Radicals by Anodic Oxidation

The ESR spectrum of 92 (Rl = R2 = Me) was assigned by Nelson et al.329 following generation of the radical by anodic oxidation of the corresponding 5,10-dihy drophenazine. 

Radicals by Anodic Oxidation 263 Table 3. Kolbe dimerization of 3-alkenoic acids [46]... 

Carboxylic acids can be converted by anodic oxidation into radicals and/or carbo-cations. The procedure is simple, an undivided beaker-type cell to perform the reaction, current control, and usually methanol as solvent is sufficient. A scale up is fairly easy and the yields are generally good. The pathway towards either radicals or carbocations can be efficiently controlled by the reaction conditions (electrode material, solvent, additives) and the structure of the carboxylic acids. A broad variety of starting compounds is easily and inexpensively available from natural and petrochemical sources, or by highly developed procedures for the synthesis of carboxylic acids. 

It should be recognized that the stability of cation radicals generated by anodic oxidation is also affected by jS-silyl substitution. Stabilization of car-bocations by a silyl group situated at the -position is well known as the / effect . The interaction of the C Si a orbital with the empty p orbital of the carbon stabilizes the carbocation. Therefore, we can expect similar effects of silicon for cation radical species. The interaction of the filled C-Si a orbital with the half-filled orbital of the carbon may stabilize the cation radical. 

Also azide radicals generated by anodic oxidation of sodium azide in the presence of olefins afford in acetic acid additive dimers, products of allylic substitution and... 

Radicals prepared by anodic oxidation of anions or by the Kolbe reactions can couple with other radicals or add to double bonds. For instance in Scheme 2 [4, 5], the... 

Neutral aminyl radicals generated by anodic oxidation of lithium alkenyl amides undergo a stereoselective cyclization to cis-l-methyl-2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidines [249]. 

An alternative route to phenolate-like EGBs is through the cathodic reduction of quinonemethides, (36), [82, 83]. The advantage of these PBs is that they are reduced at modest potentials, which allow EGB formation to take place in situ, and they are ultimately converted into phenols that are easily reoxidized to (36) either by air or by anodic oxidation (60-70% yield) [82]. The radical anion (36a) is expected to have basicity similar to that of (35) , whereas the pK of the conjugate acid of the dianion formed by further reduction can be assumed close to that of triphenylmethane, 30.6. 

Another heterocyclization is presented by Panifilow et al. Cyclic acetals and ethers are obtained by electrochemical oxidation of the terpenoid alcohol linalool 57 in methanol containing alkaline and sodium methoxide as electrolyt [102]. Anodic oxidation of the C(6)-C 7) double bond of linalool leads to the radical cation 58. In addition to direct methoxylation of the radical cation an attack on the hydroxyl group takes place. After a second one-electron oxidation and following methoxylation the regioisomeric cyclic acetal and a subsequent 1,2-hydride shift, the cyclic acetal 60 and the cyclic ether 61 are finally formed in yields of 16 and 24%, respectively (Scheme 13). As shown by Utley and co-workers bicyclic lactones 65 and 66 can be synthesized by anodic oxidation... 

An anodic azacyclization, producing tropane-related 11-substituted dibenzo[a,d]cycloheptimines 123, was recently developed by Karady et al. [136, 137]. This two-electron process is initiated by anodic oxidation of the O-substituted hydroxylamine 119 in nucleophilic solvent. It is proposed that the first one-electron oxidation leads to the aminium radical cation 120 which adds rapidly to the double bond. The electron-rich carbon radical 121 is readily oxidized to the carbocation 122. Selective nucleophilic attack on 122 from the less hindered exo-side yields the 11- substituted product 123. Depending on the... 

Guertler et al. (1996) described a wide range of cycloaddition reaction between 2-vinyl indoles acting as heterodienes and cyclic or acyclic enamines bearing acceptor groups in (3 positions. The reaction was induced by the formation of 2-vinylindole cation-radicals through anodic oxidation. The synthesis of 4a-carbomethoxy-6-cyano-5,7-dimethylindolo[l,2-a]-l,2,3,4,4a,12a-hexahydro-1,8-naphthyridine can serve as an example (Scheme 7.24). 

