Free radicals of electrochemical reduction of derivatives of 3-nitro-1,4-dihydropyridines

By means of ESR, under conditions of eletrochemical generation of particles, the formation of four types of secondary free radicals has been confirmed in the process of electrochemical reduction of molecules of N-unsubstituted derivatives of 3-nitro-1,4-dihydropyridine in dimthylformamide — specifically, a dianion radical of the molecule of the original compound; an anion radical of the corresponding isomeric 4,5-dihydropyridine; a radical of the nitroalkane type; and in addition, for the compound substituted with a nitrobenzene group; a free radical with the nitrobenzene structure. Methods for synthesis of the individual compounds are described, and a scheme is presented for the mechanism of their electrochemical conversion.Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Riga LV-1006. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 355–364, March, 1995. Original article submitted February 21, 1995.