Radical clocks and electron transfer. Comparison of crown ether effects on the reactivity of potassium and magnesium towards 1-bromo-2-(3-butenyl)benzene. The incidence of homogeneous versus heterogeneous electron transfer on selectivity

Abstract

The reaction of the title precursor of the aryl radical clock 1-bromo-2-(3-butenyl)benzene, 1Br, towards potassium and magnesium in THF was studied in the presence and absence of various additives, at ambient and low temperatures. The additives were cis-dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 or tert-butyl alcohol; the first one to render soluble potassium by forming its alkalide, the second to distinguish carbanionic from radical cyclization. The addition of 1Br to a THF stirred suspension of potassium pieces yields remarkably low amounts of products resulting from radical cyclization, in contrast to the amounts reported by Bunnett and Beckwith's group for the reaction in 67% ammonia–33% tert-butyl alcohol medium. The amount of cyclized products obtained with potassium pieces in THF is in the same range as that observed in the reaction of magnesium with 1Br in THF. This similarity allows us to discard the earlier triad hypothesis that we proposed to account for the unexpectedly low amounts of cyclized products of aryl halides radical clocks in Grignard reagent formation. The addition of crown ethers to the THF reaction medium induces contrasting effects for potassium and magnesium. A distinctive increase in the radical cyclization is observed for potassium, whereas the addition of crown inhibits the formation of Grignard reagent more efficiently when the solvent is diethyl ether than when it is THF. The observed effects are explained by putting in perspective the metal reactive dissolution with elementary steps occurring in the vicinity of a cathode. The reaction of potassium pieces or magnesium turnings is comparable to the heterogeneous electron transfer occurring at a cathode whereas the reaction of potassium in the presence of crown ether is comparable to homogeneous conditions of electron transfer obtained in redox catalysis. A discussion of the dianion hypothesis for the Grignard reaction of aryl halides is provided and the importance of considering the reactivity of reactive metal dissolution (or organic corrosion) in the framework of recent progress made in the modelling of electrode reactivity is emphasized. This paper shows that caution should be taken when radical clocks are used to study reactions at the metal–solution interface. More specifically, the non-observation of rearranged products from the radical clock (even for the very rapid ones) under these conditions does not necessary imply that there is no radical intermediate along the dominant reaction channel. This pattern of reactivity strongly contrasts with that usually observed when radical clocks are used in homogeneous media. The leading parameters in the rearranged/unrearranged products ratio seem to be the time that the reactive species (radical anions) created by the first electron transfer spend in the close vicinity of this surface, the rate constant of rearrangement of the radical formed by the cleavage of the radical anion and the redox properties of this radical. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.