Mesolytic Scission of C-C Bonds as a Probe for Photoinduced Electron Transfer Reactions of Quinones

Photoinduced electron transfer reactions of chlorinated benzoquinones are investigated using bibenzylic donors that undergo rapid fragmentation upon oxidation. The fragmentation rates and the quantum yields are used to probe the dynamics of back-electron transfer (BET) in two types of radical ion pairs. The triplet ion pairs formed by interception of excited state quinones give products with high quantum yields. The singlet ion pairs formed by irradiation of the charge-transfer (CT) complexes between the quinones and the donors undergo reactions with significantly lower efficiency. The advantage of the first method (triplet quenching) over the CT-irradiation depends on the energetics of BET. It is large for reactions with relatively small DeltaG(et) for BET and it decreases for reactions with more negative DeltaG(bet). The indirectly obtained rates of BET are in excellent agreement with literature data for similar, but unreactive systems, and the rates of C-C bond scission in radical cations generated in these systems are consistent with the thermodynamics of these processes.     

光诱导电子转移反应在有机合成中的应用

对近十年来报道的在有机合成中有重要意义的光诱导电子转移反应做了简要的总结. 包括六个部分: (1)光诱导电子转移(PET)反应的基本原理, (2) PET诱导的自由基离子裂解和去保护基反应, (3) PET诱导的加成和环加成反应, (4) PET诱导的环化反应和串联环化反应, (5)不对称PET反应, (6)微反应器中的PET反应.     

Photo-Induced Halogen-Atom Transfer: Generation of Halide Radicals for Selective Hydrohalogenation Reactions

The first photo-mediated process enabling the generation of halide radicals by Halogen-Atom Transfer (XAT) is described. Contrary to radical transformations involving XAT reactivity, which exploit stable carbon radicals, this unique approach uses 1,2-dihaloethanes for the generation of unstable carbon radicals by XAT. These transient radicals then undergo β-scission with release of ethylene and formation of more stable halide radicals which have been used in selective hydrohalogenations of a large number of unsaturated hydrocarbons, including Michael acceptors, unactivated alkenes and alkynes. This hydrohalogenation is tolerant of a broad range of functionalities and is believed to proceed through a radical-chain manifold that propagates by the use of silane derivatives.     

Double Group Transfer Reactions: Role of Activation Strain and Aromaticity in Reaction Barriers

Double group transfer (DGT) reactions, such as the bimolecular automerization of ethane plus ethene, are known to have high reaction barriers despite the fact that their cyclic transition states have a pronounced in‐plane aromatic character, as indicated by NMR spectroscopic parameters. To arrive at a way of understanding this somewhat paradoxical and incompletely understood phenomenon of high‐energy aromatic transition states, we have explored six archetypal DGT reactions using density functional theory (DFT) at the OLYP/TZ2P level. The main trends in reactivity are rationalized using the activation strain model of chemical reactivity. In this model, the shape of the reaction profile ΔE(ζ) and the height of the overall reaction barrier ΔE^≠=ΔE(ζ=ζ^TS) is interpreted in terms of the strain energy ΔE_strain(ζ) associated with deforming the reactants along the reaction coordinate ζ plus the interaction energy ΔE_int(ζ) between these deformed reactants: ΔE(ζ)=ΔE_strain(ζ)+ΔE_int(ζ). We also use an alternative fragmentation and a valence bond model for analyzing the character of the transition states.     

Electron Spin Resonance of Oxiranyl Radicals in Solution: Configurational Stabilities and Rearrangement Reactions

Several alkyl substituted oxiranyl radicals derived by hydrogen abstraction from oxiranes are observed in solution by ESR.-spectroscopy. The ESR.-spectra demonstrate that oxiranyl radicals have pyramidal configurations at the radical carbon atom and undergo inversion. Alkyl substituted oxiranyls rearrange by ring opening to α-keto alkyl radicals. The rates of inversion decrease and the rates of rearrangement increase with alkyl substitution. The activation parameters of these processes are given for several cases and are related to radical structure. Line broadening effects caused by inversion allow the determination of relative signs of γ-CH₃-coupling constants.     

