Michela Salamone

Tuning Reactivity and Selectivity in Hydrogen Atom Transfer from Aliphatic C–H Bonds to Alkoxyl Radicals: Role of Structural and Medium Effects

Hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) is a fundamental reaction that takes part in a wide variety of chemical and biological processes, with relevant examples that include the action of antioxidants, damage to biomolecules and polymers, and enzymatic and biomimetic reactions. Moreover, great attention is currently devoted to the selective functionalization of unactivated aliphatic C-H bonds, where HAT based procedures have been shown to play an important role. In this Account, we describe the results of our recent studies on the role of structural and medium effects on HAT from aliphatic C-H bonds to the cumyloxyl radical (CumO(•)). Quantitative information on the reactivity and selectivity patterns observed in these reactions has been obtained by time-resolved kinetic studies, providing a deeper understanding of the factors that govern HAT from carbon and leading to the definition of useful guidelines for the activation or deactivation of aliphatic C-H bonds toward HAT. In keeping with the electrophilic character of alkoxyl radicals, polar effects can play an important role in the reactions of CumO(•). Electron-rich C-H bonds are activated whereas those that are α to electron withdrawing groups are deactivated toward HAT, with these effects being able to override the thermodynamic preference for HAT from the weakest C-H bond. Stereoelectronic effects can also influence the reactivity of the C-H bonds of ethers, amines, and amides. HAT is most rapid when these bonds can be eclipsed with a lone pair on an adjacent heteroatom or with the π-system of an amide functionality, thus allowing for optimal orbital overlap. In HAT from cyclohexane derivatives, tertiary axial C-H bond deactivation and tertiary equatorial C-H bond activation have been observed. These effects have been explained on the basis of an increase in torsional strain or a release in 1,3-diaxial strain in the HAT transition states, with kH(eq)/kH(ax) ratios that have been shown to exceed one order of magnitude. Medium effects on HAT from aliphatic C-H bonds to CumO(•) have been also investigated. With basic substrates, from large to very large decreases in kH have been measured with increasing solvent hydrogen bond donor (HBD) ability or after addition of protic acids or alkali and alkaline earth metal ions, with kinetic effects that exceed 2 orders of magnitude in the reactions of tertiary alkylamines and alkanamides. Solvent hydrogen bonding, protonation, and metal ion binding increase the electron deficiency and the strength of the C-H bonds of these substrates deactivating these bonds toward HAT, with the extent of this deactivation being modulated by varying the nature of the substrate, solvent, protic acid, and metal ion. These results indicate that through these interactions careful control over the HAT reactivity of basic substrates toward CumO(•) and other electrophilic radicals can be achieved, suggesting moreover that these effects can be exploited in an orthogonal fashion for selective C-H bond functionalization of substrates bearing different basic functionalities.

Kinetic Solvent Effects on Hydrogen Abstraction Reactions from Carbon by the Cumyloxyl Radical. The Role of Hydrogen Bonding

A kinetic study of the H-atom abstraction reactions from 1,4-cyclohexadiene and triethylamine by the cumyloxyl radical has been carried out in different solvents. Negligible effects are observed with 1,4-cyclohexadiene, whereas with triethylamine a significant decrease in rate constant (k(H)) is observed on going from benzene to MeOH. A good correlation between log k(H) and the solvent hydrogen bond donor parameter alpha is observed, indicative of an H-bonding interaction between the amine lone pair and the solvent.

Modeling noncovalent radical-molecule interactions using conventional density-functional theory: beware erroneous charge transfer.

Conventional density-functional theory (DFT) has the potential to overbind radical-molecule complexes because of erroneous charge transfer. We examined this behavior by exploring the ability of various DFT approximations to predict fractional charge transfer and by quantifying the overbinding in a series of complexes. It is demonstrated that too much charge is transferred from molecules to radicals when the radical singly unoccupied molecular orbitals are predicted to be erroneously too low in energy relative to the molecule highest occupied molecular orbitals, leading to excessive Coulombic attraction. In this respect, DFT methods formulated with little or no Hartree-Fock exchange perform most poorly. The present results illustrate that the charge-transfer problem is much broader than may have been previously expected and is not limited to conventional (i.e., molecule-molecule) donor-acceptor complexes.

Hydrogen atom abstraction selectivity in the reactions of alkylamines with the benzyloxyl and cumyloxyl radicals. The importance of structure and of substrate radical hydrogen bonding.

