Radical anions from naphthalene

Reduction of trichloroethylene by a series of well-characterized outer-sphere electron-transfer reagents, viz. the radical anions of naphthalene, pyrene, perylene, decamethylcobaltocene, and cobaltocene, resulted in the formation of cis- and trans-dichloroethylene in ratio varying from 0.87 to 4.5, whereas in the reduction by vitamin B12, the ratio was 30 1. This indicated that reduction with vitamin B12 occurs with a non-outer-sphere electron-transfer mechanism. A mechanism involving initial formation of a radical ion followed by an ejection of a chloride to give d.v-dichlorovinyl radical and franx-dichlorovinyl radical has been proposed.284... 

When the life-time of a radical is reduced by rapid intermolecular electron-exchange, all the lines in the spectrum are broadened. The theoretical correlation between line-widths and exchange rates has been discussed (Weissman, 1960 Ward and Weissman, 1957). These authors have determined the rates of electron transfer between naphthalene radical-anion and naphthalene in different solvents and when different metal ions are present. In addition, it is possible to distinguish between the simple exchange reaction, Np -t- Np = Np -j- Np (Np=naphthalene), and that involving the ion-pair, Np Na+ -f Np Np -1- Np Na+, since the e.s.r. spectrum of the ion-pair exhibits a splitting from the Na nucleus (Zandstra and Weissman, 1962). 

The bond lengths in the radical anion of naphthalene are probably intermediate between those of the naphthalene dianion and the naphthalene molecule. The lower-energy angular distortions of the molecule from planarity may however be similar in the radical and dianion species. 

Curiously, in reacting with methyl iodide so readily to make dimethyl dihydro products, the perylene dianion is distinct from the radical anion of naphthalene, which primarily reduces methyl iodide to the methyl radical and the iodide anion. 

Radicals may also result from chemical or electrochemical oxidation or reduction of stable molecules. Single-electron transfer processes initially generate radical cations (for oxidation) or radical anions (for reduction), which may then fragment to radicals and ions. For example, Sargent and coworkers determined that in 1,2-dimethoxyethane solutions the radical anion of naphthalene (sodium naph-thalenide, Na" " Ar ) transferred an electron to propyl iodide. Subsequent loss of... 

Synthesis.—The radical anion from di-t-butylbiphenyl is found to be superior to lithium naphthalene for the reductive removal of halogen from alkyl chlorides (Table la). Alcohols are reduced directly to the corresponding hydrocarbon by the addition of a silane R3SiH to the alcohol in methylene chloride followed by... 

This type of polarization appears to be general in such systems and it has been proposed that it arises because of T i-S mixing. An interesting and important addif ional observation comes from a study of the reaction of isopropyl chloride with sodium naphthalene in a field of 60 G. Net emission in the products is predicted for T i-S mixing and multiplet polarization for Tq-S mixing. Since no multiplet polarization can be detected, it would seem that Tq-S mixing is suppressed in this system (Garst et al., 1971). Presumably, the naphthalene radical anion... 

Of particular note here is that, besides the organolithium derivative, the solvent also plays an important role [191] Me20 was found to be a highly effective for the in-situ production of the radical anion 2-354 from its precursor N,N-dimethylammo naphthalene. For the reductive lithiation of the thioethers and the following steps, the addition of pre-cooled Et20 combined with subsequent removal of the Me20 under reduced pressure gave the best results. 

Thus, if the lifetime of a spin state is 81, the energy level is broadened by an amount H/81, with consequences for ESR line widths. Ward and Weissman1 added some unreduced naphthalene to a solution of the radical anion, and, from the observed broadening, computed 81, and from 8/ the rate constant for the electron transfer reaction ... 

An interesting initiator is the naphthalene radical-anion formed by electron-transfer from sodium to naphthalene... 

In complex organic molecules calculations of the geometry of excited states and hence predictions of chemiluminescent reactions are very difficult however, as is well known, in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons there are relatively small differences in the configurations of the ground state and the excited state. Moreover, the chemiluminescence produced by the reaction of aromatic hydrocarbon radical anions and radical cations is due to simple one-electron transfer reactions, especially in cases where both radical ions are derived from the same aromatic hydrocarbon, as in the reaction between 9.10-diphenyl anthracene radical cation and anion. More complex are radical ion chemiluminescence reactions involving radical ions of different parent compounds, such as the couple naphthalene radical anion/Wurster s blue (see Section VIII. B.). 

The importance of radical ions and electron-transfer reactions has been pointed out in the preceding sections (see also p. 128). Thus, in linear hydrazide chemiluminescence (p. 103) or acridine aldehyde or ketone chemiluminescence, the excitation steps consist in an electron transfer from a donor of appropriate reduction potential to an acceptor in such a way that the electron first occupies the lowest antibonding orbital, as in the reaction of 9-anthranoyl peroxide 96 with naphthalene radical anion 97 142> ... 

Apart from PET-reductive cyclization, chemical reduction has also been applied to the total synthesis of natural products such as capnellenediol 186 [184]. Naphthalene sodium is shown to be a suitable oxidant for generating ketyl radical anions which cyclize efficiently in a 5-exo-dig mode. In contrast, electroreductive cyclization of 184 does not lead to 185, but exclusively to the thermodynamically preferred 5-exo isomer with a remaining double bond in the endocyclic position [185] (Scheme 35). The steroid precursor 4.5-secocholes-tan-5-one 187, in which the lOa-side chain is varied, has been cyclized under the same conditions [186-188] (Scheme 36). Reduction with naphthalene sodium or sodium in ether exclusively produces the A B-cis steroid 188 with an exo double... 

