Peroxides from organometallics

Bieber reported that the reaction of bromoacetates is greatly enhanced by catalytic amounts of benzoyl peroxide or peracids and gives satisfactory yields with aromatic aldehydes. A radical chain mechanism, initiated by electron abstraction from the organometallic Reformatsky reagent, is proposed (Scheme 8.27).233 However, an alternative process of reacting aldehydes with 2,3-dichloro-l-propene and indium in water followed by ozonolysis provided the Reformatsky product in practical yields.234 An electrochemical Reformatsky reaction in an aqueous medium and in the absence of metal mediator has also been reported.235... 

Organometallic formation may result from a chain mechanism [Eqs. (21)-(23) and (18)—(20)] and/or radical displacement [Eqs. (21)-(23), alone]. The reaction of 13C-labeled mercuric cyclohexanoate with cyclohexylcarbonyl peroxide (1 1) gave mainly unlabeled organomercu-rial, which was derived from radical displacement (122). Decarboxylation by a chain mechanism was reported for the syntheses of organomercuric carboxylates of straight chain alkyls [R = Me(CH2) , n - 0-8, 10, or 15 (123-131)], branched alkyls [R = Me2CH(CH2) , n = 0 or 2 (132) or Me3C(CH2) , n = 0-2 (133)], substituted alkyls [R = cyclopentylmethyl... 

The removal of an electron from a carbanion oxidizes it to a free radical and sometimes, in the presence of oxygen, to a peroxide. Organometallic compounds give many radical-like reactions of course, and a possible oxidation mechanism for such compounds is a preliminary dissociation into radicals followed by oxidation of the radicals and the metal. 

The compound and its methyl homologue exploded occasionally when scraped from the walls of a tube, and invariably when exposed to a Raman laser beam, even at —80°C. See other IRRADIATION DECOMPOSITION INCIDENTS, ORGANOMETALLIC PEROXIDES... 

Not only alkenes and arenes but also other types of electron-rich compound can be oxidized by oxygen. Most organometallic reagents react with air, whereby either alkanes are formed by dimerization of the metal-bound alkyl groups (cuprates often react this way [80]) or peroxides or alcohols are formed [81, 82]. The alcohols result from disproportionation or reduction of the peroxides. Similarly, enolates, metalated nitriles, phenolates, enamines, and related compounds with nucleophilic carbon can react with oxygen by intermediate formation of carbon-centered radicals to yield dimers (Section 5.4.6 [83, 84]), peroxides, or alcohols. The oxidation of many organic compounds by air will, therefore, often proceed faster in the presence of bases (Scheme 3.21). 

The first major breakthrough came in 1991 when Herrmann introduced methyltrioxorhcnium (MTO) as a powerful catalyst for alkene epoxidation, using hydrogen peroxide as the terminal oxidant." This organometallic rhenium compound, now commercially available, was first detected by Beattie and Jones in 1979, produced in tiny amounts from the reaction of (CH3)4ReO with air. The high solubility of MTO in virtually any solvent from pentane to water makes this compound particularly attractive for catalytic applications. 

Alkylborinic esters, obtained from alkylboronic esters and an organometallic reagent, are converted into the corresponding ketones by the reaction with dichloromethyl methyl ether in the presence of a hindered base, followed by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide in pH 8 buffer or with anhydrous trimethylamine Ar-oxide18. 

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