Alkenes as alkyne equivalents in radical cascades terminated by fragmentations: Overcoming stereoelectronic restrictions on ring expansions for the preparation of expanded polyaromatics

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jacs.5b02373

Chemoselective interaction of aromatic enynes with Bu₃Sn radicals can be harnessed for selective cascade transformations, yielding either Sn-substituted naphthalenes or Sn-indenes. Depending on the substitution at the alkene terminus, the initial regioselective 5-exo-trig cyclizations can be intercepted at the 5-exo stage via either hydrogen atom abstraction or C-S bond scission or allowed to proceed further to the formal 6-endo products via homoallylic ring expansion. Aromatization of the latter occurs via β-C-C bond scission, which is facilitated by 2c,3e through-bond interactions, a new stereoelectronic effect in radical chemistry. The combination of formal 6-endo-trig cyclization with stereoelectronically optimized fragmentation allows the use of alkenes as synthetic equivalents of alkynes and opens a convenient route to α-Sn-substituted naphthalenes, a unique launching platform for the preparation of extended polyaromatics.

Full text of DOI:10.1021/jacs.5b02373

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Article
Alkenes as Alkyne Equivalents in Radical Cascades Terminated
by Fragmentations: Overcoming Stereoelectronic Restrictions on
Ring Expansions For the Preparation of Expanded Polyaromatics
Rana K Mohamed, Sayantan Mondal, Brian Gold, Christopher J.
Evoniuk, Tanmay Banerjee, Kenneth Hanson, and Igor V. Alabugin
J. Am. Chem. Soc., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b02373 • Publication Date (Web): 23 Apr 2015
Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on April 27, 2015
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Alkenes as Alkyne Equivalents in Radical Cascades Terminated by
Fragmentations: Overcoming Stereoelectronic Restrictions on Ring
Expansions For the Preparation of Expanded Polyaromatics
Rana K. Mohamed,‡ Sayantan Mondal,‡ Brian Gold, Christopher J. Evoniuk, Tanmay Banerjee, Ken-
neth Hanson,* Igor V. Alabugin*
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Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fl, 32306, USA
KEYWORDS: Enynes, Polycyclic Aromatics, Radical Cyclization, Fragmentation, Chemoselectivity
ABSTRACT: Chemoselective interaction of aromatic enynes with Bu3Sn radicals can be harnessed for selective cascade transfor-
mations yielding either Sn-substituted naphthalenes or Sn-indenes. Depending on the substitution at the alkene terminus, the initial
regioselective 5-exo-trig cyclizations can be intercepted at the 5-exo stage either via hydrogen atom abstraction (HAA) or C-S bond
scission, or allowed to proceed further to the formal 6-endo products via homoallylic ring expansion. Aromatization of the latter
occurs via -C-C bond scission which is facilitated by 2c,3e-Through-Bond (TB) interactions, a new stereoelectronic effect in radical
chemistry. The combination of formal 6-endo-trig cyclization with stereoelectronically optimized fragmentation allows the use of
alkenes as synthetic equivalents of alkynes and opens a convenient route to α-Sn-substituted naphthalenes, a unique launching plat-
form for the preparation of extended polyaromatics.
INTRODUCTION
Efficient synthetic routes to functional polyaromatic architectures1 can be developed by leveraging the propensity of alkynes and
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oligo-alkynes2 to undergo cascade transformations into precisely shaped conjugated structures.3 4 The two general approaches for
transforming alkynes to polyaromatics utilize 6-exo or 6-endo cyclization of vinyl radicals in conjugated systems (Figure 1). The 6-
exo approach is stereoelectronically favorable and can be achieved in direct cascades of skipped oligoynes terminated by the elimi-
nation of a “traceless” directing group.5 On the other hand, the radical 6-endo closure does not provide a reliable path to aromatic
products6 and the development of efficient radical cyclizations with reliable selectivity continues to be a challenge.
Figure 1. Potential approaches for achieving selectivity in radical cascades of oligo-alkynes targeting extended polyaromatics.
