Secondary alkyl free radical

Alkyl Free Radicals. The primary alkyl free radical, RCH./, has been postulated to exist in gamma-irradiated polyethylene (23), but its presence has never been unambiguously demonstrated. If all the a and p protons interacted equally with the unpaired electron, the primary alkyl free radical ESR spectrum should consist of five lines, in contrast to those of the secondary and tertiary alkyl radicals whose ESR spectra should consist of six and eight lines, respectively (the latter calculated for the tertiary free radical in polypropylene). The existence of the secondary... 

The regioselectivity of electrophilic addition of HBr to alkenes is controlled by the tendency of a proton to add to the double bond to produce the more stable carbocation. Under free-radical conditions the regioselectivity is governed by addition of a bromine atom to give the more stable alkyl radical. Returning to the case of 1-butene, electrophilic addition involves a secondary carbocation, free-radical addition involves a secondary radical. 

The free radicals that we usually see in carbon chemistry are much less stable than these Simple alkyl radicals for example require special procedures for their isolation and study We will encounter them here only as reactive intermediates formed m one step of a reaction mechanism and consumed m the next Alkyl radicals are classified as primary secondary or tertiary according to the number of carbon atoms directly attached to the carbon that bears the unpaired electron... 

Although primary and secondary alkyl hydroperoxides are attacked by free radicals, as in equations 8 and 9, such reactions are not chain scission reactions since the alkylperoxy radicals terminate by disproportionation without forming the new radicals needed to continue the chain (53). Overall decomposition rates are faster than the tme first-order rates if radical-induced decompositions are not suppressed. 

Because di-/ fZ-alkyl peroxides are less susceptible to radical-induced decompositions, they are safer and more efficient radical generators than primary or secondary dialkyl peroxides. They are the preferred dialkyl peroxides for generating free radicals for commercial appHcations. Without reactive substrates present, di-/ fZ-alkyl peroxides decompose to generate alcohols, ketones, hydrocarbons, and minor amounts of ethers, epoxides, and carbon monoxide. Photolysis of di-/ fZ-butyl peroxide generates / fZ-butoxy radicals at low temperatures (75), whereas thermolysis at high temperatures generates methyl radicals by P-scission (44). 

Primary and secondary dialkyl peroxides react much mote readily than di-/ fZ-alkyl peroxides (66,76). Products derived from the free radical are also produced in these reactions. 

A considerable amount of hydrobromic acid is consumed in the manufacture of inorganic bromides, as well as in the synthesis of alkyl bromides from alcohols. The acid can also be used to hydrobrominate olefins (qv). The addition can take place by an ionic mechanism, usually in a polar solvent, according to Markownikoff s rule to yield a secondary alkyl bromide. Under the influence of a free-radical catalyst, in aprotic, nonpolar solvents, dry hydrogen bromide reacts with an a-olefin to produce a primary alkyl bromide as the predominant product. Primary alkyl bromides are useful in synthesizing other compounds and are 40—60 times as reactive as the corresponding chlorides (6). 

Not all the reactions in this chapter are actually nucleophilic substitutions. In some cases the mechanisms are not known with enough certainty even to decide whether a nucleophile, an electrophile, or a free radical is attacking. In other cases (such as 10-79), conversion of one compound to another can occur by two or even all three of these possibilities, depending on the reagent and the reaction conditions. However, one or more of the nucleophilic mechanisms previously discussed do hold for the overwhelming majority of the reactions in this chapter. For the alkylations, the Sn2 is by far the most common mechanism, as long as R is primary or secondary alkyl. For the acylations, the tetrahedral mechanism is the most common. 

The alkyl group R of certain carboxylic esters can be reduced to RH by treatment with lithium in ethylamine. The reaction is successful when R is a tertiary or a sterically hindered secondary alkyl group. A free-radical mechanism is likely. Similar reduction, also by a free-radical mechanism, has been reported with sodium in HMPA-r-BuOH. In the latter case, tertiary R groups give high yields of RH, but primary and secondary R are converted to a mixture of RH and ROH. Both of these methods provide an indirect method of accomplishing 10-81 for tertiary R. 

Aldehydes, formates, primary, and secondary alcohols, amines, ethers, alkyl halides, compounds of the type Z—CH2—Z, and a few other compounds add to double bonds in the presence of free-radical initiators/ This is formally the addition of RH to a double bond, but the R is not just any carbon but one connected to an oxygen or a nitrogen, a halogen, or to two Z groups (defined as on p. 548). The addition of aldehydes is illustrated above. Formates and formamides " add similarly ... 

The ratio ARH/ARj (monoalkylation/dialkylation) should depend principally on the electrophilic capability of RX. Thus it has been shown that in the case of t-butyl halides (due to the chemical and electrochemical stability of t-butyl free radical) the yield of mono alkylation is often good. Naturally, aryl sulphones may also be employed in the role of RX-type compounds. Indeed, the t-butylation of pyrene can be performed when reduced cathodically in the presence of CgHjSOjBu-t. Other alkylation reactions are also possible with sulphones possessing an ArS02 moiety bound to a tertiary carbon. In contrast, coupling reactions via redox catalysis do not occur in a good yield with primary and secondary sulphones. This is probably due to the disappearance of the mediator anion radical due to proton transfer from the acidic sulphone. 

The important role of reaction enthalpy in the free radical abstraction reactions is well known and was discussed in Chapters 6 and 7. The BDE of the O—H bonds of alkyl hydroperoxides depends slightly on the structure of the alkyl radical D0 H = 365.5 kJ mol 1 for all primary and secondary hydroperoxides and P0—h = 358.6 kJ mol 1 for tertiary hydroperoxides (see Chapter 2). Therefore, the enthalpy of the reaction RjOO + RjH depends on the BDE of the attacked C—H bond of the hydrocarbon. But a different situation is encountered during oxidation and co-oxidation of aldehydes. As proved earlier, the BDE of peracids formed from acylperoxyl radicals is much higher than the BDE of the O—H bond of alkyl hydroperoxides and depends on the structure of the acyl substituent. Therefore, the BDEs of both the attacked C—H and O—H of the formed peracid are important factors that influence the chain propagation reaction. This is demonstrated in Table 8.9 where the calculated values of the enthalpy of the reaction RjCV + RjH for different RjHs including aldehydes and different peroxyl radicals are presented. One can see that the value A//( R02 + RH) is much lower in the reactions of the same compound with acylperoxyl radicals. 

Alkyl orthophosphate triesters, 79 41 terteAlkyl peroxycarbamates, decomposition of, 78 486 Alkyl peroxyesters, 78 478-487 chemical properties of, 78 480 487 physical properties of, 78 480 primary and secondary, 78 485 synthesis of, 78 478-480 synthetic routes to, 78 479 tert-Alkyl peroxyesters, 78 480 84, 485 as free-radical initiators, 74 284-286 properties of, 78 481-483t uses of, 78 487 Alkylperoxy radical, 74 291 Alkyl phenol ethoxylates, 8 678, 693 ... 

Substituted olefins that are capable of forming secondary or tertiary carbo-nium ion intermediates polymerize well by cationic initiation, but are polymerized with difficulty or not at all free radically. In general, vinyl or /-alkenes that contain electron donating groups (alkyl, ether, etc) polymerize well via a carbo-cationic mechanism. 

The lithiophosphonate adds to carboxylic esters to afford ketophosphonates, which were trapped with Grignard reagents in situ [76]. Free radical reduction of the tertiary alcohol adducts afforded the products of formal secondary alkylation (Eq. 20) [76]. 

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