Nucleophilic addition radical reactions

Besides radical additions to unsaturated C—C bonds (Section III.B.l) and sulfene reactions (see above), sulfonyl halides are able to furnish sulfones by nucleophilic substitution of halide by appropriate C-nucleophiles. Undesired radical reactions are suppressed by avoiding heat, irradiation, radical initiators, transition-element ion catalysis, and unsuitable halogens. However, a second type of undesired reaction can occur by transfer of halogen instead of sulfonyl groups283-286 (which becomes the main reaction, e.g. with sulfuryl chloride). Normally, both types of undesired side-reaction can be avoided by utilizing sulfonyl fluorides. 

Addition reactions, electron transfer reactions, and reactions involving the opening of the fullerene cage (chemical surgery) have been thoroughly studied on fullerenes. Other reactions such as nucleophilic additions, cycloaddition reactions, free-radical additions, halogenations, hydroxylation, redox reactions, and metal transition complexations have been reported for Cgo as well. Furthermore, fullerenes are easily reduced by electron-rich chemical reagents as well as electrochemically. Their oxidation, however, is considerably more difficult to achieve [17]. Thus, electrochemical measurements showed the formation from the monoanion to the hexaanion [18]. 

The initial discussion in this chapter will focus on addition reactions. The discussion is restricted to reactions that involve polar or ionic mechanisms. There are other important classes of addition reactions which are discussed elsewhere these include concerted addition reactions proceeding through nonpolar transition states (Chapter 11), radical additions (Chapter 12), photochemical additions (Chapter 13), and nucleophilic addition to electrophilic alkenes (Part B, Chi iter 1, Section 1.10). 

The first three chapters discuss fundamental bonding theory, stereochemistry, and conformation, respectively. Chapter 4 discusses the means of study and description of reaction mechanisms. Chapter 9 focuses on aromaticity and aromatic stabilization and can be used at an earlier stage of a course if an instructor desires to do so. The other chapters discuss specific mechanistic types, including nucleophilic substitution, polar additions and eliminations, carbon acids and enolates, carbonyl chemistry, aromatic substitution, concerted reactions, free-radical reactions, and photochemistry. 

As mentioned in the introduction, l-heterobut-l-en-3-ynes, RXCH=CHC=CH (X = RN, O, S R = organic radical), are the nearest and most important diacetylene derivatives readily formed by nucleophilic addition of amines, alcohols, and thiols to diacetylene. In many heterocyclization reactions (especially those leading to fundamental heterocycles) l-heterobut-l-en-3-ynes behave as diacetylene synthetic equivalents, but unlike diacetylene, they are nonhazardous. Therefore, the syntheses of heterocycles therefrom are often more attractive in preparative aspect. 

The same high reactivity of radicals that makes possible the alkene polymerization we saw in the previous section also makes it difficult to carry out controlled radical reactions on complex molecules. As a result, there are severe limitations on the usefulness of radical addition reactions in the laboratory. Tn contrast to an electrophilic addition, where reaction occurs once and the reactive cation intermediate is rapidly quenched in the presence of a nucleophile, the reactive intermediate in a radical reaction is not usually quenched, so it reacts again and again in a largely uncontrollable wav. 

No single mechanism accounts for all the reactions. One pathway involves a concerted one-step process involving a cyclic transition state. This of necessity affords a c -product. Another possibility, more favoured in polar solvents, involves a cationic 5-coordinate intermediate [IrX(A)(CO)L2]+, which undergoes subsequent nucleophilic attack by B-. Other possibilities include a SN2 route, where the metal polarizes AB before generating the nucleophile, and radical routes. Studies are complicated by the fact that the thermodynamically more stable isolated product may not be the same as the kinetic product formed by initial addition. 

Several cyditol derivatives of varying ring size, for example, (69)/(70), have been prepared based on an enzymatic aldolization as the initial step. Substrates carrying suitably installed C,H-acidic functional groups such as nitro, ester, phosphonate (or halogen) functionalities made use of facile intramolecular nucleophilic (or radical) cyclization reactions ensuing, or subsequent to, the enzyme-catalyzed aldol addition (Figure 10.27) [134—137]. 

The HX compounds are electrophilic reagents, and many polyhalo and polycyano alkenes, (e.g., Cl2C=CHCl) do not react with them at all in the absence of free-radical conditions. When such reactions do occur, however, they take place by a nucleophilic addition mechanism, (i.e., initial attack is by X ). This type of mechanism also occurs with Michael-type substrates C=C—Z, where the orientation is always such that the halogen goes to the carbon that does not bear the Z, so the product is of the form X—C—CH—Z, even in the presence of free-radical initiators. Hydrogen iodide adds 1,4 to conjugated dienes in the gas phase by a pericyclic mechanism ... 

The mechanistic picture is further simplified by the fact that free-radical additions to carbon-hetero double bonds are rare. The principal question remaining is which attacks first, the nucleophile or electrophile. In most cases it is the nucleophile that forms the first new bond to carbon, and these reactions are regarded as nucleophilic additions, which can be represented thus (for the C=0 bond, analogously for the others) ... 

Perhaps the most characteristic property of the carbon-carbon double bond is its ability readily to undergo addition reactions with a wide range of reagent types. It will be useful to consider addition reactions in terms of several categories (a) electrophilic additions (b) nucleophilic additions (c) radical additions (d) carbene additions (e) Diels-Alder cycloadditions and (f) 1,3-dipolar additions. 

Several other types of addition reactions of alkenes are also of importance and these are discussed elsewhere. Nucleophilic additions to electrophilic alkenes are covered in Section 2.6 and cycloadditions involving concerted mechanisms are encountered in Sections 6.1 to 6.3. Free radical addition reaction are considered in Chapter 11. 

There are also reactions in which electrophilic radicals react with relatively nucleophilic alkenes. These reactions are exemplified by a group of procedures in which a radical intermediate is formed by oxidation of readily enolizable compounds. This reaction was initially developed for /3-ketoacids,311 and the method has been extended to jS-diketones, malonic acids, and cyanoacetic acid.312 The radicals formed by the addition step are rapidly oxidized to cations, which give rise to the final product by intramolecular capture of a carboxylate group. 

Interestingly, the nucleophilic addition of water in the sequence of events giving rise to 41 represents a relevant model system for investigating the mechanism of the generation of DNA-protein cross-links under radical-mediated oxidative conditions [80, 81]. Thus, it was shown that lysine tethered to dGuo via the 5 -hydroxyl group is able to participate in an intramolecular cyclization reaction with the purine base at C-8, subsequent to one electron oxidation [81]. 

Addition reactions, too, can be electrophilic, nucleophilic or radical in character, depending on the type of species that initiates the process. Addition to simple carbon-carbon double bonds is normally either electrophile-, or radical-, induced e.g. addition of HBr,... 

The transformation of2-734 involves an initial generation of an organosamarium species 2-735 with subsequent nucleophilic addition to the lactone carbonyl. Presumably, a tetrahedral intermediate 2-736 is formed that collapses to yield the ketone 2-737. This reacts with Sml2 to give a ketyl radical 2-738, which undergoes an intramolecular S-exo radical cyclization reaction with the alkene moiety. The resultant... 

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