78811-45-7

Reduction of cyclohexylmercuric salts (7) with NaBH4 yields cyclohexyl radicals (8).Their rel. rates of addition to substituted styrenes 4, acrylic esters 5 and acrylonitriles 6 have been measured.Comparison with Hammett ?-values shows, that substituents at the non attacked vinylic carbon atom show polar effects mainly (Table 1).The effect of a substituent variation increases with increase of the reactivity of the alkenes (Table 2).Mesomeric and steric effects play only a minor role.