In practice, the 5-exo/6-endo-dig competition is hard to control and this approach often does not provide a satisfactory synthetic route
,
to aromatic compounds.7 8 Potentially, the yield of 6-endo-products can be increased by “recycling” 5-exo products via homoallylic
ring expansion, as described in Figure 2. However, such expansion is impossible for the vinyl radicals derived from alkynes. As a
result, the Bu3Sn-mediated radical cyclization of enediynes exclusively forms the 5-exo-dig benzofulvene products.9,
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Figure 2. Left: Stereoelecronic restriction on the 5-exo-dig  6-endo-dig homoallylic ring expansion. Right: “recycling” of 5-exo-
trig products into 6-endo-trig products via homoallylic ring expansion is stereoelectronically feasible.
The key difference between alkenes and alkynes in the 5-exo6-endo ring expansion is stereoelectronic. In the case of enediynes,
the favored 5-exo-dig cyclization produces a vinyl radical that is constrained orthogonally to the endocyclic -system (Figure 2, left).
In contrast, the 5-exo-trig cyclization of enynes forms a flexible alkyl radical that can rearrange into the formal 6-endo product via
the homoallylic ring expansion sequence (Figure 2, right). Due to the absence of stereoelectronic limitations, the ring expansion of
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5-exo-trig products is well-documented.11 12
Earlier, we disclosed a strategy for chemo- and regioselective reactions of aromatic enynes with Bu3Sn radicals leading to the for-
mation of indenes or dienes.13 In a subsequent communication, we reported that proper substitution at the pendant alkene allows the
formation of the six-membered products. Formal oxidation of the 6-endo-products to fully aromatized naphthalene derivatives can
be achieved by incorporating a “self-terminating” C-C bond β-scission as the final step of the cascade.14 The combination of cycliza-
tion and fragmentation allows the use of alkenes as synthetic equivalents to alkynes by overcoming stereoelectronic restrictions
imposed by the rigidity of vinyl radicals.
Herein, we provide full experimental and computational analysis of this new process and apply it toward the construction a diverse
library of α-Sn -substituted naphthalene building blocks with the aim to develop a convenient strategy for the synthesis of large
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as 1,3,5-tris(naphthyl)benzenes (A2, Figure 1) and other extended derivatives. We outline the
scope and limitations of this strategy and show that this C-C bond fragmentation, accomplished through the rational design of radical
leaving groups on the alkene, serves as a formal “oxidation” step needed for the cross-over between the products of alkene and alkyne
cyclization. The fragmentation is fast due to selective Transition State (TS) stabilization originating from Through-Bond (TB) inter-
action between a radical center and a lone pair at the -atom, a new electronic effect in radical chemistry. Furthermore, we identify a
1,2-stannyl shift as a new mechanism for equilibration between two vinyl radicals with potential implications for the use of Dynamic
Covalent Chemistry (DCC) in radical reactions.
COMPUTATIONAL METHODS
All calculations were performed using the Gaussian 09 program package.15 Unless otherwise noted, the M06-2X/LanL2DZ16 was
used to evaluate the stationary states at the radical potential energy surfaces. The M06-2X method accounts for dispersion using a
reparameterized exchange–correlation functional and is substantially less computationally demanding than multiconfigurational
methods. Frequency calculations were performed to confirm each stationary point as either a minimum or a first-order saddle point.
Nucleus Independent Chemical Shift values (NICS(0) and NICS(1))17 were obtained using the gauge-including atomic orbital (GIAO)
method18 at the M06-2X/LanL2DZ level of theory. Chemcraft 1.719 and CYLView20 were used to render the molecules and orbitals.
