Reactivity with Aryl Radicals

Packer et al. (1981) found that y-irradiation reduces arenediazonium tetrafluoro-borates to aryl radicals. Packer and Taylor (1985) investigated the y-irradiation of 4-chlorobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate by a 60Co source in the presence of 1 alone or I- +13 . The major product in the presence of iodide was 4,4 -dichloroazo-benzene. With I- + 1 ", however, it was 4-chloroiodobenzene. Two other investigations of the reactivity of aryl radicals with iodine-containing species are important for the understanding of the chain process of iodo-de-diazoniation that starts after formation of the aryl radical. Kryger et al. (1977) showed that, in the thermal decomposition of phenylazotriphenylmethane, the rate of iodine abstraction from I2 is extremely fast (see also Ando, 1978, p. 341). Furthermore, evidence for the formation of the radical anion V2 was reported by Beckwith and Meijs (1987) and by Abey-wickrema and Beckwith (1987) (see Sec. 10.11). 

In contrast to the observed reactivity of phenoxide and aryl alkoxide ions, arene and heteroarene thiolate ions typically couple with aryl radical to generate C—S bonds. The only exception to this regioselective reaction is the addition of 1-naphthalene thiolate ion to p-anisyl radical to render both C- and S-substitutions in 14% and 65% yields, respectively, while with 1-naphthyl radical, 95% of C—S coupling is obtained. In general, PhS- ions react with Arl in liquid ammonia under photostimulation to afford good yields of ArSPh or heteroaryl-SAr (70-100%). Substitution of the less-reactive ArBr can be achieved under photochemical initiation in DMF, MeCN, or DM SO [1],... 

The reactivity of cyanide ion with aryl radicals generated electrochemically in liquid ammonia from 2-, 3- and 4-chlorobenzonitriles was reported by Amatore and coworkers. The coupling between the aryl radicals and the nucleophile appears to be the key step of a Srn reaction. In these reactions the C—Cl bond was cleaved in the radical anion formed by electroreduction of the chlorobenzonitrile, giving a radical that then reacted with cyanide to yield dicyanobenzenes. The steps involved in the reaction sequence are described in Yoshida s review. ... 

Properties and reactivity of gaseous distonic radical ions with aryl radical sites 13CRV6949. 

Baumgartner M.T., Pierini, A.B., and Rossi R.A., The reactivity of oxygen nucleophiles with aryl radicals in the Sr I mechanism. Tetrahedron Lett., 33, 2323, 1992. 

In the case of substituted aryl radicals, the results may be slightly different, depending on the polarity of the radicals. With electrophilic radicals the overall reactivity of the thiazole nucleus will decrease and the percentage of 5-substituted isomer (electron-rich position) will increase, in comparison with phenyl radicals. The results are indicated in Table III-28. 

Cesium forms simple alkyl and aryl compounds that are similar to those of the other alkah metals (6). They are colorless, sohd, amorphous, nonvolatile, and insoluble, except by decomposition, in most solvents except diethylzinc. As a result of exceptional reactivity, cesium aryls should be effective in alkylations wherever other alkaline alkyls or Grignard reagents have failed (see Grignard reactions). Cesium reacts with hydrocarbons in which the activity of a C—H link is increased by attachment to the carbon atom of doubly linked or aromatic radicals. A brown, sohd addition product is formed when cesium reacts with ethylene, and a very reactive dark red powder, triphenylmethylcesium [76-83-5] (C H )2CCs, is formed by the reaction of cesium amalgam and a solution of triphenylmethyl chloride in anhydrous ether. 

For the acetoxy radical, the for decarboxylation is about 6.5 kcal/mol and the rate is about 10 s at 60°C and 10 s at —80°C. Thus, only very rapid reactions can compete with decarboxylation. As would be expected because of the lower stability of aryl radicals, the rates of decarboxylation of aroyloxy radicals are slower. The rate for p-methoxybenzoyloxy radical has been determined to be 3 x 10 s near room temperature. Hydrogen donation by very reactive hydrogen-atom donors such as triethylsilane can compete with decarboxylation at moderate temperatures. 

