Radical ions in photochemistry. Part 24. Carbon-carbon bond cleavage of radical cations in solution: theory and application

Abstract

The cleavage of radical cations of two series of alkanes, 1,1,2-triaryl- and 1,1,2,2-tetraarylalkanes, generated by photoinduced single electron transfer in acetonitrile-methanol, occurs with formation of radical and carbocation fragments. The radical cations of some unsymmetrically substituted alkanes cleave to give all four of the possible products, two hydrocarbons emanating from the radicals and two methyl ethers from the carbocations, in proportion to the oxidation potentials of the two possible radical fragments. There is an excellent linear correlation between the logarithm of the observed ratio of products and that calculated from the reported electrochemically determined oxidation potentials (r = 0.998, 5 points). The proportionality constant (1.27) for this relationship is close to unity which indicates that the product ratio is determined by the relative rates of cleavage in the two possible modes or by equilibration of the radicals and carbocations before separation of the geminate radical carbocation pair and not by equilibration upon reencounter of freely solvated radical and carbocation fragments.