Reductive radical cycloadditions

In another example of a radical process at the pyrrole C-2 position, it has been reported that reductive radical cycloaddition of l-(2-iodoethyl)pyrrole and activated olefins, or l-(oj-iodo-alkyl)pyrroles 34 lead to cycloalkano[a]pyrroles 35 via electroreduction of the iodides using a nickel(II) complex as an electron transfer catalyst <96CPB2020>. Thus, it appears the radical chemistry of pyrroles portends to be a fertile area of research in the immediate or near future. 

In recent years, the importance of aliphatic nitro compounds has greatly increased, due to the discovery of new selective transformations. These topics are discussed in the following chapters Stereoselective Henry reaction (chapter 3.3), Asymmetric Micheal additions (chapter 4.4), use of nitroalkenes as heterodienes in tandem [4+2]/[3+2] cycloadditions (chapter 8) and radical denitration (chapter 7.2). These reactions discovered in recent years constitute important tools in organic synthesis. They are discussed in more detail than the conventional reactions such as the Nef reaction, reduction to amines, synthesis of nitro sugars, alkylation and acylation (chapter 5). Concerning aromatic nitro chemistry, the preparation of substituted aromatic compounds via the SNAr reaction and nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydrogen (VNS) are discussed (chapter 9). Preparation of heterocycles such as indoles, are covered (chapter 10). 

Another complication that can arise in these reactions is that a cycloaddition reaction of the radical intermediate formed in the tin hydride reduction, to an adjacent carbon-carbon double bond, can compete with the simple reduction reaction. This occurs when a five- or six-membered ring can be formed in an intramolecular cycloaddition reaction. For example, Beckwith and Lawrence96 found both five- and six-membered rings in the product when l-bromo-2,2,5-trimethylhex-l-ene was treated with tributyltin hydride (Scheme 15). 

The present volume contains 13 chapters written by experts from 11 countries, and treats topics that were not covered, or that are complementary to topics covered in Volume 1. They include chapters on mass spectra and NMR, two chapters on photochemistry complementing an earlier chapter on synthetic application of the photochemistry of dienes and polyenes. Two chapters deal with intermolecular cyclization and with cycloadditions, and complement a chapter in Volume 1 on intramolecular cyclization, while the chapter on reactions of dienes in water and hydrogen-bonding environments deals partially with cycloaddition in unusual media and complements the earlier chapter on reactions under pressure. The chapters on nucleophiliic and electrophilic additions complements the earlier chapter on radical addition. The chapter on reduction complements the earlier ones on oxidation. Chapters on organometallic complexes, synthetic applications and rearrangement of dienes and polyenes are additional topics discussed. 

Accordingly, many reactions can be performed on the sidewalls of the CNTs, such as halogenation, hydrogenation, radical, electrophilic and nucleophilic additions, and so on [25, 37, 39, 42-44]. Exhaustively explored examples are the nitrene cycloaddition, the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction (with azomethinylides), radical additions using diazonium salts or radical addition of aromatic/phenyl primary amines. The aryl diazonium reduction can be performed by electrochemical means by forming a phenyl radical (by the extrusion of N2) that couples to a double bond [44]. Similarly, electrochemical oxidation of aromatic or aliphatic primary amines yields an amine radical that can be added to the double bond on the carbon surface. The direct covalent attachment of functional moieties to the sidewalls strongly enhances the solubility of the nanotubes in solvents and can also be tailored for different... 

Recently it has been shown that radical anionic cyclization of olefinic enones effectively compete with intramolecular [2 -I- 2]-cycloaddition to form spirocy-clic compounds [205, 206], 3-Alkenyloxy- and 3-alkenyl-2-cyclohexenones 235 are irradiated in the presence of triethylamine. As depicted in Scheme 46 two reaction pathways may operate. Both involve electron transfer steps, either to the starting material (resulting in a direct cyclization) or to the preformed cyclobutane derivative 239, which undergoes reductive cleavage. The second... 

In all examples discussed up to now the radical cation of Qo is involved in the reaction mechanism. However, due to the electronic features reduction of the fullerenes leading to radical anions should be much easier performed. For example, a useful method to synthesize 1-substituted l,2-dihydro-[60]fullerenes is the irradiation of Q0 with ketene silyl acetals (KAs) first reported by Nakamura et al. [216], Interestingly, when unstrained KAs are used, this reaction did not yield the expected [2 + 2]-cycloaddition product either by the thermal, as observed by the use of highly strained ketene silyl acetals [217], or by the photochemical pathway. In a typical reaction Q0 was irradiated for 10 h at 5°C with a high pressure mercury lamp (Pyrex filter) in a degassed toluene solution with an excess amount of the KA in the presence of water (Scheme 11). Some examples of the addition of KAs are summarized in Table 11. 

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