Reductive radical generation

Radical cyclizations catalyzed by 67a require the regeneration of the titanocene catalysts by a stoichiometric reductant, such as manganese. When 10 mol% of substituted cyclopentadienyltitanium complex 47e is applied instead truly catalytic cyclization sequences of epoxides 86 are possible (Fig. 25) [160]. Reductive radical generation from 86 promoted by titanocene chloride 67e and subsequent 5-exo cyclization of radical 86A generates a titanoxy cyclopentylalkyl radical 86B. Since the electron-poor titanocene chloride 67e reduces the tertiary radical 86B only sluggishly, its extended lifetime allows for a 1,5-SHi affording the bicyclic tetrahy-drofuran ring system 87. At the same time catalyst 67e is liberated. The reaction... 

When 5-iodo ketones 78 were subjected to 5 mol% Ni(acac)2 and stoichiometric amounts of Et2Zn, cyclopentanols 79 were obtained in 60-82% yield (Fig. 18) [112]. The reaction is thought to be initiated by reductive radical generation by the... 

The most convenient sources of perfluoroalkyl radicals are perfluoroalkyl halides, from which the corresponding radicals can be generated photochemically or electrochemically [13]. Although electrochemical activation can be achieved either by oxidation or by reduction, e. g. of perfluoroalkyl iodides, the most popular method of activation is reduction (Scheme 2.98). The reductive radical generation can also be initiated photochemically via auxiliary radical sources, such as silanes or stannanes. 

A possible mechanism for the formation of the furanones 6 and 7 is illustrated in Scheme 2. The initial alkoxy radical generated from the alcohol 5 and lead tetraacetate (LTA) undergoes /3-scission to produce the acyl radical intermediate 9. Subsequent cyclization to 10 proceeds through attack of the radical at the carbonyl oxygen. The resulting Pb(IV) intermediate 11 finally collapses via the reductive... 

Methods of general importance for radical generation can be divided into three groups (a) chemical reductions and oxidations (b) electrochemical reductions and oxidations and (c) radiation methods. 

Decreased cerebral blood flow, resulting from acute arterial occlusion, reduces oxygen and glucose delivery to brain tissue with subsequent lactic acid production, blood-brain barrier breakdown, inflammation, sodium and calcium pump dysfunction, glutamate release, intracellular calcium influx, free-radical generation, and finally membrane and nucleic acid breakdown and cell death. The degree of cerebral blood flow reduction following arterial occlusion is not uniform. Tissue at the... 

Bolli, R., Jeroudi, M.O., Patel, B.S., Aruoma, O.I., Halliwell, B., Lai, E.K. and McCay, P.B. (1989). Marked reduction of free radical generation and contractile dysfunction by antioxidant therapy begun at the time of reperfiision. Circ. Res. 65, 607-622. 

Alkyl radicals generated by reduction of organomercury compounds can also add to alkenes having EWG groups. Radicals are generated by reduction of the organomercurial by NaBH4 or a similar reductant. These techniques have been... 

The above-mentioned important and impressive applications of titanocene mediated and catalyzed epoxide opening have been achieved by using the already classical 5-exo, 6-exo and 6-endo cyclizations with alkenes or alkynes as radical acceptors. Besides these achievements, the high chemoselectiv-ity of radical generation and slow reduction of the intermediate radicals by Cp2TiCl has resulted in some remarkable novel methodology. 

The rate of Au(ffl) reduction should have a correlation with the cavitation efficiency at these frequencies. Therefore, the result of Fig. 5.8 suggests that maximum amounts of reductants are sonochemically formed at 213 kHz in the presence of 1-propanol. The existence of an optimum frequency in the sonochemical reduction efficiency would be explained as follows. As the frequency is increased, the number of cavitation bubbles can be expected to increase. This would result in an increase in the amount of primary and secondary radicals generated and an increase in the rate of Au(HI) reduction. On the other hand, at higher frequencies there may not be enough time for the accumulation of 1-propanol at the bubble/solution interface and for the evaporation of water and 1 -propanol molecules to occur during the expansion cycle of the bubble. This would result in a decrease in the amount of active radicals. Furthermore, the size of the bubbles also decreases with increasing frequency. These multiple effects would result in a very complex frequency effect. 

Radicals are versatile synthetic intermediates. One of the efficient procedures for radical generation is based on one-electron oxidation or reduction with transition metal compounds. An important feature is that the redox activity of transition metal compounds can be controlled by appropriate ligands, in order to attain chemoselectivity in the generation of radicals. The application to small ring compounds provides useful methods for organic syntheses. Reductive transformation are first reviewed here. 

The Bennasar group has reported a regioselective 6-endo reductive cyclization of 2-indolylacyl radicals, generated from 154, to afford entry into the tetracyclic ring system 155 found within guatambuine 156 <06JOC1746,06OL561>. 

Thus, oxygen radical production by leukocytes can be responsible for cancer development. However, the levels of leukocyte oxygen radical generation depend on the type of cancer. For example, PMNs and monocytes from peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer produced a diminished amount of superoxide [169], Timoshenko et al. [170] observed the reduction of superoxide production in bronchial carcinoma patients after the incubation of neutrophils with concanavalin A or human lectin, while neutrophils from breast cancer patients exhibited no change in their activity. Chemotherapy of lung and colorectal carcinoma patients also reduced neutrophil superoxide production. Human ALL and AML cells produced, as a rule, the diminished amounts of superoxide in response to PMA or FMLP [171], On the other hand total SOD activity was enhanced in AML cells but diminished in ALL cells, while MnSOD in AML cells was very low. It has been proposed that decreased superoxide production may be responsible for susceptibility to infections in cancer patients. 

The key features of the catalytic cycle are trapping of the radical generated after cycliza-tion by an a,P-unsaturated carbonyl compound, reduction of the enol radical to give an enolate, and subsequent protonation of the titanocene alkoxide and enolate. The diaster-eoselectivity observed is essentially the same as that achieved in the simple cyclization reaction. An important point is that the tandem reactions can be carried out with alkynes as radical acceptors. The trapping of the formed vinyl radical with unsaturated carbonyl compounds occurs with very high stereoselectivity, as shown in Scheme 12.21. 

The effects of silyl groups on the chemical behavior of the anion radicals generated by cathodic reduction is also noteworthy. It is well known that silyl groups stabilize a negative charge at the a position. Therefore, it seems to be reasonable to consider that the anion radicals of re-systems are stabilized by a-silyl substitution. The interaction of the half-filled re orbital of the anion radical with the empty low-lying orbital of the silicon (such as dx-pK interaction) results in partial electron donation from the re-system to the silicon atom which eventually stabilizes the anion radical. 

The initial electron transfer to form the anion radical species seems to be reversible. For example, Allred et al. investigated the ac polarography of bis(trimethylsilyl)benzene and its derivatives which showed two waves in di-methylformamide solutions [71] the first one is a reversible one-electron wave, and the second one corresponds to a two-electron reduction. Anion radicals generated by electrochemical reduction of arylsilanes have been detected by ESR. The cathodic reduction of phenylsilane derivatives in THF or DME at — 16° C gives ESR signals due to the corresponding anion radicals [5] (See Sect. 2.2.1). 

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