Radicals, from azo compounds

The manifestations of singlet interactions need not be subtle for example, attempts to prepare 1,3-cyclohexadiene photodimers using naphthalene as a sensitizer will give an infinitesimal yield.156 Moreover, the reported159 use of triphenylene to form triplet radical pairs from azo compounds is incorrect since only singlet radical pairs are formed.160... 

Section 15.6 contains tables of magnetic data obtained from anion radicals of azo compounds. This includes cyclic azo compounds which might also have been entered under the section on heterocycles as it was felt that this was the more natural classification. The data have been divided into subsections consising of aliphatic azoaUcenes benzo[c]cinnolines and azobenzene derivatives arylazophosphonates bidiazines andtet-razines. Where appropropriate, these subsections have been further subdivided, for instance, aliphatic azoaUcenes has been further divided into open chain azoaUcenes, cychc azoalkenes and azopolycycloalk-enes. 

In discussing mechanism (5.F) in the last chapter we noted that the entrapment of two reactive species in the same solvent cage may be considered a transition state in the reaction of these species. Reactions such as the thermal homolysis of peroxides and azo compounds result in the formation of two radicals already trapped together in a cage that promotes direct recombination, as with the 2-cyanopropyl radicals from 2,2 -azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN),... 

Hydroperoxides have been obtained from the autoxidation of alkanes, aralkanes, alkenes, ketones, enols, hydrazones, aromatic amines, amides, ethers, acetals, alcohols, and organomineral compounds, eg, Grignard reagents (10,45). In autoxidations involving hydrazones, double-bond migration occurs with the formation of hydroperoxy—azo compounds via free-radical chain processes (10,59) (eq. 20). 

Another quite general source of free radicals is the decomposition of azo compounds. The products are molecular nitrogen and the radicals derived from the substituent groups ... 

Both symmetrical and unsymmetrical azo compounds can be made, so that a single radical or two different ones may be generated. The energy for the decomposition can be either thermal or photochemical. In the thermal decomposition, it has been established that the temperature at which decomposition occurs depends on the nature of the substituent groups. Azomethane does not decompose to methyl radicals and nitrogen until temperatures above 400°C are reached. Azo compounds that generate relatively stable radicals decompose at much lower temperatures. Azo compounds derived from allyl groups decompose somewhat above 100°C for example ... 

Aryl Radicals from Compounds Containing the Azo Linkage... 

The production of aryl radicals from peroxides normally provides a cleaner method of arylation than the methods based on the decomposition of azo and diazo compounds, and, in the case of benzenoid compounds, better yields of arylated products are obtained. The... 

Certain polymerizations (e.g.. S, see 3.3.6.1) can be initiated simply by applying heal the initiating radicals are derived from reactions involving only the monomer. More commonly, the initiators are azo-compounds or peroxides that are decomposed to radicals through the application of heal, light, or a redox process. 

The reaction between the PMMA and PS model radicals (4 and 5, generated from the unsymmetrical azo-compound 3) has been studied as a model for crosstermination in MMA-S copolymerization (Scheme 7.13).178,179 The value for tcross reaction was 0.56. In disproportionation, transfer of hydrogen from the PS model 5 to the PMMA radical 4 was ca 5.1 times more prevalent than transfer in the reverse direction (from 4 to 5). The value of kJklc(90°C) is between those of Atd/ tc(90oC) for the self-reaction of these radicals... 

Analysis of the products from the thermal decomposition of the mixed azo compound 6 showed that in the cross-reaction of radicals 5 and 7 ld/A tt(90oC) is 0.61.179 This study also found that in disproportionation, hydrogen transfer from 5 to 7 is ca 2.2 times more frequent than transfer from 7 to 5. Both self-reactions involve predominantly combination (Scheme 7.14). The values of Ar1j/Aru.(80°C) are 0.16 and 0.05 for radicals 5 (Section 5.2.2.1.1) and 7 (Section 5.2.2.1.3) respectively. It is clear that values of kJkK for homotermination cannot be used as a guide to the value for kjkyt in cross-termination. 

The reactions of polymeric anions with appropriate azo-compounds or peroxides to form polymeric initiators provide other examples of anion-radical transformation (e.g. Scheme 7. 6). ""7i However, the polymeric azo and peroxy compounds have limited utility in block copolymer synthesis because of the poor efficiency of radical generation from the polymeric initiators (7.5.1). 

A completely different method of synthesis of azo compounds from diazonium salts involving radical intermediates was found by Citterio et al. (1980, 1982 c), Cit-terio and Minisci (1982), and Fontana et al. (1988). It is a new general synthesis of arylazoalkanes based on the addition of an alkyl radical to an arenediazonium ion followed by reduction of the intermediate azo radical cation adduct by a metal salt (Scheme 12-80). The preferred source for the alkyl radical R in this reaction is an alkyl iodide, which gives rise to alkyl radicals cleanly in the presence of an arenediazonium salt and a Ti3+ or Fe2+ salt as in Scheme 12-81. The overall stoichiometric equation is therefore as given in Scheme 12-82. The yields vary between 36% and 79% (with respect to alkyl iodide). 

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... 

It is convenient to refer here to the addition of free radicals, in this case generated from azo-bis-isobutyronitrile, to nitrones and nitroso-compounds. 1 2-Adducts are formed, as shown in equations (43) and... 

In the stepwise decomposition of azo-compounds such as 4, products can arise from reactions within the primary diazenyl-alkyl radical pair or from the secondary radical pair produced by loss of nitrogen from the... 

In each case the mechanism involves generation of an aryl radical from a covalent azo compound. In acid solution diazonium salts are ionic and their reactions are polar. When they cleave, the product is an aryl cation (see p. 852). However, in neutral or basic solution, diazonium ions are converted to covalent compounds, and these cleave to give free radicals ... 

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