Experimental and theoretical aspects of the formation of radical cations from tripyrrolidinobenzenes and their follow-up reactions

Abstract

Tripyrrolidinobenzene radical cations(1*+), obtained from the corresponding arenes by oxidation with silver nitrate, are specially stabilized and thus allow specific reaction pathways of arene radical cations to be investigated separately and individually. Radical cations 1*+ ,for instance, generated under exclusion of oxygen, undergo dimerization to 2, or they abstract hydrogen from the solvent to form 3. In a pure oxygen atmosphere, the O2 reaction products 6 and 7 are formed, respectively, either exclusively or together with 2 and 3. Kinetic measurements give the following order of reactivity for these individual processes: reaction with O2 > dimerization. > H-abstraction from solvent. The changes in the product spectrum upon modification of the reaction conditions are in accord with the kinetic results. The dimeric u complexes 2 show surprisingly facile dissociation into two radical cations, two (1*+)with a much higher dissociation rate for the alkyl derivatives 2b-d than for 2a. Dissociation is enhanced substantially by light or in the presence of π donors. Individual product formation, rate of reactions of the radical cations 1*+, and photochemical cleavage of the dimeric σ complexes 2 can be rationalized, by qualitative and quantitative MO considerations, in terms of their relative frontier orbital energies.