Collision induced dissociations of radical cations

The collision induced dissociation spectra of ions generated by ionization or fragmentation of various samples reveal at least five non-decomposing structures. In contrast, the kinetic energy release measurements for the loss of carbon monoxide from the metastable ions are in agreement with the occurrence of a common reactive species. Isomerization into an ‘α,β-unsaturated aldehyde-like’ structure prior to fragmentation is proposed to accommodate these collision induced dissociation and mass analysed ion kinetic energy data. Some resuts suggest also that carbon monoxide loss from the phenol molecular ion may not occur via the cyclohexadienone tautomer.     

Kinetics of radical heterolysis reactions forming alkene radical cations

Rate constants for heterolytic fragmentation of beta-(ester)alkyl radicals were determined by a combination of direct laser flash photolysis studies and indirect kinetic studies. The 1,1-dimethyl-2-mesyloxyhexyl radical (4a) fragments in acetonitrile at ambient temperature with a rate constant of k(het) > 5 x 10(9) s(-1) to give the radical cation from 2-methyl-2-heptene (6), which reacts with acetonitrile with a pseudo-first-order rate constant of k = 1 x 10(6) s(-1) and is trapped by methanol in acetonitrile in a reversible reaction. The 1,1-dimethyl-2-(diphenylphosphatoxy)hexyl radical (4b) heterolyzes in acetonitrile to give radical cation 6 in an ion pair with a rate constant of k(het) = 4 x 10(6) s(-1), and the ion pair collapses with a rate constant of k < or = 1 x 10(9) s(-1). Rate constants for heterolysis of the 1,1-dimethyl-2-(2,2-diphenylcyclopropyl)-2-(diphenylphosphatoxy)ethyl radical (5a) and the 1,1-dimethyl-2-(2,2-diphenylcyclopropyl)-2-(trifluoroacetoxy)ethyl radical (5b) were measured in various solvents, and an Arrhenius function for reaction of 5a in THF was determined (log k = 11.16-5.39/2.3RT in kcal/mol). The cyclopropyl reporter group imparts a 35-fold acceleration in the rate of heterolysis of 5a in comparison to 4b. The combined results were used to generate a predictive scale for heterolysis reactions of alkyl radicals containing beta-mesyloxy, beta-diphenylphosphatoxy, and beta-trifluoroacetoxy groups as a function of solvent polarity as determined on the E(T)(30) solvent polarity scale.     

The kinetics of competing multiple-barrier unimolecular dissociations of o-, m-, and p-chlorotoluene radical cations

The kinetics of competing multiple-barrier unimolecular dissociations of o-, m-, and p-chlorotoluene radical cations to C7H7(+) (benzyl and tropylium) are studied by ab initio/Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) calculations. This system presents a very intriguing kinetic example in which the conventional approach assuming a single-barrier or a double-well potential surface with one transition state cannot predict or explain the outcome. The molecular parameters obtained at the SCF level of theory with the DZP basis set are utilized for the evaluation of microcanonical RRKM rate constants with no adjustable parameters. First-principles calculations provide the microscopic details of the reaction kinetics along the two competing multiple-barrier reaction pathways: the rate-energy curves for all elementary steps; temporal variations of the reactants, the reaction intermediates, and the products; and the product yield as a function of energy. The rate constant for each channel is calculated as a function of the internal energy at 0 K. After the thermal correction, the calculated rate-energy curves for the benzyl channel agree well with the photoelectron photoion coincidence data obtained at room temperature for all three isomers. Close agreement between experiments and theory suggests that first-principles calculations taking the full sequence of kinetic steps into account offer a useful kinetic model capable of correctly predicting the outcome of competing multiple-barrier reactions. The slowest process is identified as [1,2] and [1,3] alpha-H migration at the entrance to the tropylium and benzyl channel, respectively. However, the overall rate is determined not by the slowest process, but by the combination of the slowest rate and the net flux toward the product, which is multiplicatively reduced with an increasing number of reaction intermediates. The product yield calculation confirms the benzyl cation as the predominant product. For all isomers, the thermodynamically most stable tropylium ion is produced much less than expected because a large fraction of flux coming into the tropylium channel goes back to the benzyl channel. The benzyl channel is kinetically favored because it involves a lower entrance barrier with fewer rearrangements than the tropylium channel.     

Polyfluorinated radical cations

The synthesis of the first trifluoromethanesulfonate esters of the type CF₃SO₃(CH₂)_nO₃SCF₃ (n=1,2,3) are reported. The new compounds are prepared from Cl(CH₂)_nCl by substitutive electrophilic dehalogenation reactions with CF₃SO₂OX (x=Cl,Br). The extension of this reaction to HCCl₃ results in HC(O₃SCF₃)₃ but the compound is unstable at 22°.     

