Radicals pyramidalization

FIGURE 4 19 Bonding in methyl radical (a) If the structure of the CH3 radical IS planar then carbon is sp hybridized with an unpaired electron in 2p orbital (b) If CH3 IS pyramidal then car bon IS sp hybridized with an electron in sp orbital Model (a) IS more consistent with experimental observa tions... 

Of the two extremes experimental studies indicate that the planar sp model describes the bonding m alkyl radicals better than the pyramidal sp model Methyl rad ical IS planar and more highly substituted radicals such as tert butyl radical are flattened pyramids closer m shape to that expected for sp hybridized carbon than for sp ... 

EPR studies and other physieal methods have provided the basis for some insight into the detailed geometiy of radieal species.Deduetions about strueture ean also be drawn from the study of the stereoehemistiy of reactions involving radical intermediates. Several structural possibilities must be considered. If discussion is limited to alkyl radicals, the possibilities include a rigid pyramidal structure, rapidly inverting pyramidal structures, or a planar structure. 

Precise description of the pyramidal structures would also require that the bond angles be specified. The EPR spectrum of the methyl radical leads to the conclusion that its structure could be either planar or a veiy shallow pyramid. The IR spectrum of the methyl radical has been recorded at very low tempertures in frozen argon. This IR study puts a maximum of 5° on the deviation from planarity. A microwave study has also indicated... 

There have been many studies aimed at deducing the geometiy of radical sites by examining the stereochemistry of radical reactions. The most direct kind of study involves the generation of a radical at a carbon which is a stereogenic center. A planar or rapidly inverting radical would lead to racemization, whereas a rigid pyramidal structure should... 

The EPR spectra of a number of bridgehead radicals have been measured and the hyperfine couplings measured (see Section 12.2.3). Both the and couplings are sensitive to the pyramidal geometry of the radical." " The reactivity of bridgehead radicals increases with increased pyramidal character." ... 

The broad conclusion of all these studies is that alkyl radicals are shallow pyramids and that the barrier to inversion of the pyramidal structures is low. Radicals also are able to tolerate some geometric distortion associated with strained ring systems. 

The dilithium triimidochalcogenites [Ei2 E(N Bu)3 ]2 form dimeric structures in which two pyramidal [E(N Bu)3] dianions are bridged by four lithium cations to form distorted, hexagonal prisms of the type 10.13. A fascinating feature of these cluster systems is the formation of intensely coloured [deep blue (E = S) or green (E = Se)] solutions upon contact with air. The EPR spectra of these solutions (Section 3.4), indicate that one-electron oxidation of 10.13a or 10.13b is accompanied by removal of one Ei" ion from the cluster to give neutral radicals in which the dianion [E(N Bu)3] and the radical monoanion [E(N Bu)3] are bridged by three ions. ... 

What is the preferred geometry about the radical center in free radicals Carbocation centers are characterized by a vacant orbital and are known to be planar, while carbanion centers incorporate a nonbonded electron pair and are typically pyramidal (see Chapter 1, Problem 9). 

The reader will find far more elegant drawings of these orbitals in Section III, for instance by referring to the orbitals (II1.0) of the pyramidal methyl radical. Similar orbitals exist, of course, for ammonia (II 1.8). Again, as in the CH2 case, the energy ordering is... 

Methyl isocyanide, 120 Methyl radical, 10 planar, 65 pyramidal, 66 MethyUunine, 103 Methylazkle, 191 Methylene, 6 singlet, 63 triplet, 62... 

Radicals with very polar substituents e.g. trifluoromethyl radical 2), and radicals that arc part of strained ring systems (e.g. cydopropyl radical 3) arc ct-radicals. They have a pyramidal structure and are depicted with the free spin resident in an spJ hybrid orbital. nr-Radicals with appropriate substitution are potentially chiral, however, barriers to inversion are typically low with respect to the activation energy for reaction. 

The reactivities of the various phosphinyl radicals with monomers have been examined (Table 3. lO).283-465,467-475 Absolute rate constants are high, lying in the range 106-I08 M 1 s 1 and show some solvent dependence. The rate constants are higher in aqueous acetonitrile solvent than in methanol. The high magnitude of the rate constants has been linked to the pyramidal structure of the phosphinyl radicals.46- ... 

The ESR spectra of a large variety of sulfonyl radicals have been obtained photolytically in liquid phase over a wide range of temperature. Some selected data are summarized in Table 2. The magnitudes of hyperfine splittings and the observations of line broadening resulting from restricted rotation about the C—S bond have been used successfully in conjunction with INDO SCF MO calculations to elucidate both structure and conformational properties. Thus the spin distribution in these species is typical of (T-radicals with a pyramidal center at sulfur and in accord with the solid-state ESR data. 

Trialkylsilyl radicals are known to be strongly bent out of the plane (cr-type structure 5). The pyramidal structure of trialkylsilyl radicals (RaSi ) was first indicated by chirality studies on optically active compounds containing... 

There are two possible structures for simple alkyl radicals. They might have sp bonding, in which case the structure would be planar, with the odd electron in ap orbital, or the bonding might be sp, which would make the structure pyramidal and place the odd electron in an sp orbital. The ESR spectra of CHs and other simple alkyl radicals as well as other evidence indicate that these radicals have planar structures.This is in accord with the known loss of optical activity when a free radical is generated at a chiral carbon. In addition, electronic spectra of the CH3 and CD3 radicals (generated by flash photolysis) in the gas phase have definitely established that under these conditions the radicals are planar or near planar. The IR spectra of CH3 trapped in solid argon led to a similar conclusion. " °... 

The strained hydrocarbon [1,1,1] propellane is of special interest because of the thermodynamic and kinetic ease of addition of free radicals (R ) to it. The resulting R-substituted [ 1.1.1]pent-1-yl radicals (Eq. 3, Scheme 26) have attracted attention because of their highly pyramidal structure and consequent potentially increased reactivity. R-substituted [1.1.1]pent-1-yl radicals have a propensity to bond to three-coordinate phosphorus that is greater than that of a primary alkyl radical and similar to that of phenyl radicals. They can add irreversibly to phosphines or alkylphosphinites to afford new alkylphosphonites or alkylphosphonates via radical chain processes (Scheme 26) [63]. The high propensity of a R-substituted [1.1.1] pent-1-yl radical to react with three-coordinate phosphorus molecules reflects its highly pyramidal structure, which is accompanied by the increased s-character of its SOMO orbital and the strength of the P-C bond in the intermediate phosphoranyl radical. 

An informative IR spectrum of the t-butyl radical, containing 18 bands, has been recorded after freezing of the products of vacuum pyrolysis of azoisobutane [110] and 2-nitrosoisobutane [111] in an argon matrix at 10 K (Pacansky and Chang, 1981). This spectrum is in agreement with a pyramidal structure of the radical (CH3)3C (symmetry C3v) which has elongated CH bonds in positions trans to the radical centre. On the basis of experimental vibrational frequencies and ab initio calculations of the radical geometry the enthalpy value [// (300)] of its formation has been calculated as 44 kJ moP. ... 

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