Stable free radicals structures

A few free radicals are indefinitely stable. Entries 1, 4, and 6 in Scheme 12.1 are examples. These molecules are just as stable under ordinary conditions of temperature and atmosphere as typical closed-shell molecules. Entry 2 is somewhat less stable to oxygen, although it can exist indefinitely in the absence of oxygen. The structures shown in entries 1, 2, and 4 all permit extensive delocalization of the unpaired electron into aromatic rings. These highly delocalized radicals show no tendency toward dimerization or disproportionation. Radicals that have long lifetimes and are resistant to dimerization or other routes for bimolecular self-annihilation are called stable free radicals. The term inert free radical has been suggested for species such as entry 4, which is unreactive under ordinary conditions and is thermally stable even at 300°C. ... 

A detailed study of the electronic, vibrational, and e.s.r. spectra of a series of substituted dipyrromethane complexes of nickel(ii) has been reported." The reduction of the nickel(ii) 1,19-diethoxycarbonyltetradehydrocorrin cation with a sodium film in THF under high vacuum gives both one- and two-electron reduction products. The one-electron reduction product is a very stable free radical, and the other product is formulated as a Ni" species with the two extra electrons located in ligand n-orbitals. The structures of nickel-(ii)-octaethylporphin and nickel(ii)-deoxophylloerythrin methyl ester-1,2-... 

Figure 1 Free radical structures, parent compounds, and stable end products for the various components of DNA (a) deoxyribose, (b) guanine, (c) adenine, (d) thymine, and (e) cytosine. Panel (f) shows trapping of the electron and hole by proton transfer in the GC base pair in duplex DNA.

A similar opinion on stable free radicals was expressed later by C. Walling in his book Free Radicals in Solution, published in 1957, and it is difficult to find a more well-informed spokesman " However, because their structural requirements for existence are possessed by only rather complicated molecules, they have remained a rather esoteric branch of organic chemistry. The stability of Walling s opinion about stable free radicals is indicated by the following quotation from his autobiography from 1995 ... 

The rapid rates of reduction of the oxalato (10) (k = 450 + 1,000 (H+)) and of the pyruvate (2) complexes (2A x 103at 25°C. and (H+) = 0.1) can hardly be understood as caused by chelation. Binoxalate does not chelate unless the proton is lost, and the rate law for the reduction of the complex shows that it brings a proton into the activated complex. Pyruvate almost certainly is not chelated in the product. Both groups are rapidly reduced by Craq.+2 when they are feee from the cobalt center. (The reduction of H2C2O4 by Craq+2 was explored by R. Milburn and the present author (29). The observations on pyruvate were made by R. Butler (2)). The complexes of pyridine-2-carboxylate and pyridine-4-carboxylate are rapidly reduced by Cr+2 at least in the forms which present the nitrogen without associated protons. Radical ion intermediates for these structures are not unreasonable. In fact, a stable free radical derived from AT-ethyl-4-carbethoxypyridinyl has been... 

FMN consists of the structure above the dashed line on the FAD (oxidized form). The flavin nucleotides accept two hydrogen atoms (two electrons and two protons), both of which appear in the flavin ring system. When FAD or FMN accepts only one hydrogen atom, the semiquinone, a stable free radical, forms... 

The most important chain transfer antioxidants are phenols and aromatic amines (B-81MI11502). They act by donating hydrogen to the peroxy radical with the formation of a stable free radical which does not take part in further chain reactions (equation 4). Two amine antioxidants, used in the rubber industry, are 6-dodecyl-l,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline (1) and polymeric l,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline (2). Because of its polymeric structure (2) is thermally stable, has low volatility and is non-blooming, i.e. it shows little tendency to migrate. 

The presence of stable free radicals in the final polycondensate is supported by the observation that traces of (11) have a strong inhibiting effect on the thermal polymerization of a number of vinyl monomers. Radical polymerization was inhibited to a larger extent by a furfural resin than by typical polymerization inhibitors (34). Thermal degradative methods have been used to study the structure of furfural resinified to an insoluble and infusible state, leading to proposed structural features (35). 

An intriguing problem still remained could a simple, solid, stable free radical be prepared, whose structure would be consistent with lignin models Our attention was directed to the compound galvinoxyl (VII),... 

Steelink C (1966) Stable free radicals in lignin and lignin oxidation products In Marton J (ed) Lignin structure and reactions Adv Chem Ser 59 51-64... 

The negative ion of naphthalene can be made in a suitable solvent, such as di-methoxyethane (dme), by treatment with an alkali metal in the absence of oxygen. This stable free radical-ion has an esr spectrum with hyperfine structure. If more naphthalene is added, a broadening of the spectral lines occurs which is attributed to the reaction... 

The nitroxyls (a.k.a. nitroxides) are remarkably stable free radicals. Nitroxyls have two major resonance structures, one N-centered and one O-centered the lone electron may also be considered to be in the 7T orbital of an N=0 tt bond. Nitroxyls are thermodynamically stable because dimerization would give a very weak N-N, N-O, or 0-0 bond. TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylgiperidin-l-oxyl), a commercially available nitroxyl, is further stabilized by steric shielding. Other thermodynamically stable free radicals include the small molecules O2 (a 1,2-diradical, best represented as -0-0-) and nitric oxide ( N=0), a messenger molecule in mammals that mediates smooth muscle contraction. 

Figure 1 a Nomenclature used in text for free radical structures and stable end products derived from oxidation and excitation pathways. 

A great deal of work has been devoted to recognition of the structure of melanoidins. A wide variety of methods has been employed for this purpose. First, melanoidin shows a hyperfine structure in the e.s.r. spectrum and that means that stable free-radicals are present in caramel. Amino acids and ammonia were also detected in nondialyzable melanoidin after acid hydrol-ysis, indicating that amides are present in melanoidin. 

These are only a few of the stable free radicals, especially N-oxyl radicals, which have been discovered. Dr. Murayama of the Sanyko Company included many such structures in a paper published in the early 1970 s ( 1). 

And so, the work on mechanisms of autooxidation at the British Rubber Producers Association, the early work on the synthesis and reaction of stable free radicals, the recognition of the rale of stable free radicals in polymer stabilization, the discovery of stable triacetonamine-N-oxyl, and the search for practical candidates for commercialization, have led to the development of hindered amine stabilizers, a new class of polymer stabilizers. They are effective in many polymers against photodegradation and also are effective against thermooxidation in some polymers. The structures of the current commercially available products for polymer stabilization may be seen in Figure 7. These compounds are effective in meeting the stabilizer requirements in many commercial polymers however, others are under development to satisfy requirements not being met by them. 

Scheme 1. Tautomeric and resonance structures of a stable free radical.

This fact has been explained by some qualitative considerations of resonance stability and steric factors leading to the intermediate formation of the more stable free radical and, furthermore, by theoretical treatment based on molecular orbital theory(l). In this connection, most of the early literature on the structure of... 

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