Hydrogen atom abstraction triplet carbenes

Irradiation of DAAN in benzene gives 3AN. This carbene reacts with oxygen very rapidly to give an intermediate believed to be the carbonyl oxide. The triplet carbene reacts with labeled a-methylstyrene to give the cyclopropane with total loss of stereochemistry (Table 6). Direct irradiation in neat isopropyl alcohol gives the ether in low yield (relative to the yields from XA, DMFL, FL, and BFL). The other products are those expected to result from hydrogen-atom abstraction. Triplet-sensitized irradiation of DAAN in the alcohol does not give a detectable amount of the ether. 

The LFP techniques make it possible to observe directly the hydrogen atom abstraction process by triplet carbenes from appropriate H donors. The techniques also give useful kinetic information. 

In order to determine whether QMT may contribute to the overall reaction of diarylcarbenes with hydrogen atom donors in solution at ambient temperature, kinetic isotope effects for the benzylic hydrogen atom abstractions of the triplet states of several diarylcarbenes with toluene-toluene-i g in fluid solution were determined over the temperature ranges of —75 to 135 °C. The results are very much dependent on the structure of the carbene (Table 9.11)." The differential... 

It is interesting to note here that the value of the rate constant for DPC (14a), 1-NC (a-12), methoxycarbonylphenylcarbene (53), and FL (23) with O2 are 5 X 10 , (3.5 0.7) X 10 , 8.6 x 10 and (1.4 0.2) x 10 AT s-, respectively. The difference in the rate constants is not as large as that observed for the hydrogen atom abstraction rate constants for those carbenes (Table 9.9) and do not reflect the difference in the magnitude of AGst- The reason is probably because the rate constant of triplet carbenes is very fast and because the singlet states do not interact with triplet oxygen because of the spin restriction. 

It is not always easy to establish that an authentic insertion reaction has occurred. An alternative route to the same product is available it involves hydrogen-atom abstraction by the triplet carbene, followed by recombination of the fragments ... 

On direct irradiation in nonhydroxylic solvents, alkenes typically undergo several competing photoreactions. In addition to ,Z-isomerization, which is also exhibited on triplet sensitization, several processes occur that are usually observed only on direct irradiation rearrangement via carbene intermediates, double bond migration, alkyne formation, and hydrogen atom abstraction. This chapter is concerned with these latter processes. Emphasis is given to developments since the topic was reviewed extensively in 1979. Portions of this material are covered in reviews that have appeared since then. The photobehavior of alkenes in hydroxylic media is discussed in Chapter 9. 

This is not surprising, since triplet carbenes are free radicals. But singlet carbenes can also give this reaction, though in this case only halogen atoms are abstracted, not hydrogen. 

Whichever mechanism operates, it appears to be generally true that singlet aromatic carbenes react with the lower alcohols to form ethers at rates approaching the diffusion limit. On the other hand, aromatic carbenes that are clearly triplets do not give any ether at all from reaction with alcohols. Instead, these triplets behave as is expected of biradicals and abstract a hydrogen atom from the oxygen bearing carbon of the alcohol. The stable products of this reaction are those due to the combination and disproportionation (10) of the pair of radicals (Lapin et al., 1984). The more com-... 

A second process that has a central position in the analysis of the chemical properties of carbenes is their reaction with hydrocarbons. As is the case for alcohols, singlet and triplet carbenes react with hydrocarbons in distinctive ways. It has long been held that very electrophilic singlet carbenes can insert directly into carbon-hydrogen bonds (11) (Kirmse, 1971). On the other hand, triplet carbenes are believed to abstract hydrogen atoms to generate radicals that go on to combine and disproportionate in subsequent steps (12)... 

A complicating factor associated with experimental application of the Skell Hypothesis is that triplet carbenes abstract hydrogen atoms from many olefins more rapidly than they add to them. Also, in general, the two cyclopropanes that can be formed are diastereomers, and thus there is no reason to expect that they will be formed from an intermediate with equal efficiency. To allay these problems, stereospecifically deuteriated a-methyl-styrene has been employed as a probe for the multiplicity of the reacting carbene. In this case, one bond formation from the triplet carbene is expected to be rapid since it generates a particularly well-stabilized 1,3-biradical. Also, the two cyclopropane isomers differ only in isotopic substitution and this is anticipated to have only a small effect on the efficiencies of their formation. The expected non-stereospecific reaction of the triplet carbene is shown in (15) and its stereospecific counterpart in (16). 

Evident cases of abstraction/recombination mechanism are observed with phenylsubstituted carbenes. Diphenyl-diazomethane, which is photolyzed to give the triplet diphenyl-carbene, very readily abstracts a hydrogen atom from the benzyl group of toluene. The primarily formed radicals can now recombine to give a formal "insertion product — 1,1,2-triphenylethane — or they can recombine to form 1,1,2,2-tetraphenylethane and 1,2-diphenylethane... 

Attempts to detect a thermally populated triplet state ( A ) of 8 by ESR spectroscopy were unsuccessful. This was attributed to the high reactivity of the diradical, which presumably easily abstracts hydrogen atoms in hydrocarbon matrices (to form p-quinodimethane), even at very low temperatures. In this context, the triplet state of /7-phenylenebis(phenylmethylene) has been observed. Apparently, substitution of the carbenic hydrogens of 8 by phenyl groups confers sufficient stability (thermodynamic and perhaps kinetic) to the biradical, which allows its observation. According to variable-temperature ESR spectroscopy, the triplet state of /7-phenylenebis(phenylmethylene) is thermally populated and the singlet state lies 0.5-1 kcal/mol lower in energy [76-79]. 

The mechanism of this reaction is obscure. One suggested mechanism, analogous to the vapor phase reaction, involves concerted decarboxylation of the pyruvic acid to yield a triplet hydroxy carbene which can either dimerize or attack another molecule of pyruvic acid to yield the observed product.91 Dimerization seems to be the less likely process since the carbene can rearrange to acetaldehyde or react with water. Further, this mechanism predicts that acetoin will be formed when pyruvic acid is irradiated in any solvent that does not possess readily abstractable hydrogen atoms, such as benzene, a solvent in which no reaction is observed. One possible explanation of this discrepancy is that the solvation of the pyruvic acid is extremely different in benzene and in water. However, the specific role that the water plays in the reaction has not been determined. 

Triplet carbenes can abstract hydrogen or other atoms to give free radicals, e.g, CH2 + CHjCHj--------------------------------> CH,. +. CH2CH3... 

Subsequent abstraction of hydrogen atoms from the substrate by the triplet carbene or insertion into a C—H bond by the singlet species can occur ... 

Triplet carbenes can abstract hydrogen or other atoms to give free radicals, for example. 

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