Sensitizer radicals

When equimolar quantities of 80a and its dication 110 are combined in acetonitrile, single electron transfer occurs and the coproportionation product was obtained (95TL2741).Tliis deeply red-colored, air-sensitive radical cation 111 showed a strong ESR signal (g = 2.0034). On the other hand, the excellent electron donor 80a could be prepared by electrolytic reduction starting from 110. It was necessary to carry out the reduction with scrupulous exclusion of oxygen. Tlius, the electrolysis of 110 at -1.10 V initially gave rise to an intense red color, which was presumably due to the formation of 111. Upon further reduction, the red color faded and the tetraaza-fulvalene 80a was isolated at a 62% yield (Scheme 45). 

An additional effect of the cosensitization may lead to different products or product ratios, which is caused by the efficient sensitizer radical ion—substrate ion separation. This separation inhibits the early back-electron transfer to the substrate radical ion or early intermediates and favors products of complex reaction pathways (late ETc)... 

As exemplified in Figure 2, Type 1 mechanism, electron transfer from L to sens yields two radicals, the substrate radical, L", and the sensitizer radical anion (sens ). In the next step, the lipid radical may induce a chain peroxidation cascade involving propagation reactions -The sensitizer radical anion may also start a sequential one-electron reduction of 2 generating HO in the presence of reduced transition metals. As a result, this may lead to abstraction of a lipid allylic hydrogen with subsequent generation of a carbon-centered lipid radical, L, that is rapidly oxidized to a peroxyl radical (vide supra). 

The nucleophilic capture of radical cations forms (free) radicals, one H atom shy of the adduct. The missing H may be introduced in one step, by hydrogen abstraction, or in two, involving successive reduction by the sensitizer radical anion and protonation. Both mechanisms have been observed, sometimes in competition with each other. 

Coupling of alkyl radicals resulting from nucleophilic capture of alkenes with sensitizer radical anions in acetonitrile-methanol (3 1) was studied in detail. 

Phenathiazine dyes have stronger oxidizing power when they are excited. Consequently the reactions (15) — (17) can be used to sensitize radical polymerization of vinyl compounds (15). 

In some cases the nucleophilic capture of a radical cation is followed by coupling with the radical anion (or possibly with the neutral acceptor), resulting ultimately in an aromatic substitution reaction. Thus, irradiation of 1,4-dicyanobenzene in acetonitrile-methanol (3 1) solution containing 2,3-dimethylbutene or several other olefins leads to capture of the olefin radical cation by methanol, followed by coupling of the resulting radical with the sensitizer radical anion. Loss of cyanide ion completes the net substitution reaction [144]. This photochemical nucleophile olefin combination, aromatic substitution (photo-NOCAS) reaction has shown synthetic utility (in spite of its awkward acronym). 

The deprotonation step, either by the sensitizer radical anion or by some adventitious base, is essential for the formation of any amine derived products. This step can be prevented if the a-hydrogens are arranged in a plane orthogonal to the singly occupied nitrogen n-orbital a requirement which is met for the radical cation of l,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO). The low oxidation potential, due to the interaction of the pair of transannular nitrogens, makes this an excellent electron transfer quencher. Yet, no product formation is observed as a result of these interactions, with the possible exception of the zwitterionic adducts formed with highly electrophilic ketones [193]. 

Toluene, durene, hexamethylbenzene, 1- and 2-methylnaphthalenes are oxidized to the corresponding benzaldehydes by irradiation in oxygen-equilibrated acetonitrile sensitized by 1,4-dicyanonaphthalene, 9-cyano-, 9,10-dicyano-, and 3,7,9,10-tetracyanoanthracene. The reaction involves proton transfer from the radical cation of the donor to the sensitizer radical anion or the superoxide anion, to yield the benzyl radical which is trapped by oxygen. In the case of durene, some tetramethylphthalide is also formed with this hydrocarbon it is noteworthy that the same photosensitization, when carried out in an nonpolar medium, yields the well-known singlet oxygen adduct, not the aldehyde [227,228] (Sch. 20). 

Recently Inamoto and Simamura [74] investigated the interaction of 1-cyano-1-methylethyl radicals and various nitro compounds (nitrobenzene, m- dinitrobenzene, nitromethane, tetranitromethane) and Bevington and Ghanem [84] have studied the effects of picric acid and m- dinitrobenzene on the sensitized radical polymerization of styrene. Picric acid proved to be a rather inefficient inhibitor, in- dinitrobenzene was found to be a polymerization retardant. By using 14C-labelled specimens of the nitro compounds the authors determined the amounts of nitro compounds incorporated in the polymer. The average number of retardant molecules per polymer molecule was found to be 0.5-0.7. 

If the methylene groups of dicarboxylic acids contain electrolytically sensitive radicals, the reaction picture is shifted, as will be touched upon in the special cases. 