NBO 3.0 program was used to analyze electronic properties of reactive intermediates.21 For the majority of the computations, unless
otherwise stated, we used a truncated Me3Sn radical instead of the bulkier Bu3Sn radical utilized in the experimental work in order to
alleviate computational challenges arising from the presence of multiple conformations in the three Bu groups of Bu3Sn.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
While investigating the scope of enyne radical cyclizations, we found that, despite the presence of four possible locations for inter-
molecular radical attack, all observed products result from Bu3Sn radical addition to the internal alkyne atom. Furthermore, this
chemoselective attack leads to subsequent cyclizations with remarkable regio- and stereoselectivity. Such selectivity warrants a more
extensive discussion.
In radical chemistry, organotin hydrides are so versatile that their ubiquity has been deemed the ‘tyranny of tin.’22 Tin hydrides are
popular reagents for reductive additions to alkenes and alkynes with utility extending to inducing selective cyclizations, complex
rearrangements, and domino (cascade) reactions.23 In particular, intermolecular radical addition to alkynes opens access to reactive
vinyl radicals that can participate in reaction cascades.24 A number of literature reports, a few of which are summarized in Scheme 1,
25,26,27
suggest that in multifunctional systems, Sn radical addition to terminal alkynes is preferred over reaction with an alkene.
Overall, selective addition in these systems proceeds in a Markovnikov fashion to form the more stable vinyl radical. However, the
present case (enyne) corresponds to attack at an internal alkyne. Furthermore, the attack occurs at the internal carbon of the alkyne,
forming the less conjugated and less stable of the two vinyl radicals.
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Scheme 1. Sn-Mediated radical cyclizations of enynes from literature.
To gain further insight into the relative reactivity of disubstituted alkynes and alkenes toward Bu3Sn-radicals, we performed compe-
tition experiments in which an equimolar mixture of trans stilbene and tolane reacted with 1.0 equiv. of Bu3SnH (in the presence of
0.2 equiv. of AIBN, Scheme 2). The results were interesting – we observed highly selective addition to the alkyne with the alkene
recovered in the unreacted state.28
Scheme 2. Competition experiment with tolane and trans-stilbene
Stage 1: Dynamic Covalent Chemistry. Computations provided deeper insights into origin of the observed reaction selectivity and
the possible involvement of a pool of equilibrating radicals self-sorted via their relative reactivity or stability.29 In an extreme, such
system can be considered as an example of Dynamic Covalent Chemistry (DCC)30,31,32 in radical transformations. In this scenario,
the system can take advantage of the feasibility of “error-checking” in DCC when fast equilibration allows covalent bonds to revers-
ibly form, break, and reform to ultimately afford one out of several possible products. In the present work, we consider only a subset
of such reactions that originate from Bu3Sn attack on the alkyne. This simplification is made possible by the observed experimental
selectivity presented in Scheme 2. Based on these experimental findings, we concentrated our computational analysis on reaction
pathways originating from addition of the Bu3Sn radical to the alkyne moiety of enynes.
In order to understand the possible equilibria between the two vinyl radicals, we performed M06-2X/LanL2DZ evaluation of the two
transition states for the Me3Sn radical addition to the alkyne moiety of the enyne. According to the principle of microscopic reversi-
bility, the same transition states correspond to -scission of the two radicals to give back the staring materials. Additionally, we have
located the transition state for 1,2-Sn-shift that provides a direct way to interconvert the two vinyl radicals. We also evaluated the
barrier and reaction energies for the subsequent cyclization pathways that led to the formation of five-membered products.
Figure 3. Potential energy surface for the formation, intercoversion and cyclization of two vinyl radicals at the M06-2X/LanL2DZ
level of theory. Single point solvation corrections on gas phase geometries (PCM, toluene) are given in SI.
Unique features of Sn-radicals. Computations also highlighted the unique properties of Sn reagents relative to other radical sources
(Figure 4). Most importantly, the addition of Sn radical to tolane had the smallest thermodynamic driving force and is closer to being
thermoneutral than the analogous addition of CMe3 and SiMe3 radicals to the same alkyne. Furthermore, the barrier for Sn-addition
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is relatively low. Together with the low exergonicity, this feature makes the -scission barrier relatively low as well (~18 kcal/mol at
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the chosen levels of theory).
