Reaction rates Bu3SnH reductions

Tributyltin hydride reduction of carbonyl compounds. The reduction of carbonyl compounds with metal hydrides can also proceed via an electron-transfer activation in analogy to the metal hydride insertion into TCNE.188 Such a notion is further supported by the following observations (a) the reaction rates are enhanced by light as well as heat 189 (b) the rate of the reduction depends strongly on the reduction potentials of ketones. For example, trifluoroacetophenone ( re<1 = —1.38 V versus SCE) is quantitatively reduced by Bu3SnH in propionitrile within 5 min, whereas the reduction of cyclohexanone (Erea — 2.4 V versus SCE) to cyclohexanol (under identical... 

For the primary and secondary a-alkoxy radicals 24 and 29, the rate constants for reaction with Bu3SnH are about an order of magnitude smaller than those for reactions of the tin hydride with alkyl radicals, whereas for the secondary a-ester radical 30 and a-amide radicals 28 and 31, the tin hydride reaction rate constants are similar to those of alkyl radicals. Because the reductions in C-H BDE due to alkoxy, ester, and amide groups are comparable, the exothermicities of the H-atom transfer reactions will be similar for these types of radicals and cannot be the major factor resulting in the difference in rates. Alternatively, some polarization in the transition states for the H-atom transfer reactions would explain the kinetic results. The electron-rich tin hydride reacts more rapidly with the electron-deficient a-ester and a-amide radicals than with the electron-rich a-alkoxy radicals. 

Radical chain processes break down whenever the velocity of a termination reaction is comparable to the velocity of the rate-controlling step in a chain reaction. This situation would occur, for example, if one attempted to use EtsSiH as the hydrogen atom donor in the alkyl halide reduction sequence in Figure 4.6 and employed typical tin-hydride reaction conditions because the rate constant for reaction of the silane with an alkyl radical is 4 orders of magnitude smaller than that for reaction of Bu3SnH. Such a slow reaction would not lead to a synthetically useful nonchain sequence, however, because no radical is persistent in this case. In fact, a silane-based radical chain reduction of an alkyl halide could be accomplished successfully if the velocity of the initiation reaction was reduced enough such that it (and, hence, also the velocity of alkyl radical termination... 

Reduction of organic halides and chalcogenides with Bu3SnH has been used frequently in organic synthesis. Rate constants for the reaction of organic halides and chalcogenides with Bu3Sn are shown in Table 1.13. 

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