Radical dimerization mechanism

Majeti11 has studied the photochemistry of simple /I-ketosulfoxides, PhCOCH2SOCH3, and found cleavage of the sulfur-carbon bond, especially in polar solvents, and the Norrish Type II process to be the predominant pathways, leading to both 1,2-dibenzoylethane and methyl methanethiolsulfonate by radical dimerization, as well as acetophenone (equation 3). Nozaki and coworkers12 independently revealed similar results and reported in addition a pH-dependent distribution of products. Miyamoto and Nozaki13 have shown the incorporation of protic solvents into methyl styryl sulfoxide, by a polar addition mechanism. 

There are two mains aspects of the role of dimerization of intermediates on the electrochemical responses that are worth investigating in some detail. One concerns the effect of dimerization on the primary intermediate on the current-potential curves that corresponds to the first electron transfer step, the one along which the first intermediate is generated. Analysis of this effect allows the determination of the dimerization mechanism (radical-radical vs. radical-substrate). It is the object of the remainder of this section. 

The simplest electrodimerization mechanism occurs when the species formed as the result of a first electron transfer reaction reacts with itself to form a dimer (Scheme 2.7). This mechanism is usually termed radical-radical dimerization (RRD) because the most extensive studies where it occurs have dealt with the dimerization of anion and cation radicals formed upon a first electron transfer step as opposed to the case of radical-substrate dimerizations, which will be discussed subsequently. It is a bimolecular version of the EC mechanism. The bimolecular character of the follow-up reaction leads to nonlinear algebra and thus complicates slightly the analysis and numerical computation of the system. The main features of the cyclic voltammetric responses remain qualitatively similar, however. Unlike the EC case, however, the dimensionless parameter,... 

Probably the most familiar radical reactions leading to 1,2-D systems are the so called acyloin condensation and the different variants of the "pinacol condensation". Both types of condensation involve an electron-transfer from a metal atom to a carbonyl compound (whether an ester or an aldehyde or a ketone) to give a radical anion which either dimerises directly, if the concentration of the species is very high, or more generally it reacts with the starting neutral carbonyl compound and then a second electron is transferred from the metal to the radical dimer species (for an alternative mechanism of the acyloin condensation, see Bloomfield, 1975 [29]). 

The shape of this wave and the variation with pH are both consistent with fast equ-librium reactions In the pH region lower than the value of pK, for the hydroxyl radical, the reactions of this hydroxyl radical dominate the electrochemical process. Controlled potential reduction at the potential of this first wave indicates a IF process and the principal products are dimers of the hydroxyl radical. The second wave in this acidic region is due to addition of an electron and a proton to the neutral radical. This process competes with dimerization in the mid-pH range where the two polarographic waves merge. Over the pH range 7-9, monohydric alcohol is the principal product. At pH <3 or >12, pinacols are the main products. Unsymmet-rical carbonyl compounds afford mixtures of ( )- and meso-pinacols. Data (Table 10.3) for the ( ) / meso isomer ratio for pinacols from acetophenone and propio-phenone indicate different dimerization mechanisms in acid and in alkaline solutions. 

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). 

A radical ipso substitution at the 3-position of 2,3-disubstituted indoles has also been reported in their reaction with benzoyl-r-butyl nitroxide leading to (227) or, with the 2-substituted indole, the dimer (228) (cf. Section 3.05.1.4) (81CC694). In contrast with the benzoyloxylation reactions the nitroxide radical initially abstracts the hydrogen atom at the 1-position to form the indolyl radical. This mechanism is supported by the failure of the corresponding 1 -methylindole to undergo an analogous oxidation. 

The photochemistry of ir-allylpalladium complexes has been studied to a limited extent. Two basic reactions have been observed. Irradiation at 366 nm of ir-allylpalladium complexes produced 1,5-diene dimers, reportedly via a radical coupling mechanism.334 333 Similar irradiations in the presence of species capable of trapping the presumed allyl radical intermediate, such as BrCCb, BrCH2Ph or allyl bromide, now yield alkylated and halogenated allyls, in addition to 1,5-diene dimer. This reaction fails for simple alkyl or aryl halides due to the instability of the associated radical (equations 130 and 131 ).336... 

Further to its ability to perform allylic and benzylic oxidations,149 /-butylpcroxy-iodane (6) effects radical oxidation of 4-alkylphenols to give 2,5-cyclohexadien-l-ones under mild conditions in good yields.150 o,o-Coupling dimers as side products and inhibition of the reaction by added galvinoxyl radical scavenger support a radical oxidation mechanism. 

It will be shown below that alkyl radicals add predominantly at the C(6)-positions of the pyrimidines and, when products as shown above are found after OH-attack in very complex systems such as nucleohistones (e.g., Gajewski et al. 1988 Dizdaroglu and Gajewski 1989 Dizdaroglu et al. 1989 Gajewski and Dizd-aroglu 1990) or Thy dimers in polydeoxythymidylic acid (Karam et al. 1986), it cannot be fully excluded that they are formed via the trivial two-radical recombination mechanism. 

Specifically, two p.-aqua-bridges located in the cleft of the dimer have one hydrogen pointing outward from each side, thus allowing the photo-excited p-benzoquinone (labeled in Scheme 8), but not a bulky 2,5-/-Bu-/ -bcnzoquinone, to enter the cleft and abstract a H radical. This mechanism is consistent with the proposed role of the tyrosyl Yz radical as H abstractor from water [165]. The reaction, however, is not catalytic, because of the irreversible formation of hydroquinone. 

The description of the chemisorption in terms of cycloaddition reactions is useful if it leads to reliable predictions of the reaction products for most reactions, a variety of products are possible, yet only one will result from a particular cycloaddition mechanism. Central to the applicability of such schemes is the notion that the silicon dimers contain a weak 7r bond responsible for the enforced concerted motion of the two electrons involved. However, in reality there is little evidence to support the presence of even a weak 7r bond within the dimers. While DFT calculations that enforce spin pairing depict the bond as a singlet biradical [32], spin-polarized calculations predict a triplet ground state for the unbuckled dimer [33] with no 7T character whatsoever. The decoupling of the two silicon electrons means that their motion is not likely to be concerted so that a [2+2] cycloaddition reaction becomes better represented as an independent [1 + 2+1] process, a notation that recognizes the independence of the silicon free radicals. This mechanism is also illustrated in Fig. 3. In practice such a reaction is unlikely to proceed in a concerted fashion, and a key signature for it would be the... 

On the other hand, Russell and coworkers have proposed that the substitution and enolate dimerization products, formed in the reactions of 2-substituted-2-nitropropanes (XCMe2N02, X = Cl, N02, / -MePhS02) with nucleophiles that easily lose one electron, such as the mono enolate anions ArC(OLi)=CHR (R = Me, Et, z -Pr, zz-Bu) and t-BuC(OLi)=CH2, can be rationalized on the basis of a free radical chain mechanism involving bimolecular substitution or ET reactions between the enolate anion and the intermediate nitroalkane radical anion62. An S 2 -type mechanism has also been recently suggested for the reaction of pentafluoronitrobenzene with several nucleophiles in aqueous media65. 

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