Leveraging Electron Transfer Dissociation for Site Selective Radical Generation: Applications for Peptide Epimer Analysis

Traditional electron-transfer dissociation (ETD) experiments operate through a complex combination of hydrogen abundant and hydrogen deficient fragmentation pathways, yielding c and z ions, side-chain losses, and disulfide bond scission. Herein, a novel dissociation pathway is reported, yielding homolytic cleavage of carbon–iodine bonds via electronic excitation. This observation is very similar to photodissociation experiments where homolytic cleavage of carbon–iodine bonds has been utilized previously, but ETD activation can be performed without addition of a laser to the mass spectrometer. Both loss of iodine and loss of hydrogen iodide are observed, with the abundance of the latter product being greatly enhanced for some peptides after additional collisional activation. These observations suggest a novel ETD fragmentation pathway involving temporary storage of the electron in a charge-reduced arginine side chain. Subsequent collisional activation of the peptide radical produced by loss of HI yields spectra dominated by radical-directed dissociation, which can be usefully employed for identification of peptide isomers, including epimers.

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A Catalytic Enantioselective Electron Transfer Reaction: Titanocene-Catalyzed Enantioselective Formation of Radicals from meso-Epoxides

A rationally designed titanium(III ) catalyst allows the opening of epoxides with high enantioselectivity. This reaction [Eq. (1)] constitutes the first example of an enantioselective transition metal catalyzed radical reaction that proceeds by electron transfer.     

Facile Synthetic Access to Rhenium(II) Complexes: Activation of Carbon–Bromine Bonds by Single‐Electron Transfer

The five‐coordinated Re^I hydride complexes [Re(Br)(H)(NO)(PR₃)₂] (R=Cy 1 a , iPr 1 b ) were reacted with benzylbromide, thereby affording the 17‐electron mononuclear Re^II hydride complexes [Re(Br)₂(H)(NO)(PR₃)₂] (R=Cy 3 a , iPr 3 b ), which were characterized by EPR, cyclic voltammetry, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. In the case of dibromomethane or bromoform, the reaction of 1 afforded Re^II hydrides 3 in addition to Re^I carbene hydrides [Re(?CHR¹)(Br)(H)(NO)(PR₃)₂] (R¹=H 4 , Br 5 ; R=Cy a , iPr b ) in which the hydride ligand is positioned cis to the carbene ligand. For comparison, the dihydrogen Re^I dibromide complexes [Re(Br)₂(NO)(PR₃)₂(η²‐H₂)] (R=Cy 2 a , iPr 2 b ) were reacted with allyl‐ or benzylbromide, thereby affording the monophosphine Re^II complex salts [R₃PCH₂R′][Re(Br)₄(NO)(PR₃)] (R′=? CH?CH₂ 6 , Ph 7 ). The reduction of Re^II complexes has also been examined. Complex 3 a or 3 b can be reduced by zinc to afford 1 a or 1 b in high yield. Under catalytic conditions, this reaction enables homocoupling of benzylbromide (turnover frequency (TOF): 3 a 150, 3 b 134 h^?1) or allylbromide (TOF: 3 a 575, 3 b 562 h^?1). The reaction of 6 a and 6 b with zinc in acetonitrile affords in good yields the monophosphine Re^I complexes [Re(Br)₂(NO)(MeCN)₂(PR₃)] (R=Cy 8 a , iPr 8 b ), which showed high catalytic activity toward highly selective dehydrogenative silylation of styrenes (maximum TOF of 61 h^?1). Single‐electron transfer (SET) mechanisms were proposed for all these transformations. The molecular structures of 3 a , 6 a , 6 b , 7 a , 7 b , and 8 a were established by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction studies.     

Electron Transfer Reactions of Radical Anions with TEMPO: A Versatile Route for Transformation of Living Anionic Polymerization into Stable Radical‐Mediated Polymerization

Summary: The possibility of transforming a living anionic polymerization into a stable radical‐mediated radical polymerization (SFRP) was demonstrated. For this purpose, 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐N‐oxyl (TEMPO) alcoholate, formed by a one‐electron redox reaction between potassium naphthalene and TEMPO, was used to initiate the living anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide (EO). Poly(ethylene oxide) obtained in this way possessed TEMPO terminal units and was subsequently used as an initiator for the SFRP of styrene to give block copolymers.

A one‐electron redox reaction gives rise to TEMPO alcoholate, which is able to initiate the living anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide (EO).     

Free Radical Production upon Photoinduced Electron Transfer Reactions in the Presence of Vinyl Monomers. Effect of Water Addition*

Free radical fragments produced in the photoinduced electron transfer from triethylamine (TEA) to excited pyrenebutyltrimethylammonium (*PyBu⁺) lead to 1-vi-nyl-2-pyrrolidinone (VP) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacry-late (HEMA) polymerization. Experiments carried out in water/acetonitrile solvent mixtures showed that the polymerization rate of VP increases upon increasing the water content, whereas the polymerization rate of HEMA follows the opposite trend. These results are interpreted in terms of the strong dependence on the solvent properties of the photochemical behavior of PyBu⁺ in the presence of the amine or monomers. Thus, the *PyBu⁺ quenching by VP is almost negligible in both solvents (water and acetonitrile). Whereas, the *PyBu⁺ quenching rate constant by HEMA in water is 4 times 10⁹M^?l s^?1 and decreases four orders of magnitude in acetonitrile. The quenching of *PyBu⁺ by TEA in aqueous solutions is controlled by hydrogen-bonding interactions between water molecules and the amine. Quantum yields of the pyrene radical anion (φ_Py) also strongly depend on the water content, decreasing from 0.28 to 0.015 upon going from acetonitrile to water.     

