Nitrate radical self-reactions

Finally, cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate can serve as the radical source by itself, generating NO3 radicals If by photolysis. The addition of such radicals to cyclo-alkynes 20 initiates an interesting tandem reaction [12]. Transannular hydrogen atom abstraction by the vinyl radical 21 affords the intermediate 22, which undergoes a 5-exo cyclization to the radical 23. In the last step, the ketone 24 is formed by elimination of NO2 in moderate yield thus, the overall sequence can be described as a self-terminating radical reaction (Scheme 7). 

More recently gas-phase nitration was treated theoretically with MNDO (modified neglect of diatomic differential overlap) and INDO (intermediate neglect of differential overlap) self-consistent field calculations (34). Electron transfer and radical-pair recombination were favored for the nitration of toluene and the xylenes but not for nitrobenzene, for which a classical nitration route via a tt complex was favored. The calculations could not make a distinction between the two routes in the nitration of benzene. More information is needed about these coupling reactions and how they differ in the gas and heterogeneous-solution phases. 

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