Small ring compounds—XXX : Homolytical aromatic substitution and hydrogen abstraction reaction with cyclopropyl radical

Abstract

Homolytic aromatic substitution and hydrogen abstraction reactions with cyclopropyl radical were carried out to determine the reactivity and ionic character of cyclopropyl radical by examination of the orientation effect, partial rate factor and influence of substituents. By thermal decomposition of biscyclopropaneformyl peroxide in a series of substituted benzenes, the corresponding cyclopropylated benzene derivatives (the mixture of ortho, meta and para isomers) were obtained in moderate yield. In view of the orientation effect and the partial rate factor, the cyclopropyl radical seems to be fairly free from polar effect, and to resemble the phenyl radical more than the common alkyl radical although the cyclopropyl radical has a slightly higher reactivity than the phenyl radical. The relative reactivity of the 2-phenylcyclopropyl radical in the hydrogen abstraction reaction toward the benzylic position of ring-substituted toluenes gave good Hammett's correlation with the slope of + 0·20 suggesting little ionic character in the transition state. This result was in good agreement with the conclusion obtained from homolytic aromatic substitution reaction and with the chemical reactivity to be expected from the non-planar nearly sp 2-hybridized conformation of the cyclopropyl radical.