Peroxides with alkyl radicals

Additions of perfluoroalkyl groups generated from perfluoroalkyl iodides (Rpl) and perfluoroacyl peroxides [RpC(0)00(0)CRp] have also been carried out [50]. Another usable source of CEj radicals is the stable [(CF3)2CF]2 CCF2CE3 radical (Scheme 6.8) [51]. As with alkyl radical additions, ESR spectroscopic investigations... 

The pyrrole and indole rings are readily attacked by a range of electrophilic radicals, generated in various ways. The reaction of alkyl iodides with a combination of iron(II) sulfate and hydrogen peroxide generates alkyl radicals, which give 2-substitution products with pyrrole and 1-methyl-... 

It was established that the sulphur-containing antioxidants completely lose their catalytic activity in the decomposition of CHP reacting with peroxide radicals. However, their activity is not significantly decreased in the reaction with alkyl radicals and oxygen (Fig. 9.8). 

The regioselectivity of addition of HBr to alkenes under normal (electrophilic addi tion) conditions is controlled by the tendency of a proton to add to the double bond so as to produce the more stable carbocatwn Under free radical conditions the regioselec tivity IS governed by addition of a bromine atom to give the more stable alkyl radical Free radical addition of hydrogen bromide to the double bond can also be initiated photochemically either with or without added peroxides... 

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 ... 

Chemical Properties. Diacyl peroxides (20) decompose when heated or photoly2ed (<300 mm). Although photolytic decompositions generally produce free radicals (198), thermal decompositions can produce nonradical and radical iatermediates, depending on diacyl peroxide stmcture. Symmetrical aUphatic diacyl peroxides of certain stmctures, ie, diacyl peroxides (20, = alkyl) without a-branches or with a mono-cx-methyl... 

Alkyl radicals can be obtained by abstraction of a hydrogen atom from an alkyl group by another radical. This method was utilized for the generation of benzyl radicals from toluene with iert-butoxy radical obtained on heating di- er -butyl peroxide. BenzoyP and carboxymethyP radicals have also been obtained by this method. The reaction gives rise to a complex mixture of products and therefore is of rather limited use. 

The rates of thermal decomposition of diacyl peroxides (36) are dependent on the substituents R. The rates of decomposition increase in the series where R is aryl-primary alkyKsecondary alkyKtertiary alkyl. This order has been variously proposed to reflect the stability of the radical (R ) formed on (i-scission of the acyloxy radical, the nucleophilicity of R, or the steric bulk of R. For peroxides with non-concerted decomposition mechanisms, it seems unlikely that the stability of R should by itself be an important factor. 

A general reaction mechanism for the grafting of MA onto EPM is given in Figure 13.3 [15,16]. Free-radical grafting of MA starts with the decomposition of the radical initiator, usually a peroxide [15,18]. The peroxide decomposes at elevated temperamres into the corresponding oxy radicals, which may further degrade to alkyl radicals and ketones. These oxy and alkyl radicals abstract... 

Thermal insertion occurs at room temperature when R is XCH2CHAr-, at 40° C when R is benzyl, allyl, or crotyl (in this case two isomeric peroxides are formed), but not even at 80° C when R is a simple primary alkyl group. The insertion of O2 clearly involves prior dissociation of the Co—C bond to give more reactive species. The a-arylethyl complexes are known to decompose spontaneously into CoH and styrene derivatives (see Section B,l,f). Oxygen will presumably react with the hydride or Co(I) to give the hydroperoxide complex, which then adds to the styrene. The benzyl and allyl complexes appear to undergo homolytic fission to give Co(II) and free radicals (see Section B,l,a) in this case O2 would react first with the radicals. 

Since the peroxyl and alkyl radicals are regenerated, the cycle of propagation could continue indefinitely or until one or other of the substrates are consumed. However, experimentally the length of the propagation chain, which can be defined as the number of lipid molecules converted to lipid peroxide for each initiation event, is finite. This is largely because the cycle is not 100% efficient with peroxyl radicals being lost through radical-radical termination reactions (Reaction 2.4 in Scheme 2.1). 

There is a discussion of some of the sources of radicals for mechanistic studies in Section 11.1.4 of Part A. Some of the reactions discussed there, particularly the use of azo compounds and peroxides as initiators, are also important in synthetic chemistry. One of the most useful sources of free radicals in preparative chemistry is the reaction of halides with stannyl radicals. Stannanes undergo hydrogen abstraction reactions and the stannyl radical can then abstract halogen from the alkyl group. For example, net addition of an alkyl group to a reactive double bond can follow halogen abstraction by a stannyl radical. 

Anti-oxidants can be divided into two classes depending on which part of the radical chain they quench. Primary anti-oxidants are radical scavengers and will react with alkyl chain radicals (R ) or hydroperoxides (ROOH). Secondary antioxidants work in combination with primary anti-oxidants and principally act by converting peroxide radicals (ROO ) into non-radical stable products. Synergism often works when both classes are used together. 

MnP is the most commonly widespread of the class II peroxidases [72, 73], It catalyzes a PLC -dependent oxidation of Mn2+ to Mn3+. The catalytic cycle is initiated by binding of H2O2 or an organic peroxide to the native ferric enzyme and formation of an iron-peroxide complex the Mn3+ ions finally produced after subsequent electron transfers are stabilized via chelation with organic acids like oxalate, malonate, malate, tartrate or lactate [74], The chelates of Mn3+ with carboxylic acids cause one-electron oxidation of various substrates thus, chelates and carboxylic acids can react with each other to form alkyl radicals, which after several reactions result in the production of other radicals. These final radicals are the source of autocataly tic ally produced peroxides and are used by MnP in the absence of H2O2. The versatile oxidative capacity of MnP is apparently due to the chelated Mn3+ ions, which act as diffusible redox-mediator and attacking, non-specifically, phenolic compounds such as biopolymers, milled wood, humic substances and several xenobiotics [72, 75, 76]. 

Radicals produced from the initiator either directly attack the organic compound RH (for instance, this is the case during the decomposition of peroxides) or first react with dioxygen, and then, already as peroxyl radicals, attack RH (for instance, this is the case of decomposition of azo-compounds). RH gives rise to alkyl radicals when attacked by these radicals. The reaction of dioxygen addition to an alkyl radical,... 

In reactions of decay of alkyl radicals with the peroxide group (see 2.4.4) ... 

The experimental data on the reactions of ketyl radicals with hydrogen and benzoyl peroxides were analyzed within the framework of IPM [68]. The elementary step was treated as a reaction with the dissociation of the O—H bond of the ketyl radical and formation of the same bond in acid (from acyl peroxide), alcohol (from alkyl peroxide), and water (from hydrogen peroxide). The hydroperoxyl radical also possesses the reducing activity and reacts with hydrogen peroxide by the reaction... 

The alkyl radicals possess reducing activity as well. In the disproportionation reaction, one alkyl radical reacts as an acceptor and another as a donor of the hydrogen atom. This is the reason for the reducing action of alkyl radicals in reactions with peroxides. 

As we have seen earlier, alkyl radicals react with peroxides in two different ways substitution and reduction. The comparison of both these reactions is presented in Table 6.33. It is seen... 

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