Radical addition regioselectivity

HBr/02 1 1 H Br Free radical addition (Regioselective anti-Markownifkov)... 

Tricarbonyl [(l-4- 7)-2-methoxy-5-methylenecyclohexa-1,3-diene]iron was found to undergo facile radical addition regioselectively at the exocyclic methylene group to yield an aromatized product upon demetallation (Scheme 32). ... 

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... 

Other limitations of the reaction are related to the regioselectivity of the aryl radical addition to double bond, which is mainly determined by steric and radical delocalization effects. Thus, methyl vinyl ketone gives the best results, and lower yields are observed when bulky substituents are present in the e-position of the alkene. However, the method represents complete positional selectivity because only the g-adduct radicals give reductive arylation products whereas the a-adduct radicals add to diazonium salts, because of the different nucleophilic character of the alkyl radical adduct. ... 

The regioselectivity of addition of Itydrogen bromide to alkenes can be complicated if a free-radical chain addition occurs in competition with the ionic addition. The free-radical reaction is readily initiated by peroxidic impurities or by light and leads to the anti-Markownikoff addition product. The mechanism of this reaction will be considered more fully in Chapter 12. Conditions that minimize the competing radical addition include use of high-purity alkene and solvent, exclusion of light, and addition of free-radical inhibitors. ... 

In the presence of peroxides, hydrogen bromide adds to the double bond of styrene with a regioselectivity opposite to Markovnikov s nrle. The reaction is a free-radical addition, and the regiochemistiy is governed by preferential fonnation of the more stable radical. 

From a synthetic point of view, the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of the cyclization are of paramount importance. As discussed in Section 11.2.3.3 of Part A, the order of preference for cyclization of alkyl radicals is 5-exo > 6-endo 6-exo > 7-endo S-endo > 1-exo because of stereoelectronic preferences. For relatively rigid cyclic structures, proximity and alignment factors determined by the specific geometry of the ring system are of major importance. Theoretical analysis of radical addition indicates that the major interaction of the attacking radical is with the alkene LUMO.321 The preferred direction of attack is not perpendicular to the it system, but rather at an angle of about 110°. 

A new approach to piperidines via cyclization of dienes, such as 158, employs a phosphorus hydride mediated radical addition/cyclization reaction <06JOC3656>. This reaction proceeds with complete regioselectivity to create the 6-exo-trig product 159, although as an inseparable mixture of two of the four possible diastereomers. 

The regioselectivity in radical addition reactions to alkenes in general has successfully been interpreted by a combination of steric and electronic effects1815,47. In the absence of steric effects, regiochemical preferences can readily be explained with FMO theory. The most relevant polyene orbital for the addition of nucleophilic radicals to polyenes will be the LUMO for the addition of electrophilic orbitals it will be the HOMO. Table 10 lists the HOMO and LUMO coefficients (without the phase sign) for the first three members of the polyene family together with those for ethylene as calculated from Hiickel theory and with the AMI semiempirical method48. 

Most of the dienes investigated experimentally show high regioselectivity in radical addition reactions. The preferred position of attack is shown in Scheme 2. 

Aryl- and alkylsulfonyl radicals have been generated from the corresponding iodides and added to, e.g., propadiene (la), enantiomerically enriched (P)-(+)-propa-2,3-diene [(P)-(lc)] and (P)-(-)-cyclonona-l,2-diene [(P)-(lk)] [47]. Diaddition of sulfo-nyl radicals may compete considerably with the monoaddition [48,49]. Also, products of diiodination have been purified from likewise obtained reaction mixtures, which points to a more complex reactivity pattern of these substrates towards cumulated Jt-bonds. An analysis of regioselectivities of arylsulfonyl radical addition to allenes is in agreement with the familiar trend that a-addition occurs in propadiene (la), whereas alkyl-substitution at the cumulated Jt-bond is associated with a marked increase in formation of /3-addition products (Scheme 11.7). 

Guidelines for Predicting Regioselectivities in Radical Additions to Allenes... 

Intermolecular carbon radical additions to allenes proceed regioselectively. The a-addition is favored for propadiene (la), whereas /3-selective additions dominate for... 

Radical addition of dibromodifluoromethane to alkenes followed by sodium borohydride reduction is a convenient two-step method for the introduction of the difluoromethyl group.5 Either one or both carbon-bromine bonds in the intermediate dibromides may be reduced, depending on the reaction conditions. In the case of acyclic dibromodifluoromethane-alkene adducts, the reduction occurs regioselectively to yield the relatively inaccessible bromodifluoromethyl-substituted alkanes. The latter are potential building blocks for other fluorinated compounds. For example, they may be dehydrohalogenated to 1,1-difluoroalkenes an example of this methodology is illustrated in this synthesis of (3,3-difluoroallyl)trimethylsilane. 

Because the addition steps are generally fast and consequently exothermic chain steps, their transition states should occur early on the reaction coordinate and therefore resemble the starting alkene. This was recently confirmed by ab initio calculations for the attack at ethylene by methyl radicals and fluorene atoms. The relative stability of the adduct radicals therefore should have little influence on reacti-vity 2 ). The analysis of reactivity and regioselectivity for radical addition reactions, however, is even more complex, because polar effects seem to have an important influence. It has been known for some time that electronegative radicals X-prefer to react with ordinary alkenes while nucleophilic alkyl or acyl radicals rather attack electron deficient olefins e.g., cyano or carbonyl substituted olefins The best known example for this behavior is copolymerization This view was supported by different MO-calculation procedures and in particular by the successful FMO-treatment of the regioselectivity and relative reactivity of additions of radicals to a series of alkenes An excellent review of most of the more recent experimental data and their interpretation was published recently by Tedder and... 

Many examples of the influence of steric effects on reactivity and regioselectivity in free radical additions are known. The anti-Markownikoff regioselectivity apparently is smalier than originally assumed and frequently dependent on... 

Rates of radical additions to alkenes are controlled mainly by the enthalpy of the reaction, which is the origin of regioselectivity in additions to unsymmetrical systems, with polar effects superimposed when there is a favorable match between the electrophilic or nucleophilic character of the radical and that of the radico-phile. For example, in the addition of an alkyl radical to methyl acrylate (2), the nucleophilic alkyl radical interacts favorably with the resonance structure 3. Polar effects are apparent in the representative rate constants shown in Figure 4.14 for additions of carbon radicals to terminal alkenes. Addition of the electron-deficient or electrophilic rert-butoxycarbonylmethyl radical to the electron-deficient molecule methyl acrylate is 10 times as fast as addition of... 

More recently, radical additions to fluoroethenes have attracted attention. Eguchi et al. [125] applied the Barton decarboxylation procedure to add a range of alkyl radicals to l,l-dichloro-2,2-difluoroethene. Addition was regioselective and the terminal carbon could be hydrolysed to a carboxyl group with silver(I) mediation (Eq. 39). The fluoroalkene is effectively an equivalent for either difluoroacetyl anion or cation synthons, because the adding radical can be approached from either polarity manifold. 

---