A time-resolved kinetic study on the hydrogen abstraction reactions from a series of primary and secondary amines by the cumyloxyl (CumO(•)) and benzyloxyl (BnO(•)) radicals was carried out. The results were compared with those obtained previously for the corresponding reactions with tertiary amines. Very different hydrogen abstraction rate constants (k(H)) and intermolecular selectivities were observed for the reactions of the two radicals. With CumO(•), k(H) was observed to decrease on going from the tertiary to the secondary and primary amines. The lowest k(H) values were measured for the reactions with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine (TMP) and tert-octylamine (TOA), substrates that can only undergo N-H abstraction. The opposite behavior was observed for the reactions of BnO(•), where the k(H) values increased in the order tertiary < secondary < primary. The k(H) values for the reactions of BnO(•) were in all cases significantly higher than those measured for the corresponding reactions of CumO(•), and no significant difference in reactivity was observed between structurally related substrates that could undergo exclusive α-C-H and N-H abstraction. This different behavior is evidenced by the k(H)(BnO(•))/k(H)(CumO(•)) ratios that range from 55-85 and 267-673 for secondary and primary alkylamines up to 1182 and 3388 for TMP and TOA. The reactions of CumO(•) were described in all cases as direct hydrogen atom abstractions. With BnO(•) the results were interpreted in terms of the rate-determining formation of a hydrogen-bonded prereaction complex between the radical α-C-H and the amine lone pair wherein hydrogen abstraction occurs. Steric effects and amine HBA ability play a major role, whereas the strength of the substrate α-C-H and N-H bonds involved appears to be relatively unimportant. The implications of these different mechanistic pictures are discussed.

Reactions of the Cumyloxyl and Benzyloxyl Radicals with Tertiary Amides. Hydrogen Abstraction Selectivity and the Role of Specific Substrate-Radical Hydrogen Bonding

A time-resolved kinetic study in acetonitrile and a theoretical investigation of hydrogen abstraction reactions from N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) by the cumyloxyl (CumO(•)) and benzyloxyl (BnO(•)) radicals was carried out. CumO(•) reacts with both substrates by direct hydrogen abstraction. With DMF, abstraction occurs from the formyl and N-methyl C-H bonds, with the formyl being the preferred abstraction site, as indicated by the measured kH/kD ratios and by theory. With DMA, abstraction preferentially occurs from the N-methyl groups, whereas abstraction from the acetyl group represents a minor pathway, in line with the computed C-H BDEs and the kH/kD ratios. The reactions of BnO(•) with both substrates were best described by the rate-limiting formation of hydrogen-bonded prereaction complexes between the BnO(•) α-C-H and the amide oxygen, followed by intramolecular hydrogen abstraction. This mechanism is consistent with the very large increases in reactivity measured on going from CumO(•) to BnO(•) and with the observation of kH/kD ratios close to unity in the reactions of BnO(•). Our modeling supports the different mechanisms proposed for the reactions of CumO(•) and BnO(•) and the importance of specific substrate/radical hydrogen bond interactions, moreover providing information on the hydrogen abstraction selectivity.

Kinetic Solvent Effects on Hydrogen Abstraction Reactions from Carbon by the Cumyloxyl Radical. The Importance of Solvent Hydrogen Bond Interactions with the Substrate and the Abstracting Radical

A kinetic study of the hydrogen atom abstraction reactions from propanal (PA) and 2,2-dimethylpropanal (DMPA) by the cumyloxyl radical (CumO•) has been carried out in different solvents (benzene, PhCl, MeCN, t-BuOH, MeOH, and TFE). The corresponding reactions of the benzyloxyl radical (BnO•) have been studied in MeCN. The reaction of CumO• with 1,4-cyclohexadiene (CHD) also has been investigated in TFE solution. With CHD a 3-fold increase in rate constant (k(H)) has been observed on going from benzene, PhCl, and MeCN to TFE. This represents the first observation of a sizable kinetic solvent effect for hydrogen atom abstraction reactions from hydrocarbons by alkoxyl radicals and indicates that strong HBD solvents influence the hydrogen abstraction reactivity of CumO•. With PA and DMPA a significant decrease in k(H) has been observed on going from benzene and PhCl to MeOH and TFE, indicative of hydrogen-bond interactions between the carbonyl lone pair and the solvent in the transition state. The similar k(H) values observed for the reactions of the aldehydes in MeOH and TFE point toward differential hydrogen bond interactions of the latter solvent with the substrate and the radical in the transition state. The small reactivity ratios observed for the reactions of CumO• and BnO• with PA and DMPA (k(H)(BnO•)/k(H)(CumO•) = 1.2 and 1.6, respectively) indicate that with these substrates alkoxyl radical sterics play a minor role.

