Oxidation homolytic mechanisms

The radical mechanism has been proposed to explain the oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons. In the previous mechanisms, the electron density of the double bond or the aromatic ring is considered essential for the attack on the peroxidic oxygen. This condition is absent in saturated hydrocarbons, and considering their inertness, their oxidation probably requires a homolytic mechanism, proceeding through radical intermediates. By analogy with vanadium... 

Homolytic catalysis is observed with both organometallic and coordination complexes. It is involved in a wide variety of metal-mediated transformations, often in competition with electrophilic or nucleophilic catalysis [11], For example, many metal-catalyzed oxidations involve substrate activation by homolytic catalysis (Eq. 5) [12], Similarly, oxidative additions (Eq. 6) and dioxygen activation (Eq. 7) can proceed via two-step homolytic mechanisms. 

Photochromic compounds functioning by an oxidation-reduction mechanism (electron transfer), especially a photoreduction mechanism, are known in inorganic materials such as silver halides, which are utilized in eyewear lenses. Although the number of organic photochromic compounds operating via electron transfer is fewer than those by isomerization, heterolytic (or homolytic) cleavage, and pericyclic reactions, several classes of compounds have been reported, such as thiazines,1 viologens,2 and polycyclic quinones.3... 

No carbonyl carbon kinetic isotope effect was found for the reaction of allylmagnesium bromide with benzophenone [13,57]. The rate of the homolytic mechanism—which could be predicted on the basis of the oxidation potential of allylmagnesium bromide [46]—is slower than the concerted six-center reaction. 

Another mechanism is the homolytic one with alumina and analogous oxides as catalysts the following facts speak in favor of the homolytic mechanism. 

Possible mechanisms of alkane oxidation in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts are discussed in publications [44], The rate-determining step in the selective oxidation of methane is the rupture of the C-H bond. Methane activation can occur by a homolytic mechanism [44aji] ... 

The majority of selective oxidation mechanisms can be divided into two fundamentally different types homolytic and heterolytic ones [15]. Homolytic mechanisms involve one-electron elementary steps, such as hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), single electron transfer (SET), addition of a radical species to aromatic nuclear, etc. Heterolytic mechanisms do not engage radical species and merge a range of two-electron processes, that is, oxygen atom transfer or hydride transfer. In this section, we discuss some fundamental features of the mechanisms relevant for the selective oxidation of aromatic rings. 

JOC1537). The mechanisms of these transformations may involve homolytic or heterolytic C —S bond fission. A sulfur-walk mechanism has been proposed to account for isomerization or automerization of Dewar thiophenes and their 5-oxides e.g. 31 in Scheme 17) (76JA4325). Calculations show that a symmetrical pyramidal intermediate with the sulfur atom centered over the plane of the four carbon atoms is unlikely <79JOU140l). Reactions which may be mechanistically similar to that shown in Scheme 18 are the thermal isomerization of thiirane (32 Scheme 19) (70CB949) and the rearrangement of (6) to a benzothio-phene (80JOC4366). 

Most of the free-radical mechanisms discussed thus far have involved some combination of homolytic bond dissociation, atom abstraction, and addition steps. In this section, we will discuss reactions that include discrete electron-transfer steps. Addition to or removal of one electron fi om a diamagnetic organic molecule generates a radical. Organic reactions that involve electron-transfer steps are often mediated by transition-metal ions. Many transition-metal ions have two or more relatively stable oxidation states differing by one electron. Transition-metal ions therefore firequently participate in electron-transfer processes. 

Like dicyclopentadienyltin, it undergoes oxidative addition-reactions with alkyl halides, and, again, there is evidence for a homolytic chain-mechanism (330, 331). 

Therefore, we arrive at the same conclusion for the mechanism of COad oxidation in the lower potential regime as for Pt-free Ru(OOOl), postulating that at potentials E < 0.55 V, only strongly bound OHad/Oad species are present in the mixed COad + OHad/Oad adlayer, which are not reactive towards CO2 formation, while for E > 0.55 V, additional, weakly adsorbed OHad/Oad species are formed, which can react with the (likewise destabilized) COad- Similar to COad oxidation on a Ru(OOOl) surface, the reaction starts by dissociative adsorption of H2O on the Ru(OOOl) surface (no shift in the onset potential). In this case, however, the Pt islands can accelerate the reaction by accepting the Hupd resulting from a homolytic dissociation process. Thus, we tentatively propose a mechanism for CO oxidation at potentials between the reaction onset up to the bending point (see also Lin et al. [1999]), which is... 

A crystal structure of the C02 derivative of (8), K[Co(salen)( 71-C02)], haso been reported in which the Co—C bond is 1.99 A, the C—O bonds are both equivalent at 1.22 A and the O-C-O angle is 132°.125 Carboxylation of benzylic and allylic chlorides with C02 in THF-HMPA was achieved with (8) electrogenerated by controlled-potential electrolysis,126 in addition to reductive coupling of methyl pyruvate, diethyl ketomalonate and / -tolylcarbodiimide via C—C bond formation. Methyl pyruvate is transformed into diastereomeric tartrates concomitant with oxidation to the divalent Co(salen) and a free-radical mechanism is proposed involving the homolytic cleavage of the Co—C bond. However, reaction with diphenylketene (DPK) suggests an alternative pathway for the reductive coupling of C02-like compounds. 

In the oxidized hydrocarbon, hydroperoxides break down via three routes. First, they undergo homolytic reactions with the hydrocarbon and the products of its oxidation to form free radicals. When the oxidation of RH is chain-like, these reactions do not decrease [ROOH]. Second, the hydroperoxides interact with the radicals R , RO , and R02. In this case, ROOH is consumed by a chain mechanism. Third, hydroperoxides can heterolytically react with the products of hydrocarbon oxidation. Let us consider two of the most typical kinetic schemes of the hydroperoxide behavior in the oxidized hydrocarbon. The description of 17 different schemes of chain oxidation with different mechanisms of chain termination and intermediate product decomposition can be found in a monograph by Emanuel et al. [3]. 

The small Hammett p value of +0.16 observed for a series of related meta- and para-substituted mandelic acids indicates that there is a very small negative charge development on the benzyl carbon in the transition state of the rate-determining step of the pyridine catalysed oxidation of mandelic acid. The large positive AS value (+24 e.u./mol) found for the catalysed reaction led Banetjee and coworkers to conclude that the transition state (Figure 5) is product-like . This conclusion is consistent with the small f n/f D that is observed in this reaction164. The Pb—O bond is shown to rupture in a heterolytic fashion because Partch and Monthony185 have demonstrated that pyridine diverts the reaction from a homolytic to a heterolytic mechanism. 

A study518 of the mechanism of oxidation of alcohols by the reagent suggested that a reversible, oriented adsorption of the alcohol onto the surface of the oxidant occurs, with the oxygen atom of the alcohol forming a coordinate bond to a silver ion, followed by a concerted, irreversible, homolytic shift of electrons to generate silver atoms, carbon dioxide, water, and the carbonyl compound. The reactivity of a polyhydroxy compound may not, it appears, be deduced from the relative reactivity of its component functions, as the geometry of the adsorbed state, itself affected by solvent polarity, exerts an important influence on the selectivity observed.519... 

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