Heterocyclic cation radicals (review)

The modern state of the chemistry of heterocyclic cation radicals is examined, Methods for the preparation (generation) of these particles, as well as their stabilities and the factors that determine them, are described, The mechanisms of the reactions of heterocyclic cation radicals with nucleophiles and specific examples of such reactions are discussed. Special attention is directed to the role of cation radicals as intermediate particles in dehydrogenation, nitration, and radical substitution reactions and in processes involving the cleavage of C-C bonds and dehydrodimerization in the heterocyclic series. The cation radicals of some natural heterocyclic compounds and their possible role in the functioning of biochemical systems are also examined.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 8, pp. 1011–1029, August, 1980