Quinoline reaction with alkyl radicals

On the basis of the reaction of alkyl radicals with a number of polycyclic aromatics, Szwarc and Binks calculated the relative selectivities of several radicals methyl, 1 (by definition) ethyl, 1.0 n-propyl, 1.0 trichloromethyl, 1.8. The relative reactivities of the three alkyl radicals toward aromatics therefore appears to be the same. On the other hand, quinoline (the only heterocyclic compound so far examined in reactions with alkyl radicals other than methyl) shows a steady increase in its reactivity toward methyl, ethyl, and n-propyl radicals. This would suggest that the nucleophilic character of the alkyl radicals increases in the order Me < Et < n-Pr, and that the selectivity of the radical as defined by Szwarc is not necessarily a measure of its polar character. 

A kinetic study has been carried out in order to elucidate the mechanism by which the cr-complex becomes dehydrogenated to the alkyl heteroaromatic derivative for the alkylation of quinoline by decanoyl peroxide in acetic acid. The decomposition rates in the presence of increasing amounts of quinoline were determined. At low quinoline concentrations the kinetic course is shown in Fig. 1. The first-order rate constants were calculated from the initial slopes of the graphs and refer to reaction with a quinoline molecule still possessing free 2- and 4-positions. At high quinoline concentration a great increase of reaction rate occurs and both the kinetic course and the composition of the products are simplified. The decomposition rate is first order in peroxide and the nonyl radicals are almost completely trapped by quinoline. The proportion of the nonyl radicals which dimerize to octadecane falls rapidly with increase in quinoline concentration. The decomposition rate in nonprotonated quinoline is much lower than that observed in quinoline in acetic acid. 

A quite different reaction course was observed with benzoyl peroxide. The increase in the decomposition rate on going from nonprotonated to protonated quinoline is relatively small. The high decomposition rate of decanoyl peroxide in the presence of protonated heteroaromatic bases was mainly ascribed to the nucleophilic character of the alkyl radicals, which allows the complete capture of the nonyl radicals escaping from the solvent cage and the consequently rapid induced decomposition. The... 

The homolytic acylation of protonated heteroaromatic bases is, as with alkylation, characterized by high selectivity. Only the positions a and y to the heterocyclic nitrogen are attacked. Attack in the position or in the benzene ring of polynuclear heteroaromatics has never been observed, even after careful GLC analysis of the reaction products. Quinoline is attacked only in positions 2 and 4 the ratio 4-acyl- to 2-acylquinoline was 1.3 with the acetyl radical from acetaldehyde, 1.7 with the acetyl radical from pyruvic acid, and 2.8 with the benzoyl radical from benzaldehyde. 

The first reaction was found by Levy and Szwarc to be predominant when methyl radicals attacked isooctane. The second reaction is predominant, however, for aromatic hydrocarbons. The free radicals formed in the above two reactions will react with each other, with other free radicals, or with impurities. The affinity of the methyl radical to attack an aromatic increases in the following order benzene, diphenyl ether, pyridine, diphenyl, benzophenone, naphthalene, quinoline, phenanthrene, pyrene, and anthracene. The ability of free alkyl radicals to interact with isopropylbenzene and cyclohexene decreases in the following order methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, isopropyl, sec-butyl, and tertiary butyl. 

Naphthalene and other fused ring compounds are so reactive that they react with the catalyst, and therefore tend to give poor yields in Friedel-Crafts alkylation. Heterocyclic rings are also tend to be poor substrates for the reaction. Although some furans and thiophenes have been alkylated, a true alkylation of a pyridine or a quinoline has never been described.However, alkylation of pyridine and other nitrogen heterocycles can be accomplished by a free radical (14-23) and by a nucleophilic method (13-15). 

The ethyl radical directly attacks the heteroaromatic base, while the acetaldehyde acts as a source of acetyl radical. Photochemical oxy-alkylation has also been tried with ethers. The reaction has been successfully carried out with pyridines, quinolines, isoquinolines,cinno-lines, and quinoxalines. Particularly good yields were obtained with caffeine (16) (Scheme 14). ... 

The alkylation of quinoline by decanoyl peroxide in acetic acid has been studied kineti-cally, and a radical chain mechanism has been proposed (Scheme 207) (72T2415). Decomposition of decanoyl peroxide yields a nonyl radical (and carbon dioxide) that attacks the quinolinium ion. Quinolinium is activated (compared with quinoline) towards attack by the nonyl radical, which has nucleophilic character. Conversely, the protonated centre has an unfavorable effect upon the propagation step, but this might be reduced by the equilibrium shown in equation (167). A kinetic study revealed that the reaction is subject to crosstermination (equation 168). The increase in the rate of decomposition of benzoyl peroxide in the phenylation of the quinolinium ion compared with quinoline is much less than for alkylation. This observation is consistent with the phenyl having less nucleophilic character than the nonyl radical, and so it is less selective. Rearomatization of the cr-complex formed by radicals generated from sources other than peroxides may take place by oxidation by metals, disproportionation, induced decomposition or hydrogen abstraction by radical intermediates. When oxidation is difficult, dimerization can take place (equation 169). 

Radical nucleophile oxidation based on one-electron oxidation, known as the Minisci reaction, is employed for the functionalization of /V-heterocycles with acidic hydrogen peroxide in the presence of iron(II) salts (Figure 3.112).472 A range of A-heterocycles (pyridines, pyrazines, quinolines, etc.) which are activated towards attack by nucleophilic radicals when protonated are suited to this chemistry. The Minisci reaction is suitable for the preparation of carboxylic amides (from formamide), carboxylic esters (from pyruvic esters via a hydroxyhydroperoxide), aldehydes (from 1,3,5-trioxane) and alkylated pyridines (either from carboxylic acids or from alkyl iodides in dimethyl sulfoxide).473 The latter reaction uses dimethyl sulfoxide as the source of methyl radical (Figure 3.112). 

By contrast, substitution in position 7 is much easier thanks to the well-known Minisci reaction, which involves a nucleophilic radical attack on a protonated quinoline [31]. Moreover, due to the unavailability of position 2 of the quinoline nucleus, the reaction shows complete regioselectivity. Minisci alkylation with an ethyl radical produced in situ by decarbonylation of propionaldehyde is a crucial step in the process of preparation of irinotecan (4) (Scheme 16.6) [32], whereas the same kind of reaction led to the semisynthesis (Scheme 16.7) of gimatecan (9)[33], silatecan (10)[34], and belotecan (ll)[35j. This last compound entered clinical practice in Korea in 2005. 

Whereas in the MMA photoinitiated polymerization by quinoline-bromine CT complex the formation of radicals is preceded by an instantaneous complexation reaction between the CT complex initiator and the monomer [68], no evidence of this occurrence is observed in the case of the poly(NVC)-Br2 CT complex, probably due to the steric hindrance provided by the polymeric chain. The behaviour of the above system should however be compared with that of the corresponding low-molecular-weight A-alkyl carbazole-Bra CT complex in order to clarify this point. 

A well documented radical addition is given by the a-alkylation of quinolines which proceeds with radicals generated in a variety of different ways. As a photoreaction driven by visible light with a carboxylic acid as the radical source the reaction is highly accelerated by Fe2(S04)3 in diluted... 

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