Phenyl Bridging in Ring-Substituted Cumyloxyl Radicals. A Product and Time-Resolved Kinetic Study†

The reactivity of cumyloxyl radicals bearing cyclopropyl and 2,2-diphenylcyclopropyl groups in the para position has been investigated. Depending on radical structure, products deriving from C-C beta-scission and/or cyclopropyl ring-opening are observed, supporting the hypothesis that cumyloxyl (and, more generally, arylcarbinyloxyl) radicals exist in equilibrium with 1-oxaspiro[2,5]octadienyl radicals, in full agreement with the previously proposed mechanism for the O-neophyl rearrangement of 1,1-diarylalkoxyl radicals.

Effect of metal ions on the reactions of the cumyloxyl radical with hydrogen atom donors. Fine control on hydrogen abstraction reactivity determined by Lewis acid-base interactions.

A time-resolved kinetic study on the effect of metal ions (M(n+)) on hydrogen abstraction reactions from C-H donor substrates by the cumyloxyl radical (CumO(•)) was carried out in acetonitrile. Metal salt addition was observed to increase the CumO(•) β-scission rate constant in the order Li(+) > Mg(2+) > Na(+). These effects were explained in terms of the stabilization of the β-scission transition state determined by Lewis acid-base interactions between M(n+) and the radical. When hydrogen abstraction from 1,4-cyclohexadiene was studied in the presence of LiClO(4) and Mg(ClO(4))(2), a slight increase in rate constant (k(H)) was observed indicating that interaction between M(n+) and CumO(•) can also influence, although to a limited extent, the hydrogen abstraction reactivity of alkoxyl radicals. With Lewis basic C-H donors such as THF and tertiary amines, a decrease in k(H) with increasing Lewis acidity of M(n+) was observed (k(H)(MeCN) > k(H)(Li(+)) > k(H)(Mg(2+))). This behavior was explained in terms of the stronger Lewis acid-base interaction of M(n+) with the substrate as compared to the radical. This interaction reduces the degree of overlap between the α-C-H σ* orbital and a heteroatom lone-pair, increasing the C-H BDE and destabilizing the carbon centered radical formed after abstraction. With tertiary amines, a >2-order of magnitude decrease in k(H) was measured after Mg(ClO(4))(2) addition up to a 1.5:1 amine/Mg(ClO(4))(2) ratio. At higher amine concentrations, very similar k(H) values were measured with and without Mg(ClO(4))(2). These results clearly show that with strong Lewis basic substrates variations in the nature and concentration of M(n+) can dramatically influence k(H), allowing for a fine control of the substrate hydrogen atom donor ability, thus providing a convenient method for C-H deactivation. The implications and generality of these findings are discussed.

Diffusion controlled hydrogen atom abstraction from tertiary amines by the benzyloxyl radical. The importance of C-H/N hydrogen bonding.

The rate constants for H-atom abstraction (k(H)) from 1,4-cyclohexadiene (CHD), triethylamine (TEA), triisobutylamine (TIBA), and DABCO by the cumyloxyl (CumO(•)) and benzyloxyl (BnO(•)) radicals were measured. Comparable k(H) values for the two radicals were obtained in their reactions with CHD and TIBA whereas large increases in k(H) for TEA and DABCO were found on going from CumO(•) to BnO(•). These differences are attributed to the rate-determining formation of BnO(•) C-H/amine N lone-pair H-bonded complexes.

Kinetic Solvent Effects on Hydrogen Abstraction from Phenol by the Cumyloxyl Radical. Toward an Understanding of the Role of Protic Solvents

A time-resolved kinetic study of the hydrogen atom abstraction reactions from phenol by the cumyloxyl radical (CumO(•)) was carried out in different solvents. The hydrogen atom abstraction rate constant (k(H)) was observed to decrease by almost 3 orders of magnitude on going from isooctane to MeOH. In TFE, MeCN/H(2)O 2:1, and MeOH, the measured k(H) values were lower than expected on the basis of the Snelgrove-Ingold (SI) equation that correlates log k(H) to the solvent hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) ability parameter β(2)(H). As these solvents also act as hydrogen bond donors (HBDs), we explored the notion that a more thorough description of solvent effects could be provided by including a solvent HBD ability term, α(2)(H), into the SI equation via β(2)(H)(1 + α(2)(H)). The inclusion of such a term greatly improves the fitting for TFE, MeCN/H(2)O 2:1, and MeOH but at the expense of that for tertiary alkanols. This finding suggests that, for the reaction of CumO(•) with phenol, the HBA and HBD abilities of both the solvent and the substrate could be responsible for the observed KSEs. but this requires that primary and tertiary alkanols exhibit different solvation behaviors. Possible explanations for this different behavior are explored.