A similar situation is observed in the case of the cation-radical derived from dimethylhexa-phenyl diphosphafnlveninm dication as a resnlt of redaction of the latter by the sodinm salt of the naphthalene anion-radical (Biaso et al. 2006). According to ESR, x-ray experimental data, and results of DFT calculations, the diphosphafnlveninm cation-radical detains the excess electron density within the exocyclic double bond (see Scheme 3.41). Stabilization is gained by conjngation with the two pentavalent phosphorus atoms. Biaso et al. (2006) rationalize the electronic strnctnre throngh two valence-isomeric fluidic forms of the distonic type. 

Methods of electron spectroscopy are widely used to follow the electron-transfer process. Thus, the progress of electron transfer from naphthalene anion-radical to cup-stacked carbon nanotubes is easily detected by monitoring the UV absorption spectrum. Namely, the absorption band around 500-900 nm due to naphthalene anion-radical completely disappears after reduction of the nanotubes. At the same time, the reduced nanotubes exhibit ESR spectrum characterized with g-factor of 2.0025 (Saito et al. 2006). This g-value is close to the free spin g-factor of 2.0023 that is diagnostic of the delocalized electron on carbon nanomaterials (Stinchcombe et al. 1993). It should be parallelly... 

Since different reactivity is observed for both the stoichiometric and the catalytic version of the arene-promoted lithiation, different species should be involved in the electron-transfer process from the metal to the organic substrate. It has been well-established that in the case of the stoichiometric version an arene-radical anion [lithium naph-thalenide (LiCioHg) or lithium di-ferf-butylbiphenylide (LiDTBB) for using naphthalene or 4,4 -di-ferf-butylbiphenyl (DTBB) as arenes, respectively] is responsible for the reduction of the substrate, for instance for the transformation of an alkyl halide into an alkyllithium . For the catalytic process, using naphthalene as the arene, an arene-dianion 2 has been proposed which is formed by overreduction of the corresponding radical-anion 1 (Scheme 1). Actually, the dianionic species 2 has been prepared by a completely different approach, namely by double deprotonation of 1,4-dihydronaphthalene, and its X-ray structure determined as its complex with two molecules of N,N,N N tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA). ... 

The reaction involves the transfer of an electron from the alkali metal to naphthalene. The radical nature of the anion-radical has been established from electron spin resonance spectroscopy and the carbanion nature by their reaction with carbon dioxide to form the carboxylic acid derivative. The equilibrium in Eq. 5-65 depends on the electron affinity of the hydrocarbon and the donor properties of the solvent. Biphenyl is less useful than naphthalene since its equilibrium is far less toward the anion-radical than for naphthalene. Anthracene is also less useful even though it easily forms the anion-radical. The anthracene anion-radical is too stable to initiate polymerization. Polar solvents are needed to stabilize the anion-radical, primarily via solvation of the cation. Sodium naphthalene is formed quantitatively in tetrahy-drofuran (THF), but dilution with hydrocarbons results in precipitation of sodium and regeneration of naphthalene. For the less electropositive alkaline-earth metals, an even more polar solent than THF [e.g., hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA)] is needed. 

The radical-anion proceeds to propagate in the same manner as discussed above for initiation by sodium naphthalene. (Polymerizations in liquid ammonia are very different from those in organic solvents in that free ions probably constitute the major portion of propagating species.)... 

More recently, charge-transfer emission was anticipated when solutions of hydrocarbon anion radical salts in dimethoxyethane were mixed with Wurster s blue perchlorate.15 Emission was seen in every instance however, with eight anion radicals derived from 3 to 5 ring-fused aromatic hydrocarbons, the emission was derived from the hydrocarbon rather than the complex. Preliminary studies with smaller hydrocarbons, biphenyl and naphthalene, did show emission in the region (18 kK) where charge transfer was expected. The question as to what pairs of ion radicals will be emissive under what conditions has only begun to be considered. Much opportunity for further experimentation exists in this area. 

The ESR method has thus far been applied only to a few radical anions derived from aza analogues of benzene, naphthalene, and... 

Electron transfer from polycyclic aromatic radical anions in polar solvents can also initiate propagation.120 168 169173 One of the early and best understood systems is naphthalene-sodium, a green solution of stable, solvated naphthalene radical anion.176 177 The electron transfer from the radical anion to the monomer yields a new radical anion [Eq. (13.33)]. The dominant reaction of the latter is its head-to-head dimerization to the stabile dimeric dicarbanion [Eq. (13.34)], which is the driving force for the electron transfer even when electron affinity of the monomer is less than that of the polycyclic molecule. Propagation proceeds at both ends of the chain ... 

Esr spectra are subject to exchange effects in the same way as nmr spectra. A specific example is provided by electron exchange between sodium naphthalenide and naphthalene. Naphthalene has a set of ten 77-molecular orbitals, similar to the six 7r-molecular orbitals of benzene (Figure 21-5). The ten naphthalene it electrons fill the lower five of these orbitals. In a solvent such as 1,2-dimethoxyethane, which solvates small metal ions well, naphthalene accepts an electron from a sodium atom and forms sodium naphthalenide, a radical anion ... 

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