Radical initiators dibenzoyl peroxide

Recall that the initiation step generates the radicals. In this case the weak oxygen-oxygen bond of the initiator, dibenzoyl peroxide, cleaves to produce two benzoyloxy radicals. A benzoyloxy radical then adds to the CC double bond of an ethylene molecule ... 

The extent of decarboxylation primarily depends on temperature, pressure, and the stabihty of the incipient R- radical. The more stable the R- radical, the faster and more extensive the decarboxylation. With many diacyl peroxides, decarboxylation and oxygen—oxygen bond scission occur simultaneously in the transition state. Acyloxy radicals are known to form initially only from diacetyl peroxide and from dibenzoyl peroxides (because of the relative instabihties of the corresponding methyl and phenyl radicals formed upon decarboxylation). Diacyl peroxides derived from non-a-branched carboxyhc acids, eg, dilauroyl peroxide, may also initially form acyloxy radical pairs however, these acyloxy radicals decarboxylate very rapidly and the initiating radicals are expected to be alkyl radicals. Diacyl peroxides are also susceptible to induced decompositions ... 

Aromatic diacyl peroxides such as dibenzoyl peroxide (BPO) [94-36-0] may be used with promoters to lower the usehil decomposition temperatures of the peroxides, although usually with some sacrifice to radical generation efficiency. The most widely used promoter is dimethylaniline (DMA). The BPO—DMA combination is used for hardening (curing) of unsaturated polyester resin compositions, eg, body putty in auto repair kits. Here, the aromatic amine promoter attacks the BPO to initially form W-benzoyloxydimethylanilinium benzoate (ion pair) which subsequentiy decomposes at room temperature to form a benzoate ion, a dimethylaniline radical cation, and a benzoyloxy radical that, in turn, initiates the curing reaction (33) ... 

The free-radical reaction may be equally initiated by photoactivated sulfur dioxide (3S02)442 (equation 79). On the other hand, polysulfones are obtained by radical copolymerization of appropriate olefins with sulfur dioxide443-449, and similarly, uptake of sulfur dioxide by a radical-pair formed by nitrogen extrusion from an azo compound yields the corresponding sulfone450 (equation 80). Correspondingly, alkylbenzenes, dibenzoyl peroxide, and sulfur dioxide yield sulfones under thermal conditions451... 

Basically, three reactions were evoked to support the occurrence of 5a-C-centered radicals 10 in tocopherol chemistry. The first one is the formation of 5a-substituted derivatives (8) in the reaction of a-tocopherol (1) with radicals and radical initiators. The most prominent example here is the reaction of 1 with dibenzoyl peroxide leading to 5a-a-tocopheryl benzoate (11) in fair yields,12 so that a typical radical recombination mechanism was postulated (Fig. 6.6). Similarly, low yields of 5a-alkoxy-a-tocopherols were obtained by oxidation of a-tocopherol with tert-butyl hydroperoxide or other peroxides in inert solvents containing various alcohols,23 24 although the involvement of 5 a-C-centered radicals in the formation mechanism was not evoked for explanation in these cases. 

At pressures above 6000 bar, free radical polymerisation sometimes proceeded explosively [ 1 ]. The parameters were determined in a batch reactor for thermal runaway polymerisation of acrylonitrile initiated by azoisobutyronitrile, dibenzoyl peroxide or di-/er/-butyl peroxide [2],... 

The yield of cage reaction products increases with increasing viscosity of the solvent. The decomposition of diacyl peroxides was the object of intensive study. The values of rate constants of diacyl peroxides (diacetyl and dibenzoyl) decomposition (kf and initiation (ki = 2ekd) are collected in Tables 3.4 and Table 3.5. The values of e are collected in the Handbook of Radical Initiators [4]. 

Peroxides are used when the reaction requires a more reactive initiating species. Thermolysis of dibenzoyl peroxide [PhC(0)0—OC(0)Ph], with a ti/2 of 1 h at 95 °C and 7 h at 70 °C, is the most familiar to synthetic chemists. It initially produces acyloxyl radicals that often decarboxylate prior to undergoing bimolecular reactions and affording the equally reactive phenyl radicals. 

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]. 

Homolytic cleavage of most a bonds may be achieved if the compound is subjected to a sufficiently high temperature, typically about 200 °C. However, some weak bonds will undergo homolysis at temperatures little above room temperature. Bonds of peroxy and azo compounds fall in this category, and such compounds may be used to initiate a radical process. Di-tert-butyl peroxide, dibenzoyl peroxide... 

It must be emphasized that, in contrast to the initiation of polymerization with peroxo compounds or azo compounds, not every redox system is suitable for initiating polymerization of every unsaturated monomer. Before attempting to polymerize a new compound with a redox system it is, therefore, advisable first to test its radical polymerizability with dibenzoyl peroxide. 

There remains an area where progress is still to be made. This is in the invention of new, inexpensive, and temperature-variable initiators. The present reliance on azoiso-butyronitrile (AlBN) and dibenzoyl peroxide limits the temperature range, and there is always some danger with peroxides. The use of triethylborane and oxygen, originally introduced by Brown some decades ago, has recently been appreciated better because it permits radical initiation at low temperatures. 

Photoinitiation of free-radical reactions.2 Use of thermal initiators for radical sources, such as AIBN or dibenzoyl peroxide, requires temperatures >50°. This perester, in contrast, decomposes at room temperature or below on irradiation at 360 nm. This mode of initiation can be useful when stereoselectivity is enhanced at lower temperatures. 

However, as mentioned above, there are cases such as dibenzoyl peroxide decomposition, when primary free radicals interact with the initial substance and thus promote its faster decomposition to the same final products, as with usual decomposition (scheme (1.6)). If other reaction products are formed, untypical of decomposition of the initial substance, this means that one more complex reaction proceeds (besides decomposition), the presence of which hinders the relation of all products formed to only usual decomposition of the initial... 

Radical cyclization with iodine atom transfer of a highly functionalized propiolic ester 103 using dibenzoyl peroxide as an initiator gave the a-methylene-y-butyrolactone 104 in good yield [95T11257]. The relative stereochemistry at carbon atoms 4 and 5 are established during the reaction. The intermediate 104 has been converted to the anti-tumor agent (-)-methylenolactocin 105. 

Radical initiators are thermally labile compounds, which decompose into radicals upon moderate heating or photolysis. These radicals initiate the actual radical chain through the formation of the initiating radical. The most frequently used radical initiators are azobis-isobu-tyronitrile (AIBN) and dibenzoyl peroxide (Figure 1.11). AIBN has has a half-life of 1 h at 80 °C, and dibenzoyl peroxide a half-life of 1 h at 95 °C. 

To initiate the chain reaction catalytic amounts of dibenzoyl peroxide are used. Dibenzoyl peroxide undergoes multistep fragmentation to give the phenyl radical (cf. Figure 1.37), which abstracts a Cl atom from sulfuryl chloride and thus generates the initiating radical S02CI. 

The most important autoxidation used industrially is the synthesis of cumene hydroperoxide from cumene and air (i.e., diluted oxygen) (Figure 1.37). It is initiated by catalytic amounts of dibenzoyl peroxide as the radical initiator (cf. Figure 1.11). The cumyl radical is produced... 

Dibenzoyl peroxide is an important compound because it can act as another initiator of radical reactions we ll see why later. It undergoes homolysis simply on heating. 

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