Conversion of toluenes to the benzoic acid is also accomplished by anodic oxidation in acetic acid containing some nitric acid. It is not clear if this reaction involves the aromatic radical-cation or if the oxidising agents are nitrogen oxide radicals generated by electron transfer from nitrate ions [66, 67]. Oxidation of 4-fluorotoluene at a lead dioxide anode in dilute sulphuric acid gives 4-fluorobenzoic acid in a reaction which involves loss of a proton from the aromatic radical-cation and them in further oxidation of the benzyl radical formed [68]. 

Radical cations of 2-alkylidene-l,3-dithianes can be generated electrochemically by anodic oxidation using a reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) anode <2002TL7159>. These intermediates readily react with nucleophiles at C-1. Upon removal of the second electron, the sulfur-stabilized cations were trapped by nucleophilic solvents, such as MeOH, to furnish the final cycloaddition products. Hydroxy groups <20010L1729> and secondary amides <2005OL3553> were employed as O-nucleophiles and enol ethers as C-nucleophiles (Scheme 50) <2002JA10101>. 

Nonetheless, a number of electroorganic synthesis reactions are known whose outcome i.e., whose yield and selectivity, is decisively determined by the nature of the electrode so that heterogeneous acceleration of at least one of several competitive reactions of the electrogenerated reactive intermediates might be anticipated. A famous case is the Kolbe reaction, which is essentially the anodic dimerization of alkyl radicals that are generated at platinum anodes by anodic oxidation of the anions of carboxylic acids ... 

Intermolecular anodic cyclizations often involve initial coupling of radical-cations followed by a chemical cyclization reaction. An alternative is cyclization by internal nucleophilic addition of some reactant to an intermediate derived by anodic oxidation. 

The tetraphenylallene system represents a particularly elegant confluence of chemistry, electrochemistry, and EPR. The carbanion of 1,1,3,3-tetraphenyl-propene is formed spontaneously in alkaline medium. Or it can be formed by the two-electron reduction of 2-ethoxy-1,1,3,3-tetrapheny 1-prop- 1-ene (at 2.2 V) or of tetraphenylallene (at -2.11 V). The tetraphenylallyl radical is then produced by anodic oxidation of the carbanion at -0.95 V. Its EPR spectrum was obtained using the two-stage flow cell described earlier [37]. 

Previous work in our laboratory (3) and in others (4) has established that the primary photoprocess in a variety of excited carbanions involves electron ejection. This photooxidation will generate a reactive free radical if recapture of the electron is inhibited. Parallel generation of these same carbon radicals by electrochemical oxidation reveals an irreversible anodic wave, consistent with rapid chemical reaction by the oxidized organic species (5). Little chemical characterization of the products has been attempted, however (6). 

Another recent report of ring closings involving C=N cation radicals, generated by anodic oxidation, appears to involve intramolecular nucleophilic attack (Scheme 81)184. 

Flatta FI, Zhou L, Mori M,Teshima S, Nishimoto S (2001) N(1)-C(5 )-linked dimer hydrates of 5-substi-tuted uracils produced by anodic oxidation in aqueous solution. J Org Chem 66 2232-2239 Flayon E (1969) Optical-absorption spectra of ketyl radicals and radical anions of some pyrimidines. J Chem Phys 51 4881-4892... 

It is generally assumed that electrons are transferred one by one (cases reported to be direct two-electron transfers 109 110 may actually be two very closely spaced one-electron transfers 11 ). This postulate immediately tells us that the first intermediate formed from a neutral substrate must be a cation radical in anodic oxidation and an anion radical in cathodic reduction and a neutral radical from oxidation of an organic anion and reduction of an organic cation. This has been amply verified both by electrochemical techniques and by ESR studies in inert SSE s 29,65) unfortunately, such results do not allow us to draw conclusions regarding the future reactions of these types of intermediates, as will be outlined in the following section. 

A great variety of substituted radicals for dimerization can be generated by anodic oxidation of anionic species r5"Me5+, e.g., sodium salts of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, aliphatic nitro compounds, phenols, oximes, alkynes, thio-lates or organometallics (Eq. (157) ). 

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