Radicals ammoniumyl

Like all cation radicals, ammoniumyls are sensitive to nucleophiles (to reactants or admixtures). At the same time, l,l,l,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-ol as a solvent drastically curtails nucleophilic reactivity and provides good integrity of the tris(4-bromophenyl)am-moniumyl at ambient temperatures (Eberson, Hartshorn et al. 1996). 

Tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate (TBPA) differs from the other promoters in that its cation is a radical, and as such produces radical cationic sulfonium ions as glycosylating species from thioglycosides.85 The use of this promoter arose from earlier work on the electrochemical generation of 5-glycosyl radical cations as glycosylating species. 

Thioglycosides can also be activated by a one-electron transfer reaction from sulfur to the activating reagent tris-(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroanti-monate (TBPA+) [102,103]. The use of this promoter was inspired by an earlier report where activation was achieved under electrochemical conditions to give an intermediate S-glycosyl radical cation intermediate [104], and the reactivity and mechanism have also been explored [105,106]. 

Ionization of the substrates to cation-radicals is affected by means of tris(4-bromophenyl) ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate (see Section 1.7.11). Subsequent reduction of the cation-radicals is accomplished by tributyltin hydride. For example, l,l-di(anisyl)ethylene was efficiently (93%) reduced essentially at the time of mixing (less than 1 min). Scheme 7.4. 

The tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate salt is not a rare reactant. It is available commercially. It can be readily prepared quantitatively from the recovered tris(4-bromophenyl)amine (Bell et al. 1969). It is also probably the most shelf stable of all the stable cation-radical salts. 

Tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexafluoroantimonate was used as an oxidant. Reacting with a great excess of diazoacetophenone in dichloromethane at room temperature, the ammoniumyl transforms into tris(4-bromophenyl)amine. This means that one-electron oxidation of the substrate takes place. Diazoacetophenone transforms into a cation-radical and gives a polymer containing only the phenylcarbonyl side groups (Scheme 7.15). 

Along with homopolymerization, copolymerization has also been studied within the framework of initiation by tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate (Bauld et al. 1998a). Generally, cation-radical cycloaddition occurs more efficiently when the reactive cation-radical is the ionized dienophile (Bauld 1989, 1992). In the cited work on copolymerization, the bis(diene) was chosen to be resistant against ionization by the initiator used. As to the dienophile functionality, propenyl rather than vinyl moieties were selected because terminal methyl groups sharply enhance the ionizability of the alkene functions. The polymerization shown in Scheme 7.18 was performed in dichloromethane at 0°C. 

The sterically hindered base 2,6-bis(tert-butyl)pyridine does not inhibit cyclization triaryl-amine retards this reaction photosensibilized one-electron oxidation of a diene leads to the same products, which are formed in the presence of ammoniumyl salt. As shown, in majority of cases, only the cation-radical chain mechanism of the diene-diene cyclization is feasible (Bauld et al. 1987). Meanwhile, cyclodimerizations of 2,4-dimethylpenta-l,3-diene (Gassman and Singleton 1984) and l,4-dimethylcyclohexa-l,3- or -1,4-diene (Davies et al. 1985) proceed through both mechanisms. 

Although the 1,6 cyclization takes place in the thermal process, the cation-radical initiation leads to the 1,5 cyclization (Ramkumar et al. 1996). Chemical oxidation of o-diethynylbenzene bearing two terminal phenyl groups by tris(p-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate as the catalytic oxidizing agent in the presence of oxygen yields 3-benzoyl-2-phenylindenone in 70% yield (Scheme 7.26). 

Without ion-radical initiation, the yield of the resulted product reaches 50% for 24 h. Practically the same yield can be achieved for the same time in the presence of tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate and for only 6 h on sonication (Nebois et al. 1996). Sonication accelerates the rate-determining formation of the diene cation-radical. Of course, hydroxynaphthoquinone is strong enough as an electron-acceptor with respect to 2-butenal Af,Af-dimethylhydrazone. Therefore, the question remains whether sonication is more or less the general method for the initiation of ion-radical cycloaddition. A possible role of sonication in optimization of ion-radical reactions was considered in Section 5.2.5. 

The reaction of 1,3-disubstituted bicyclo[2.1.0]pentanes with tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate (the latter in catalytic amounts) leads to the corresponding cyclopentene after 1,2-hydrogen or 1,2-alkyl migration in the intermediary 1,3-cation-radicals (Adam and Sahin 1994 Scheme 7.47). 

Under suitable conditions, further oxidation of the coupled products produces isolable dimer cation radicals. Thus treatment of 9-alkylcarbazoles with lead tetracetate in acetic acid-perchloric acid, or with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone in acetic acid-perchloric acid, or with tris-(p-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl perchlorate in methylene chloride, or with nitrosonium borofluoride in acetonitrile all gave isolable cation radical perchlorates such as 17. These were reducible with aqueous sodium dithi-onite to the corresponding bicarbazoles the dimer cation radicals could be produced again by reoxidation of the dimer using 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone in acid solution. ... 