Kinetics and mechanism of redox reactions of radical cations of the triphenylamine series with neutral free radicals

Theoretical and Experimental Chemistry -     

Dimer radical cations of indole and indole-3-carbinol: localized and delocalized radical cations of diindolylmethane

Extending our previous study on the title species (J. Phys. Chem. A2010, 114, 6787), we investigated the dimer cations that are formed on oxidation of the glucobrassin derivatives indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and diindolylmethane (DIM) and of parent indole (I). Radiolysis in ionic liquid and Ar matrices shows that, at sufficiently high concentrations and/or on annealing the solid glasses, intense intermolecular charge-resonance (CR) absorption bands in the NIR herald the formation of sandwich-type dimer cations. The molecular and electronic structure of these species is modeled by calculations with the double-hybrid B2-PLYP-D density functional method which yields predictions in good accord with experiment. The radical cation of DIM also shows a CR band, but unlike in the case of I and I3C, its occurrence is not dependent on the concentration but instead on the solvent: in ionic liquid the CR band is initially absent and arises only on annealing, whereas in Ar matrices it is present from the outset and undergoes blue shifting and sharpening on annealing. These puzzling findings are rationalized on the basis of B2-PLYP-D calculations which predict that neutral DIM exists in the form of two conformers, present in different relative amounts in the two experiments, which on vertical ionization form distinct radical cations, a nonsymmetric one where the odd electron is largely localized on one of the two indole moieties and one with C(2) symmetry where charge and spin are completely delocalized over both halves of the molecule, thus giving rise to an intramolecular CR transition. On annealing, the nonsymmetric cation relaxes to a similarly delocalized structure with C(s) symmetry, thus explaining the observed increase and the shift of the CR band. We believe that DIM(?+) represents the first example of a radical cation which can exist under the same conditions as a localized and a delocalized complex cation.     

Oxidation of aminoindole radical cations

The varying stabilities of certain aminoindole radical cations toward oxidation with molecular oxygen have been studied. Oxidation leads to different products depending upon the environment around the N-amino nitrogen. A plausible reaction mechanism is proposed based on electronic and magnetic resonance spectroscopy.     

Formation and reactions of aryldiazomethane radical cations

Dicyanoanthracene-sensitized photolysis of aryldiazomethanes affords stilbenes with cis/trans ratios of ～3 via free radical cations; anodic oxidation gives similar results but via radical cations adsorbed on electrode surface.     

The formation and structure of radical cations

ions generated from a number of different presursors have been studied by high kinetie energy ion—molecule reations. It has been shown that at least four distinct stable species oeeur, of which acetonitrile and methyl isoeyanide retain their original structure. With imidazole or pyrazole as precursors, a mixture of open thain radical cations, not identical to the above species and probably interconvertible via the 1H-azirine radocal cation, is formed. From butrynitrile, pyrrole, crotonitrile, allyl interconvertible via the and cyanocyopropane a fourth species, probably the vinylidenimine ion, is formed.     

Towards persistent cyclobutadiene radical cations? The tetra-1-adamantyl-, and tetraneopentylcyclobutadiene radical cations.

The persistence of alkyl substituted cyclobutadiene radical cations strongly depends on the method of generation and the size of the alkyl substituents used. Hindered rotation, the consequence of bulky substituents, is observed in the title compounds.     

Enantioselective alkene radical cations reactions

The reaction of enantiomerically enriched 2-methyl-2-nitro-3-(diphenylphosphatoxy)alkyl radicals with tributyltin hydride and AIBN in benzene at reflux results in the formation of alkene radical cation/anion pairs, which are trapped intramolecularly by amine nucleophiles, leading to pyrrolidine and piperidine systems with memory of stereochemistry. The scope and limitations of the system are explored with respect to nucleophile, leaving group, and substituents within the substrate backbone.     

Catalysis in hydrogen-bridged radical cations

Hydrogen-bridged radical cations (HBRCs) are an intriguing subclass of ion-molecule complexes. They may act as key intermediates of remarkable stability in both association and dissociation reactions of heteroatom-containing molecular ions. The H-bridge of such an HBRC can promote isomerization of its ionic component by H-transfer. Proton-transport catalysis (PTC) is a prime example. Here, a neutral molecule promotes the smooth transformation of an ion into its H-shift isomer by consecutive proton-transfer reactions. A celebrated case is the water catalyzed isomerization of CH(3)OH(?+) into its more stable distonic isomer (?)CH(2)OH(2)(+). Other early studies of PTC also deal with catalyzing 1,2-H shifts in association reactions. This short review focuses on more recent combined experimental and computational studies of catalysis in HBRCs. Mechanisms involving both proton and H atom transfers have been proposed for a variety of systems of H-shift isomers. It has also become clear that PTC is not confined to bimolecular reactions. It also features in the unimolecular chemistry of heteroatom- containing ions, which have a tendency to isomerize to HBRCs en route to their dissociation.     

