Radical Rearrangement mechanism

For systems such as glutamate mutase, 2-methyleneglutarate mutase and methylmalonyl-CoA, Golding and co-workers have proposed the rather different radical rearrangement mechanism illustrate in Scheme 8.5 for 2-methyleneglutarate mutase. 

The occurrence of characteristic by-products can be taken as indicative of a radical pair mechanism in rearrangements. Thus the observation... 

Scheme 5 Photo-Arbuzov rearrangement of arylethylphosphites via a short-lived singlet proximate radical pair mechanism. Reprinted with permission from [22]. Copyright 2001 American Chemical Society...

The reductive elimination of a variety of )3-substituted sulfones for the preparation of di-and tri-substituted olefins (e.g. 75 to 76) and the use of allyl sulfones as synthetic equivalents of the allyl dianion CH=CH—CHj , has prompted considerable interest in the [1,3]rearrangements of allylic sulfones ". Kocienski has thus reported that while epoxidation of allylic sulfone 74 with MCPBA in CH2CI2 at room temperature afforded the expected product 75, epoxidation in the presence of two equivalents of NaHCOj afforded the isomeric j ,y-epoxysulfone 77. Similar results were obtained with other a-mono- or di-substituted sulfones. On the other hand, the reaction of y-substituted allylic sulfones results in the isomerization of the double bond, only. The following addition-elimination free radical chain mechanism has been suggested (equations 45, 46). In a closely related and simultaneously published investigation, Whitham and coworkers reported the 1,3-rearrangement of a number of acyclic and cyclic allylic p-tolyl sulfones on treatment with either benzoyl peroxide in CCI4 under reflux or with... 

Heesing and coworkers have reported the rearrangement of 0-alkylsulfinyl-iV-benzoyl-iV-phenylhydroxylamine (143) at — 70°C to the corresponding sulfonamide together with the o- and p-alkylsulfonyl derivatives 144 and 145 (equation 89). The reaction has been suggested to proceed by an intramolecular radical pair mechanism, as evidenced by experiments with oxygen-18 labeling and C-CIDNP effects. 

One proposed mechanism involved an intramolecular rearrangement, while a second involved a free radical chain mechanism composed of the following sequence of elementary reactions ... 

In the case of 13-LOXs, the active site is again penetrated by the substrate using its methyl end first, whereas with 9-LOXs, the substrate is forced into an inverse orientation, favoring penetration with its carboxy group first. Consequently, a radical rearrangement at either [+2] or [-2], respectively, may be facilitated in both cases by the same mechanism within the active site. 

As previously mentioned, Davis (8) has shown that in model dehydrocyclization reactions with a dual function catalyst and an n-octane feedstock, isomerization of the hydrocarbon to 2-and 3-methylheptane is faster than the dehydrocyclization reaction. Although competitive isomerization of an alkane feedstock is commonly observed in model studies using monofunctional (Pt) catalysts, some of the alkanes produced can be rationalized as products of the hydrogenolysis of substituted cyclopentanes, which in turn can be formed on platinum surfaces via free radical-like mechanisms. However, the 2- and 3-methylheptane isomers (out of a total of 18 possible C8Hi8 isomers) observed with dual function catalysts are those expected from the rearrangement of n-octane via carbocation intermediates. Such acid-catalyzed isomerizations are widely acknowledged to occur via a protonated cyclopropane structure (25, 28), in this case one derived from the 2-octyl cation, which can then be the precursor... 

It has been shown" that isomerization of the exocyclic allylic system of the five-membered ring D of kaurenols depends on the orientation of the C(15) hydroxyl group. The total synthesis of methyl atis-16-en-19-oate, a tetracyclic diterpenoid possessing a bicyclo[2.2.2]octane skeleton, has been accomplished" using a homoallyl-homoallyl radical rearrangement process of methyl 12-hydroxykaur-16-en-19-oate monothioimid-azolide (280) as the pivotal step. Two plausible mechanisms have been presented" ... 

If the photo-Fries reaction would occur via a concerted mechanism, the absence of solvent should be of minor importance for the formation of rearranged products. However, conclusive evidence supporting the radical pair mechanism arises from the experiments carried out with phenyl acetate (10) in the vapor phase. The major product in the irradiations of 10 is phenol (13), which accounts for 65% of the photoproducts. Under these conditions, less than 1% of ortho -hydroxyace-tophenone (11) appears to be formed [19,20]. Conversely, when a high cage effect is expected, as in rigid matrixes (i.e., polyethylene), the result is completely different, and phenol is practically absent from the reaction mixtures [29]. In the intermediate situation (liquid solution), both rearranged products and phenol are formed in variable amounts depending on solvent properties. These observations... 

---