The most common reactions involving nucleophiles and porphyrin systems take place on the metalloporphyrin 77-cation radical (i.e. the one-electron oxidized species) rather than on the metalloporphyrin itself. One-electron oxidation can be accomplished electrochemi-cally (Section 3.07.2.4.6) or by using oxidants such as iodine, bromine, ammoniumyl salts, etc. Once formed, the 77-cation radicals (61) react with a variety of nucleophiles such as nitrite, pyridine, imidazole, cyanide, triphenylphosphine, thiocyanate, acetate, trifluoroace-tate and azide, to give the correspondingly substituted porphyrins (62) after simple acid catalyzed demetallation (79JA5953). The species produced by two-electron oxidations of metalloporphyrins (77-dications) are also potent electrophiles and react with nucleophiles to yield similar products. 

In cases when tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate turns out as a weak one-electron oxidant, its 2,4-dibromo- or even 2,3,4,5,6-hexachloro- analogs are employed (Nelsen et al. 1997). After a one-electron oxidation, these ammoniumyls transform into tri(aryl)amines. They are remarkably nonreactive as nucleophiles. After the electron transfer, the hexachloroanytimonate anion begins to serve as a counterion for newly formed cation radicals of a donor molecule. 

The phenomena enumerated in Section 2.4 do not, of course, fully describe all the differences between chemical and electrode processes of ion radical formation. From time to time, effects are found that cannot be clearly interpreted and categorized. For instance, one paper should be mentioned. It bears the symbolic title ir- and a-Diazo Radical Cations Electronic and Molecular Structure of a Chemical Chameleon (Bally et al. 1999). In this work, diphenyldiazomethane and its 15N2, 13C, and Di0 isotopomers, as well as the CH2-CH2 bridged derivative, 5-diazo-10,ll-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cycloheptene, were ionized via one-electron electrolytic or chemical oxidation. Both reactions were performed in the same solvent (dichloromethane). Tetra-n-butylammonium tetrafluoroborate served as the supporting salt in the electrolysis. The chemical oxidation was carried out with tris(4-bromophenyl)-or tris(2,4-dibromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonates. Two distinct cation radicals that corresponded to it- and a-types were observed in both types of one-electron oxidation. These electromers are depicted in Scheme 2-28 for the case of diphenyldiazomethane. 

One important discrepancy should be noted between photochemical and chemical ion radical reactions. In the photochemical mode, an oxidized donor and a reduced acceptor remain in the same cage of a solvent and can interact instantly. In the chemical mode, these initial products of electron transfer can come apart and react separately in the bulk solvent. For example, one-electron oxidation of phenylbenzyl sulfide results in formation of the cation radical both in the photoinduced reaction with nitromethane and during treatment with ammoniumyl species. Sulfide cation radicals undergo fragmentation in the chemical process, but they form phenylbenzyl sulfoxide molecules in the photochemical reaction. The sulfoxide is formed at the expense of the oxygen atom donor. The latter comes from the nitromethane anion radical and is directly present in the solvent cage. As for the am-... 

Without ion radical initiation, the yield of the resulting product reaches 50% for 24 hr. Practically the same yield can be achieved for the same time in the presence of tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloroantimonate and for only 6 hr upon sonication (Nebois and associates 1996). Sonication accelerates the rate-determining formation of the... 

Tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexachloro antimonate is commercially available (e.g., Fluka product, 5g cost 70). It is commonly used as an oxidizing reagent by means of electron transfer and is elegantly applied to induce cycloadditions and cyclodimerization ([2 -I- 2] reactions) by Bauld [115]. However, aromatic amine radical cations as the oxidizing reagent can be easily obtained anodically [116] and their redox potentials (between -1-1 V and -1-2 V vs. NHE) modulated as a function of different substituents for utilization if indirect oxidation reactions are to be conducted. Therefore, such a redox catalysis process appears to be a cheap and elegant method to selectively achieved in situ oxidation, provided that polar solvents, electrolytes, and room temperatures are acceptable experimental conditions to perform a given reaction. 

Bethell and coworkers have also investigated the oxidation of diazoalkanes. The initial step in the oxidation reaction is the reversible formation of the radical cation, Ph2C— which forms when the diazodiphenylmethane reacts with either copper(II) perchlorate or the stable radical cation salt, tris-(/ -bromophenyl)ammoniumyl perchlorate in acetonitrile (equation 29). 

Both geraniol and nerol have been shown to undergo cyclization to c -p-mentha-2,8-dien-l-ol on treatment with the novel tris(/ -bromophenyl)ammoniumyl radical cation, (37). The reagent X is becoming a popular choice for as a one-electron oxidant in a variety of electron-transfer reactions. The mechanism postulated involves the initial formation of a delocalized radical cation that undergoes cyclization, deprotonation, and dehydrogenation to a cyclic triene, that is protonated followed by hydration to give the product. 

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