Radicals, reduction stereoelectronic effects

Stereoelectronic effects can be invoked for the radical reaction at anomeric centre of carbohydrates. The high stereoselective preparation of a-substituted C-glycosyl phosphonates in a a p ratio of 98 2 was achieved by reductive addition of bromide 2 to a-phosphonoacrylate (Reaction 7.5) [10]. Yields (in parentheses) depend on the sugar configuration D-galacto (80%), D-manno (47 %), D-gluco (30 %) and L-fuco (62 %). 

A subsequent study ° from the Arnold group showed an intriguing stereoelectronic effect in oxidative benzylic carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage reactions of substrates 8 and 9 (Scheme 3.7). In this study, electron transfer reactions were conducted in the presence of a nonnucleophilic base. Radical cation formation also weakens benzylic carbon-hydrogen bonds, thereby enhancing their acidity. Deprotonation of benzylic hydrogens yields benzylic radicals that can be reduced by the radical anion of dicyanobenzene to form benzylic anions that will be protonated by solvent. This sequence of oxidation, deprotonation, reduction, and protonation provides a sequence by which epimerization can be effected at the benzylic center. In this study, tram isomer 10 showed no propensity to isomerize to cis isomer 11 (equation 1 in Scheme 3.7), but 11 readily converted to 10 (equation 2 in Scheme 3.7). The reactions were repeated in deuterated solvents to assure that these observations resulted from kinetic rather than thermodynamic factors. Trans isomer 9 showed no incorporation of deuterium (equation 3 in Scheme 3.7) whereas cis isomer 11 showed complete deuterium incorporation. The authors attributed this difference in reactivity to... 

The fluorescence quenching dynamics of excited state electron donors by various pyrimidine and 5,6-dihydropyrimidine substrates have been examined and found to obey the Rehm-Weller relationship." In addition, an unexpected difference was observed between the reduction potentials for the trans-syn and cis-syn diastereoisomers of dimethylthymine cyclobutane dimers, and this has been ascribed to a stereoelectronic effect in the cis-syn dimer anion radical resulting from an unfavourable charge-dipole interaction between the added electron and the O carbonyl group of the pyrimidine ring... 

Several classes of such fragmentation reactions have been studied in detail in order to understand the effect of substituents, the stereoelectronic requirements, and the effects of the medium and of nucleophiles. The mesolytic fragmentation of bibenzyls with the reduction of the radical and nucleophilic trapping of the cation is the main process for stabilized fragments, typical examples being cumyl or benzhydryl (see Equation 4.12). The relative stability of radical and cation makes the cleavage selective for Ar Ar. " ... 

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