Charge-localized naphthalene-bridged bis-hydrazine radical cations

Electron transfer (ET) in four symmetrically substituted naphthalene-bridged bis-hydrazine radical cations (1,4; 1,5; 2,6; and 2,7) is compared within the Marcus-Hush framework. The ET rate constants (k(ET)) for three of the compounds were measured by ESR; the 2,7-substituted compound has an intramolecular ET that is too slow to measure by this method. The k(ET) values are significantly dependent upon the substitution pattern of the hydrazine units on the naphthalene bridge but do not correlate with the distance between them. This is contrary to an assumption that is frequently made about intervalence compounds that the bridge serves only as a spacer that fixes the distance between the charge-bearing units. The internal vibrational and solvent portions (lambda(v) and lambda(s)) of the total reorganization energy (lambda) have been separated using solvent effects on the intervalence band maximum, resulting in a lambda(v) that is the same, 9900 cm(-1), for the differently substituted naphthalenes. This is in accord with the general assumption that lambda(v) is primarily dependent upon the charge bearing unit and not the bridge. However, the trends in lambda(s) cannot be explained by dielectric continuum theory.     

Electronic states of di-t-butylpolyacetylene radical cations

The π-ionization energies of the di-t-butylpolyacetylenes with two, three, four and five conjugated triple bonds have been determined by He (Iα) photoelectron spectroscopy. The assignment of the bands to the Π-states of the corresponding radical cations follows from simple correlations in agreement with previous experience. The influence of the t-butyl groups on the ionization energies is rationalized in terms of traditional, qualitative arguments assuming an inductive and/or hyperconjugative mechanism. However, a more careful analysis shows that the ‘The -higher-the-ionization-energy-the-higher-the-alkyl-induced-shift’ rule is not always true.     

Enantioselective cyclization of alkene radical cations

[reaction: see text] Enantiomerically enriched beta-(diphenylphosphatoxy)nitroalkanes undergo radical ionic fragmentation, induced by tributyltin hydride and AIBN in benzene at reflux, to give alkene radical cations in contact radical ion pairs. These contact ion pairs are trapped intramolecularly by amines to give pyrrolidines and piperidines with significant enantioselectivity ( approximately 60% ee), indicative of cyclization competing effectively with equilibration within the ion pairs. Use of an intramolecular N-propargylamine as a nucleophile provides an enantiomerically enriched pyrrolizidine skeleton via a tandem polar/radical crossover sequence.     

The structure of diphosphine radical cations

When R₂NNR₂ molecules lose an electron to give (R₂NNR₂)^+· radical cations, the whole unit becomes planar, with a(π₁)²(π₂)¹ configuration. However, because R₃P molecules are far more strongly pyramidal than R₃N molecules, this flattening on electron loss is less, and phosphorous centred radical cations do not achieve planarity. This is clearly so for (R₂PPR₂)⁺ centres, whose liquid and solid state spectra analysed herein in terms of two equivalent ³¹P hyperfine couplings, show ca. 9% 3s character. This indicates considerable bending at each phosphorous centre. Furthermore, the form of the spectra, with no x — y splitting of the ‘perpendicular’ lines, suggests that each ³¹P coupling shares a common axis. This means that a trans conformation is required, as expected because this relieves steric strain and favours “π” type orbital overlap.     

Reactivity of triarylphosphine peroxyl radical cations generated through the reaction of triarylphosphine radical cations with oxygen

One-electron oxidation of triarylphosphines (Ar3P, Ar = phenyl and substituted phenyl) in benzonitrile (PhCN) has been studied using pulse radiolysis technique. One-electron oxidation of Ar3P occurred to yield the radical cation (Ar3P*+) which showed an intense absorption with a peak at 360-370 nm together with a broad band at 500-600 nm. The addition of molecular oxygen (O2) to the phosphorus atom of Ar3P*+ took place at the second-order rate constant of 10(7)-10(9) dm(3) mol(-1) s(-1) to yield the peroxyl triarylphosphinyl radical cation (Ar3P+OO*). It is found that the electron-releasing substituents on the para position of the phenyl ring of Ar3P influence the rate constants of the reaction of Ar3P*+ with O2 and that o-methyl substituents on the phenyl ring influence the reactivity of Ar3P+OO*.     

Polarization effect in radical cations and H-complexes

The effect of substituents X on the ionization potentials IP (process DX + hν ? D^+·X + e) and shifts in vibration frequencies Δν of ν(OH) in the IR spectra of phenol complexes PhO-H + DX ? PhO^δ?-H…D^δ+X for nine series of DX molecules were studied. On compiling with three conditions (a constant donor center D; the electron density donation only from D and not from X; a constant sampling size within each series) it was possible to compare the polarization effect in D^+·X and D^δ+X. In the radical cations D^+·X the polarization effect is on the average 2.2 times larger than in the systems D^δ+X. The systems D^+·X and D^δ+X are virtually indistinguishable with respect to the external delocalization of the positive charge.