Cation radicals, rearrangements with

Radical cations generated in a mass spectrometer from aldehydes and ketones with y hydrogens undergo a rearrangement in which a y hydrogen is first transferred and a carbon-carbon bond is then cleaved, e.g. 

Fig. 8.9 Possible mechanisms of the bioluminescence reaction of dinoflagellate luciferin, based on the results of the model study (Stojanovic and Kishi, 1994b Stojanovic, 1995). The luciferin might react with molecular oxygen to form the luciferin radical cation and superoxide radical anion (A), and the latter deproto-nates the radical cation at C.132 to form (B). The collapse of the radical pair might yield the excited state of the peroxide (C). Alternatively, luciferin might be directly oxygenated to give C, and C rearranges to give the excited state of the hydrate (D) by the CIEEL mechanism. Both C and D can be the light emitter.

Fortunately, for this solvent, the electron-capture centres give very broad e.s.r. features at 77 K, and hence the spectra for S + cations are readily distinguished. We know of no instance in which S + cations are not formed provided the ionization potential of S is less than that of the solvent. There are two complicating factors, one is unimolecular break-down or rearrangement of the radical cations, and the other is weak complexation with a solvent molecule. The latter is readily detected because specific interaction with one chlorine or one fluorine nucleus occurs, and the resulting hyperfine features are usually well-defined. 

Although the Capdevielle reaction for one-pot conversion of aldehydes to nitriles is a very convenient and widely applicable synthetic procedure, 3-substituted furoxans appear to be susceptible to rearrangement when substitutions with amine nucleophiles are attempted, even under relatively mild conditions (Scheme 29) <1999JOC8748>. The formation of the final product 107 in this reaction was explained via phenyl abstraction by carbamoyl radical cation from the second molecule of intermediate product 106 < 1999JOC8748>. 

Iron(II) salts, usually in conjunction with catalytic amounts of copper(II) compounds, have also been used to mediate radical additions to dienes91,92. Radicals are initially generated in these cases by reductive cleavage of peroxyesters of hydroperoxides to yield, after rearrangement, alkyl radicals. Addition to dienes is then followed by oxidation of the allyl radical and trapping by solvent. Hydroperoxide 67, for example, is reduced by ferrous sulfate to acyclic radical 68, which adds to butadiene to form adduct radical 69. Oxidation of 69 by copper(H) and reaction of the resulting allyl cation 70 with methanol yield product 71 in 61% yield (equation 29). 

Stevenson s rule is applicable for the rearrangement processes as well. In this case a radical cation and a molecule are formed, that is, two molecules compete for the charge. The molecule with lower IE becomes the radical cation. 

At one time considered as two distinct reactions occurring by different mechanisms [51], the fragmentations of Scheme 2 and the rearrangments of Scheme 5 are now seen as different facets of the same fundamental heterolysis of -substituted alkyl radicals into alkene radical cations, with the eventual outcome determined by the reaction conditions [52],... 

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