals decarboxylate very rapidly and the initiating radicals are expected to be alkyl radicals. Diacyl peroxides are also susceptible to induced decompositions ... 

Because high temperatures are required to decompose diaLkyl peroxides at useful rates, P-scission of the resulting alkoxy radicals is more rapid and more extensive than for most other peroxide types. When methyl radicals are produced from alkoxy radicals, the diaLkyl peroxide precursors are very good initiators for cross-linking, grafting, and degradation reactions. When higher alkyl radicals such as ethyl radicals are produced, the diaLkyl peroxides are useful in vinyl monomer polymerizations. 

In addition to providing fully alkyl/aryl-substituted polyphosphasenes, the versatility of the process in Figure 2 has allowed the preparation of various functionalized polymers and copolymers. Thus the monomer (10) can be derivatized via deprotonation—substitution, when a P-methyl (or P—CH2—) group is present, to provide new phosphoranimines some of which, in turn, serve as precursors to new polymers (64). In the same vein, polymers containing a P—CH group, for example, poly(methylphenylphosphazene), can also be derivatized by deprotonation—substitution reactions without chain scission. This has produced a number of functionalized polymers (64,71—73), including water-soluble carboxylate salts (11), as well as graft copolymers with styrene (74) and with dimethylsiloxane (12) (75). 

Because di-/ fZ-alkyl peroxides are less susceptible to radical-induced decompositions, they are safer and more efficient radical generators than primary or secondary dialkyl peroxides. They are the preferred dialkyl peroxides for generating free radicals for commercial appHcations. Without reactive substrates present, di-/ fZ-alkyl peroxides decompose to generate alcohols, ketones, hydrocarbons, and minor amounts of ethers, epoxides, and carbon monoxide. Photolysis of di-/ fZ-butyl peroxide generates / fZ-butoxy radicals at low temperatures (75), whereas thermolysis at high temperatures generates methyl radicals by P-scission (44). 

This ladical-geneiating reaction has been used in synthetic apphcations, eg, aioyloxylation of olefins and aromatics, oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes, etc (52,187). Only alkyl radicals, R-, are produced from aliphatic diacyl peroxides, since decarboxylation occurs during or very shortiy after oxygen—oxygen bond scission in the transition state (187,188,199). For example, diacetyl peroxide is well known as a source of methyl radicals (206). 

The proximity of the methyl group to the double bond in natural rubber results in the polymer being more reactive at both the double bond and at the a-methylenic position than polybutadiene, SBR and, particularly, polychlor-oprene. Consequently natural rubber is more subject to oxidation, and as in this case (c.f. polybutadiene and SBR) this leads to chain scission the rubber becomes softer and weaker. As already stated the oxidation reaction is considerably affected by the type of vulcanisation as well as by the use of antioxidants. 

Oxidative attack at random along the chain leading to chain scission and subsequent depolymerisation. Initial chain scission is reduced by the use of antioxidants (see Chapter 7) and in recent formulations hindered phenols seemed to be preferred. It is reported that 2,2 -methylenebis-(4-methyl-6-t-butylphenol) is present in Celcon and 4,4 -butylidene bis-(3-methyl-6-t-butylphenol) in Derlin. The copolymerisation helps to reduce the rate of depolymerisation where initiation of depolymerisation is not completely prevented. 

Liebbrandt have prepared arecaidine by bromination of methyl jV-methylpiperidine-3-carboxyIate, scission of hydrogen bromide from the resulting bromo-compound (VI) and hydrolysis of the resulting arecoline, but Preobrachenski and Fischer were unable to confirm this observation. 

These formulae explain the scission products of the two alkaloids and the conversion of evodiamine into rutaecarpine, and were accepted by Asahina. A partial synthesis of rutaecarpine was effected by Asahina, Irie and Ohta, who prepared the o-nitrobenzoyl derivative of 3-)3-amino-ethylindole-2-carboxylic acid, and reduced this to the corresponding amine (partial formula I), which on warming with phosphorus oxychloride in carbon tetrachloride solution furnished rutaecarpine. This synthesis was completed in 1928 by the same authors by the preparation of 3-)S-amino-ethylindole-2-carboxylic acid by the action of alcoholic potassium hydroxide on 2-keto-2 3 4 5-tetrahydro-3-carboline. An equally simple synthesis was effected almost simultaneously by Asahina, Manske and Robinson, who condensed methyl anthranilate with 2-keto-2 3 4 5-tetrahydro-3-carboline (for notation, see p. 492) by the use of phosphorus trichloride (see partial formulae II). Ohta has also synthesised rutaecarpine by heating a mixture of 2-keto-2 3 4 5-tetrahydrocarboline with isatoic anhydride at 195° for 20 minutes. 

When monocrotaline is hydrogenolysed the acid scission product is monocrotalic acid, CgHigOj, m.p. 181-2°, [a]p ° — 5-33° (HgO), which provides a methyl ester, m.p. 79-80°, [ ]d°° — 16-2° (EtOH), containing one active H atom and a p-bromophenacyl ester, m.p. 162-3°. It is a lactonic acid, which on boiling with sodium hydroxide solution loses carbon dioxide and produces a/3-dimethyllaevulic acid (monocrotic acid, II). 

Cleavage at A or G If the DNA is first treated with acid, dimethyl sulfate methylates adenine at the 3-position as well as guanine at the 7-position (not shown). Subsequent reaction with OH and piperidine triggers degradation and displacement of the methylated A or G purine base and strand scission, essentially as indicated here for reaction of dimethyl sulfate with guanine. 

CH2N(CH3)R rather than (CH3)2N ( CH R) showed that the methyl group is the preferable group for substitution. Meanwhile, a secondary product was also formed and verified through ESR as -CH2CH2N(CH3)2 (N,N-dimethylaminoethylene radical) from TMEDA, which was considered to form from the scission of the primary radical as follows ... 

Alpha-scission is not favored thermodynamically but does occur. Alpha-scission produces a methyl radical, which can extract a hydrogen atom from a neutral hydrocarbon molecule. The hydrogen extraction produces methane and a secondary or tertiary free radical (Equation 4-3). 

The transition state for disproportionation requires overlap of the p C—H bond undergoing scission and the p-orbital containing the unpaired electron.18 This requirement rationalizes the specificity observed in disproportionation of radicals 29 (Section 1.4,2) and provides an explanation for the persistency of the triisopropylmcthyl radical (33) and related species (Section 1.4.3.2).166 In the case of 33, the P-bydrogens are constrained to lie in the nodal plane of the p-orbital due to stcric buttressing between the methyls of the adjacent isopropyls. 

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