Radical synthons alkyl

In the synthesis of molecules without functional groups the application of the usual polar synthetic reactions may be cumbersome, since the final elimination of hetero atoms can be difficult. Two solutions for this problem have been given in the previous sections, namely alkylation with nucleophilic carbanions and alkenylation with ylides. Another direct approach is to combine radical synthons in a non-polar reaction. Carbon radicals are. however, inherently short-lived and tend to undergo complex secondary reactions. Escheirmoser s principle (p. 34f) again provides a way out. If one connects both carbon atoms via a metal atom which (i) forms and stabilizes the carbon radicals and (ii) can be easily eliminated, the intermolecular reaction is made intramolecular, and good yields may be obtained. 

Interestingly, the reaction of an alkyl radical with carbon monoxide as a Cl radical synthon has been extensively studied in recent years [47]. The efficient trapping of CO by a variety of alkyl radicals in a radical chain has been demonstrated since 1990 but is discussed separately in this book (Volume 2, Chapter 1.2). 

More recently, radical additions to fluoroethenes have attracted attention. Eguchi et al. [125] applied the Barton decarboxylation procedure to add a range of alkyl radicals to l,l-dichloro-2,2-difluoroethene. Addition was regioselective and the terminal carbon could be hydrolysed to a carboxyl group with silver(I) mediation (Eq. 39). The fluoroalkene is effectively an equivalent for either difluoroacetyl anion or cation synthons, because the adding radical can be approached from either polarity manifold. 

Radical carbonylation of an alkyl iodide in the presence of Kim s sulfonyl oxime ethers provides a new type of multi-component coupling reaction, and a typical example is given in Scheme 4-38 [65]. In this method, plural radical Cl synthons are consecutively combined. 

The radical carbonylation of an alkyl iodide in the presence of Kim s sulfonyl oxime ethers [58, 59, 60] provides a new type of multicomponent coupling reaction where plural radical Cl synthons are consecutively combined [61]. In the transformation, allyltin was used to serve as a trap of benzenesulfonyl radical which converts sulfonyl radical to a tin radical, thus creating a chain. Scheme 14 illustrates such an example, where the product was easily dehydroxylated to give the corresponding tricarbonyl compound on treatment with zinc/AcOH. The radical acylation reaction by Kim s sulfonyl oxime ethers can be conducted under irradiation with the addition of hexamethylditin. This is an alternative path for achieving a similar transformation without the use of photolysis equipment. Scheme 15 illustrates several examples where carbon monoxide and Kim s sulfonyl oxime ethers are successfully combined to create new tandem radical reaction sequences [61],... 

By photolyzing a solution of the allyl aryl sulfoxide at slightly elevated temperature at appropriate wavelengths, allyloxy radicals were produced from photolysis of the steady state concentration of the sulfenate. Another study examined the regioselectivity of addition of the alkyl and sulfenyl radicals across olefins and allenes [155], Control of these elements allowed potentially useful synthetic transformations to be designed [156], particularly as the sulfenate may be viewed as an O-H abstraction synthon . 

It was shown that a variety of readily available (Z) and ( )-enol phosphates are good stereoselective synthons. Thus as5unmetric epoxidation of these phosphates using Jacobsen s (Salen)Mn(ii) complex afforded a-hydroxy ketones in enantio-selectivity up to 96%. The reaction of enantiomerically enriched 2-methyl-2-nitro-3-(diphenylphosphatoxy)alkyl radicals (80) with tributyltin hydride and AIBN in benzene results in the formation of alkene radical/anion pairs (81) which are trapped intramolecularly, leading to pyrolidine and piperidine systems (82) with memory of stereochemistry (Scheme 17). ... 

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