Absolute rate constants for the attack of aryl radicals on a variety of substrates have been reported by Scaiano and Stewart (Ph ) 7 and Citterio at al. (/j-CIPh-).379,384 The reactions are extremely facile in comparison with additions of other carbon-centered radicals [e.g. jfc(S) = 1.1x10s M"1 s"1 at 25 °C].3,7 Relative reactivities are available for a wider range of monomers and other substrates (Tabic 3.b). Phenyl radicals do not show clear cut electrophilic or... 

The sum of all results is consistent with the formation of both the aryl cation and the aryl radical in the aqueous acid system without copper, and with the dominance of the aryl radical in the presence of copper. The product ratios are also qualitatively consistent with the hypothesis that the reactivity of aryl cations with nucleophiles is close to that of a diffusion-controlled process (see Sec. 8.3), and that aryl radicals have arylation rate constants that are about two orders of magnitude smaller than that for diffusion control (0.4-1.7 X 107 m-1s-1 Kryger et al., 1977 Scaiano and Stewart, 1983). Due to the relatively low yields of these dediazoniations in the pentyl nitrite/benzene systems, no conclusions should be drawn from the results. 

This method gave a primary hydrogen-deuterium kinetic isotope effect of 1.3 for the reaction between the aryl radical and tributyltin hydride. This isotope effect is smaller than the isotope effect of 1.9 which San Filippo and coworkers reported for the reaction between the less reactive alkyl radicals and tributyltin hydride163 (vide infra). The smaller isotope effect of 1.3 in the aryl radical reaction is reasonable, because an earlier transition state with less hydrogen transfer, and therefore a smaller isotope effect164, should be observed for the reaction with the more reactive aryl radicals. 

Several methods have been employed to extract the rate constant of the addition of nucleophiles to the aryl radicals from the kinetics of Sr I reactions. Relative reactivities of two nucleophiles towards the same aryl radical have been obtained from the ratio of the two substitution products after preparative-scale reaction of the substrate with a mixture of the two nucleophiles under photochemical or solvated-electron induction (Galli and Bunnett, 1981). 

A large number of these values are close to the diffusion limit. This is not actually very surprising since the coupling of the aryl radical with the nucleophile has to compete with quite rapid side-reactions, if only its electron-transfer reduction, for the substitution to be effective. When taking place homogeneously, the latter reaction itself at the diffusion limit and the parameter that governs the competition is Anu[Nu ]/Ad[RX]. This is the reason why a discussion of structure-reactivity relationships is necessarily restricted to a rather narrow experimental basis. 

There are no large differences between the reactivities of PhS , (EtO)2PO and CHjCOCHj" with the same aryl radical, but CN appears to be significantly less reactive. It is not easy to evaluate the respective role of the bond dissociation free energy and of the Nu-/Nu" standard potential in equation (13) in this connection because of the paucity of available data concerning these two quantities. An explanation of the low reactivity of CN" should thus await the availability of such data as well as that of a precise expression of the intrinsic barrier in a model of these intramolecular concerted electron-transfer-bond-breaking (or forming) reactions. 

The feasibility of hydrogen abstraction at the peptidyl a-carbon hydrogen bond by 1,4-aryl diradicals has been determined by examining a model reaction, i.e. abstraction of deuterium from dideuterioglycine by aryl radicals. The results have biological implications for the reactivity of the enediyne anti-tumour antibiotics with proteins. The non-Arrhenius behaviour of hydrogen-abstraction reactions by radicals has been investigated. For a number of reactions studied the enthalpy of activation was found either to increase or to decrease as a function of temperature. 

The relative reactivities of the enolate ions of acetophenone and 2-acetylnaphthalene towards phenyl radicals have been explored in order to determine their suitability as electron donor initiatiors of 5 rnI reactions of enolate ions of 2-acetylthiophene and 2-acetyl fiiran with aryl halides Phl. ... 

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