Various compounds were shown to sensitize the photochemical decomposition of pyridinium salts. Photolysis of pyridinium salts in the presence of sensitizers such as anthracene, perylene and phenothiazine proceeds by an electron transfer from the excited state sensitizer to the pyridinium salt. Thus, a sensitizer radical cation and pyridinyl radical are formed as shown for the case of anthracene in Scheme 15. The latter rapidly decomposes to give pyridine and an ethoxy radical. Evidence for the proposed mechanism was obtained by observation of the absorption spectra of relevant radical cations upon laser flash photolysis of methylene chloride solutions containing sensitizers and pyridinium salt [64]. Moreover, estimates of the free energy change by the Rehm-Weller equation [65] give highly favorable values for anthracene, perylene, phenothiazine and thioxanthone sensitized systems, whilst benzophenone and acetophenone seemed not to be suitable sensitizers (Table 5). The failure of the polymerization experiments sensitized by benzophenone and acetophenone in the absence of a hydrogen donor is consistent with the proposed electron transfer mechanism. 

Formation of cycloadducts can be completely quenched by conducting the experiment in a nucleophilic solvent. This intercepts radical cations so rapidly that they cannot react with the olefins to yield adducts. In Scheme 54 the regiochemistry of solvent addition to I-phenylcyclohexene is seen to depend on the oxidizability or reducibiiity of the electron-transfer sensitizer. With ]-cyanonaphthalene the radical cation of the olefin is generated, and nucleophilic capture then occurs at position 2 to afford the more stable radical. Electron transfer from excited 1,4-dimethoxynaphthalene, however, generates a radical anion. Its protonation in position 2 gives a radical that is oxidized by back electron transfer to the sensitizer radical before being attacked by the nucleophilic solvent in position 1. Thus, by judicious choice of the electron-transfer sensitizer, it is possible to direct the photochemical addition in either a Markovnikov (157) or anti-Markovnikov (158) fashion (Maroulis and Arnold, 1979). 

Figure 5. Sensitization of diaryliodonium salts via electron transfer results in formation of the sensitizer radical cation (S ). Hydrogen abstraction produces a proton. Both species may initiate cationic polymerization. Note The nonnucleo-philic anion (AsFo ) has been deleted for clarity.

In E. coli, ThiH catalyzes the formation of the glycine imine 23 from tyrosine (26). ThiH is an oxygen-sensitive radical 5-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) enzyme. Its activity has been reconstituted and the mechanism outlined in Figure 8 has been proposed. It is unclear why E. coli adopts such a complex route to the glycine imine when oxidation of glycine using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) would accomplish the same transformation. 

In MeCN the products of photo -oxidation of Ph2C=CH2, cis- and trans-PhCH=CHPh, and Ph2C=CPh2 using 9,10-dicyanoanthracene and 9-cyano-anthracene as sensitizers include benzophenone, benzaldehyde, epoxides, and products of cu-trfln5-isomerization. " A correlation is established between the rate constants for electron-transfer processes and those determined from the acceptor concentration-dependence of product formation. These observations appear to implicate a sensitizer radical anion that subsequently reduces O2 to Oj-... 

The photoinduced anti-Markovnikov addition of methanol to 1,1-diphenylethene reported by Arnold and co-workers in 1973 provides the first example of the addition of a nucleophile to an arylalkene radical cation. There are now a number of studies that demonstrate the generality of nucleophilic addition of alcohols, amines, and anions such as cyanide to aryl- and diaryl-alkene radical cations. Product studies and mechanistic work have established that addition occurs at the 3-position of I-aryl or 1,1 -diarylalkene radical cations to give arylmethyl or diaryl-methyl radical-derived products as shown in Scheme I for the addition of methanol to 1,1-diphenylethene. For neutral nucleophiles, such as alcohols and amines, radical formation requires prior deprotonation of the 1,3-distonic radical cation formed in the initial addition reaction. The final product usually results from reduction of the radical by the sensitizer radical anion to give an anion that is then protonated, although other radical... 

Product studies have demonstrated that I-phenyl and 1,1-diarylalkene radical cations react with nitrogen-centered nucleophiles such as amines and pyridines by both addition and deprotonation. The addition reactions occur by a mechanism analogous to that shown in Scheme I for methanol addition. Deprotonation by an amine or pyridine base is an alternate possibility for radical cations derived from 2-alkyl-substituted alke-nes and leads to an allylic radical (Eq. 19). Reduction of this radical by the sensitizer radical anion generates an anion that is protonaled at either the original position to regenerate starting... 

Goez and Sartorius have studied the effects of solvent permittivity on the radical pair reencounter probability, as reflected in CIDNP polarization patterns of reactions involving radical ion pairs. For this purpose, they used a sensitizer radical pair anion, which converts the initially formed radical ion pair into a neutral radical pair. 

Sealy RC, Sama T, Wanner EJ, Reszka K (1984) Photosensitization of Melanin An Electron Spin Resonance Study of Sensitized Radical Production and Oxygen Consumption. Photochem Photobiol 40 453... 

Studies were also undertaken in wet [C4mpyr][N(Tf)2] [56]. Cyclic voltammograms obtained from dissolved benzophenone and 1,4-benzoquinone under these conditions are shown in Fig. 14.17a. In the case of benzophenone, the second reduction step is now clearly irreversible in the presence of water (i.e., proton-sensitive radical anion intermediates), and at low scan rates partially... 

---