Radical Sequential Processes Promoted by 1,5-Radical Translocation Reaction: Formation and [3 + 2] Anulation of Alkenesulfanyl Radicals

Radical addition of 2-substituted ethanethiols 1-5 to alkyl-, dialkyl-, and phenylacetylenes affords the corresponding beta-sulfanylalkenyl radicals, which can undergo 1,5-radical translocation (RT reaction) in competition with intermolecular hydrogen abstraction (HA reaction). The RT reaction is the first step of a sequential radical process leading to alkenesulfanyl radicals through an "intermolecular sulfanyl radical transaddition" from an alkene to an alkyne molecule. Alkenesulfanyl radicals can undergo a regioselective [3 + 2] anulation reaction with a CC triple bond, eventually leading to thiophene products through 5-endo cyclization of vinyl radicals onto CC double bond. The effect of the nature of ethanethiol and alkyne substituents on the RT/HA ratio has been investigated, and results will be discussed.     

Electron Transfer and Charge Transfer: Twin Themes in Unifying the Mechanisms of Organic and Organometallic Reactions

The broad varieties of organic and organometallic reactions merge into a common unifying mechanism by considering all nucleophiles and electrophiles as electron donors (D) and electron acceptors (A), respectively. Comparison of outer-sphere and inner-sphere electron transfers with the aid of Marcus theory provides the thermochemical basis for the generalized free energy relationship for electron transfer (FERET) in Equation (37) and its corollaries in Equations (43) and (44) that have wide predictive applicability to electrophilic aromatic substitutions, olefin additions, organometallic cleavages, etc. The FERET is based on the conversion of the weak nucleophile–electrophile interactions extant in the ubiquitous electron donor—acceptor (EDA) precursor complex [D, A] to the radical ion pair [D^⊕, A^?], for which the free energy change can be evaluated from the charge-transfer absorption spectra according to Mulliken theory. FERET analysis thus indicates that the charge-transfer ion pairs [D^⊕, A^?] are energetically equivalent to the transition states for nucleophile/electrophile transformations. The behavior of such ion pairs can be directly observed immediately following the irradiation of the charge-transfer bands of various EDA complexes with a 25-ps laser pulse. Such studies confirm the radical ion pair [Arene^⊕, NO₂] as a viable intermediate in electrophilic aromatic nitration, as presented in the electron-transfer mechanism between arenes and the nitryl cation (NO) electrophile.     

Olefin Cyclopropanation by Radical Carbene Transfer Reactions Promoted by Cobalt(II)/Porphyrinates: Active‐Metal‐Template Synthesis of [2]Rotaxanes

A Co^II/porphyrinate‐based macrocycle in the presence of a 3,5‐diphenylpyridine axial ligand functions as an endotopic ligand to direct the assembly of [2]rotaxanes from diazo and styrene half‐threads, by radical‐carbene‐transfer reactions, in excellent 95 % yield. The method reported herein applies the active‐metal‐template strategy to include radical‐type activation of ligands by the metal‐template ion during the organometallic process which ultimately yields the mechanical bond. A careful quantitative analysis of the product distribution afforded from the rotaxane self‐assembly reaction shows that the Co^II/porphyrinate subunit is still active after formation of the mechanical bond and, upon coordination of an additional diazo half‐thread derivative, promotes a novel intercomponent C?H insertion reaction to yield a new rotaxane‐like species. This unexpected intercomponent C?H insertion illustrates the distinct reactivity brought to the Co^II/porphyrinate catalyst by the mechanical bond.     

Effects of Electron Correlations in a Simple Model for Adiabatic Electrochemical Reactions: The Application to Particular Reactions

Adiabatic free-energy surfaces (AFES) for some typical electrode processes are calculated in the framework of the surface-molecule model for adiabatic electrochemical reactions of electron transfer previously suggested by the authors. The surfaces are analyzed using the proposed diagrams of kinetic modes. It is shown that correlation effects play a substantial role in the reactions and not only considerably diminish the free energy of activation but also lead to qualitatively different shapes of AFES in some regions of modeling parameters.