Figure 4. Left: Values for the addition of XMe3 radicals to tolane calculated at the M06-2X/LanL2DZ level of theory. Right:
Comparison of hyperconjugative σC-X→n* stabilizing interactions (β-spin orbitals) for the vinyl radicals formed upon addition of
XMe3 radicals to phenylacetylene.
An interesting possible explanation for the unusual computational trends is the greater strength of hyperconjugative interactions
between the developing radical center and the C-Sn bond (Table 1).33 The importance of hyperconjugation is apparent from the
calculated energies of addition which do not follow the order of the literature bond dissociation energies (BDEs): C-C (~90) > C-Si
(~89) > C-Sn (~70).34 For instance, addition of the SiMe3 radical is favored by > 10 kcal/mol relative to the t-Bu radical, despite
having nearly identical BDEs. In a similar way, the calculated difference in reaction energies between SnMe3 and the t-Bu radical
(<5 kcal/mol) is much smaller than the large difference in BDEs (~20 kcal/mol). Significant hyperconjugative stabilization of the
radical center by the SiMe3 and SnMe3 groups provides a plausible explanation to these observations. Furthermore, the lower barriers
for addition of SnMe3 radicals suggest that such effects start to already manifest themselves in the TS.35
Figure 5. Steric congestion from larger substituents impose a smaller CCSn angle and the resulting increase in p-character (and
donor abilities) of the C-Sn bond enhances hyperconjugative interactions.
Furthermore, hyperconjugative interactions are stronger in the more sterically crowded systems where a smaller CCX angle is im-
posed by additional substitution (i.e., 115º vs. 119º angles for the radicals formed by Sn addition to phenylacetylene and tolane). As
a result of these geometric changes, the carbon hybrid in the C-Sn bond gains more p-character (increase from 70-73% to 75-78%),
making this bond a better partner in stabilizing hyperconjugative interactions.36,37 This observation highlights the importance of sterics
in Sn additions and provides a possible explanation for the greater exothermicity and lower barriers for the radical additions to the
enyne in comparison to tolane.
Stage 2: Kinetic Self-sorting. The presently available accuracy of DFT computations should be taken as semi-quantitative and we
treat these results as preliminary but the computations suggest a very interesting picture. In particular, the analysis reveals that the
experimentally observed dominating pathway is derived from the less stable of the two vinyl radicals. Furthermore, the reactive
radical is also formed from the parent enyne via a higher addition barrier. This seemingly surprising result is due to an imbalance
induced in the dynamic equilibria between the two radicals via fast and irreversible 5-exo-trig cyclization. This form of “kinetic self-
sorting” leads to high selectivity, an otherwise unlikely outcome.
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Figure 6. The loss of conjugation needed to reach the near-attack conformation disfavors cyclization of R2.
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Formation of the more stable “internal” radical R2 in Figure 6 is unproductive because its cyclizations are stereoelectronically disfa-
vored by the necessity to lose benzylic conjugation with the central aromatic ring before reaching the cyclization TS. Due to the high
barrier (>22 kcal/mol) for the cyclization of radical R2, its formation cannot lead to a cyclized product and would be a dead end, if
not for the possibility of conversion to the “productive” radical R1. Computations suggest two mechanisms for interconversion be-
tween the two radicals. First, the radical can revert back to the starting materials via -scission of Sn-C bond. At the present level
of theory, the Curtin-Hammett principle suggests that equilibration of the two radicals via -scission is less energetically likely since
the absolute value of the free energy for the activation barrier for the formation of radical R1 is ~1 kcal higher than that for the 5-
endo cyclization of radical R2. One has to keep in mind, however, that the 1 kcal/mol difference may well be within the computational
uncertainty of the presently available computational methods.
