Radical chain reaction synthesis

A. Studer, S. Amrein, Tin Hydride Substitutes in Reductive Radical Chain Reactions, Synthesis 2002, 835-849. 

W. B. Motherwell, D. Crich Free Radical Chain Reactions in Organic Synthesis (Academic Press 1992)... 

Curran2 has reviewed recent applications of the tin hydride method for initiation of radical chain reactions in organic synthesis (191 references). The review covers intermolecular additions of radicals to alkenes (Giese reaction) as well as intramolecular radical cyclizations, including use of vinyl radical cyclization. 

Most of the many applications of the tin hydrides in organic synthesis proceed by radical chain reactions in which one step involves the reaction of a radical X- with the tin hydride to abstract hydrogen and generate a stannyl radical,... 

The reactions of atoms or radicals with silicon hydrides, germanium hydrides, and tin hydrides are the key steps in formation of the metal-centered radicals [Eq. (1)]. Silyl radicals play a strategic role in diverse areas of science, from the production of silicon-containing ceramics to applications in polymers and organic synthesis.1 Tin hydrides have been widely applied in synthesis in radical chain reactions that were well established decades ago.2,3 Germanium hydrides have been less commonly employed but provide some attractive features for organic synthesis. 

Radical cyclizations of this type can be also achieved in chemical radical chain reactions [124, 125], often in a wider scope. The anodically initiated cyclization, however, has advantages. It avoids tin hydride, which is mostly used as coreagent in chemical radical chain cyclizations and because the toxicity of tin organics makes these reactions less attractive for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals. In chemical radical chain reactions, which involve in most cases an addition and an atom-transfer reaction, one C,C- and one C,H- or C,X bond is being formed, while in anodic addition followed by heterocoupling two C,C bonds are being formed, where the second one is established simply and in wide variety by the appropriate choice of the coacid. 

For reviews of chemical approaches to radical cyclization reactions see a) Motherwell WB, Crich D (1992) Free radical chain reactions in organic synthesis, Academic Press, London, b) Giese B (1986) Radicals in organic synthesis formation of carbon-carbon bonds, Pergamon, Oxford, and c) Jasperse CP, Curran DP, Fevig TL (1991) Chem Rev 91 1237... 

Results of a chemical activation induced by ultrasound have been reported by Nakamura et al. in the initiation of radical chain reactions with tin radicals [59]. When an aerated solution of R3SnH and an olefin is sonicated at low temperatures (0 to 10 °C), hydroxystannation of the double bond occurs and not the conventional hydrostannation achieved under silent conditions (Scheme 3.10). This point evidences the differences between radical sonochemistry and the classical free radical chemistry. The result was interpreted on the basis of the generation of tin and peroxy radicals in the region of hot cavities, which then undergo synthetic reactions in the bulk liquid phase. These findings also enable the sonochemical synthesis of alkyl hydroperoxides by aerobic reductive oxygenation of alkyl halides [60], and the aerobic catalytic conversion of alkyl halides into alcohols by trialkyltin halides [61]. 

The reduction of thiocarbonyl derivatives by EtsSiH can be described as a chain process under forced conditions (Reaction 4.50) [89,90]. Indeed, in Reaction (4.51) for example, the reduction of phenyl thiocarbonate in EtsSiD as the solvent needed 1 equiv of dibenzoyl peroxide as initiator at 110 °C, and afforded the desired product in 91 % yield, where the deuterium incorporation was only 48% [90]. Nevertheless, there are some interesting applications for these less reactive silanes in radical chain reactions. For example, this method was used as an efficient deoxygenation step (Reaction 4.52) in the synthesis of 4,4-difluoroglutamine [91]. 1,2-Diols can also be transformed into olefins using the Barton-McCombie methodology. Reaction (4.53) shows the olefination procedure of a bis-xanthate using EtsSiH [89]. 

Motherwell Free Radical Chain Reactions in Organic Synthesis, 1991... 

W. Motherwell and D. Crich, Free Radical Chain Reactions in Organic Synthesis, Academic Press, London, 1992. J. M. Tedder, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 21 401 (1982). 

Halogen-mediated synthesis of cyclic peroxides through free radical chain reactions... 

Most radicals are highly reactive, and there are few examples where one would produce a stable radical product in a reaction. Reference to a radical reaction in synthesis or in Nature, almost always concerns a sequence of elementary reactions that give a composite reaction. Multistep radical sequences are discussed in general terms in this section so that the elementary radical reactions presented later can be viewed in the context of real conversions. The sequences can be either radical chain reactions or radical nonchain reactions. Most synthetic apphcations involve radical chain reactions, and these comprise the bulk of organic synthetic sequences and commercial applications. Nonchain reaction sequences are largely involved in radical reactions in biology. Some synthetic radical conversions are nonchain processes, and some recent advances in commercial polymerization reactions involve nonchain sequences. 

D. P. Curran, The design and applications of free radical chain reactions in organic synthesis 1 and II, Synthesis pp, 417, 489 (1988). 

The free-radical construction of C—C bonds either inter- or intramolecularly using a hydride as mediator is of great importance in chemical synthesis. The propagation steps for the intermolecular version are shown in Scheme 2. For a successful outcome, it is important (i) that the R sSi radical reacts faster with RZ (the precursor of radical R ) than with the alkene and (ii) that the alkyl radical reacts faster with alkene (to form the adduct radical) than with the silane. In other words, for a synthetically useful radical chain reaction, the intermediates must be disciplined. Therefore, in a synthetic plan one is faced with the task of considering kinetic data or substituent influence on the selectivity of radicals. The reader should note that the hydrogen donation step controls the radical sequence and, often, the concentration of silane provides the variable by which the products distribution can be influenced. 

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