Second, computations identified a new mechanism for the interconversion based on a 1,2 stannyl shift. This shift was found to have
a barrier of only 5.6 kcal/mol, providing a more likely direct explanation for the observed selectivity. It was suggested that due to its
large size and the availability of low-lying empty 5d atomic orbitals, tin can expand its valence to facilitate metallotropic shifts
(intramolecular migration).38 Fast [1,5]-Sn shifts39 in cycloheptatrienyl tin compounds as well as [1,9]-Sn shifts in cyclononatetraenyl
tin compounds40 have been reported (Figure 7). The barrier for 1,5-shift of SnMe3 in cyclopentadiene had been calculated to be 8.4
kcal/mol,41 significantly lower than the 27 kcal/mol barrier reported for the analogous 1,5-H shift.42
Figure 7. Top: computations identified a low-barrier (5.6 kcal/mol) mechanism for the interconversion of vinyl radicals R1 and R2
based on a novel 1,2 stannyl shift. Bottom: the labile nature of the C-Sn bond suggested by 1,5 and 1,9 sigmatropic Sn shifts re-
ported in literature.
The importance of the R3Sn group for the initiation of these reactions is clearly evidenced by the experimental screening of enynes
with a variety of initiators and radical reagents, as shown in Table 1. The combination of Bu3SnH and AIBN in refluxing toluene was
the most efficient in inducing cyclizations.
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Table 1. Optimizing conditions for the radical cyclization of enynes.
Stage 3: Transformations of the initially formed 5-exo-trig radicals. To test the scope of this reaction, a variety of enynes were
synthesized using strategies based on sequential Wittig reaction and Sonogashira coupling (See SI for details). The outcome of cycli-
zations depended strongly on the nature of substitution at the alkene terminus. The presence of radical stabilizing groups led to the
clean formation of the 5-exo-trig products (indenes) whereas alkyl groups directed the process toward the formation of 6-endo prod-
ucts. The nature of these substituent effects and the hidden complexity of the reaction mechanism are discussed in the following
sections.
Figure 8. The suggested origin of selectivity and control of propagation of enyne radical cascade via alkene substituents.
Formation of indenes. Under the optimized conditions, when the alkene subtituent R is CO2Et and the alkyne substituent is Ph,
indene F11 was the sole product obtained in 87% yield as a result of 5-exo-trig cyclization, followed by rapid hydrogen atom
abstraction (HAA). The scope of this reaction is demonstrated by the successful transformation of a variety of enynes into the library
of indenes shown in Figure 9. For the radical stabilizing substituents, i.e., X= ester or Ph, the radical product of 5-exo cyclization is
always intercepted by HAA to form indenes. Indene formation is particularly efficient with electron rich substrates at the alkyne
terminus. Alkyl and TMS-substituted alkynes also gave good yields, but required longer reaction times. The reaction retained its
efficiency when the alkene substitution was changed from ester to amide, cyano, and substituted aryl groups (compounds F18-20).
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Figure 9. The library of indenes accessed via 5-exo-trig cyclization of aromatic enynes.
Switch to “endo” selectivity. A dramatic change in selectivity was observed in the absence of radical stabilizing groups at the alkene
terminus. Under the optimized conditions discussed above, the alkyl substituted enyne G1 gave a mixture of two six-membered
products, G2 (65%) and G3 (26%): the major one corresponded to the 6-endo-trig product terminated by HAA whereas the minor
one originated from C-C bond fragmentation in the cyclic product.
Scheme 3. The change in selectivity observed upon altering substitution at the alkene terminus.
Cyclization/Ring Expansion Sequence. The observed switch in selectivity could have two alternative origins. In the first scenario,
the switch in substitution could change kinetic preferences for the cyclization, rendering the 6-endo-step faster. In the 2nd possible
scenario, the cyclization would proceed via a 5-exo-trig path followed by a ring expansion process.
Scheme 4. The six-membered products can form either via direct 6-endo-trig products or via a sequence of 5-exo-trig/3-exo trig
cyclizations followed by C-C bond scission.
Experimental evidence for the 5-exo/ring expansion sequence. In the case where X=CH2SEt, rapid C-S bond scission intercepted
the cascade after 5-exo-trig cyclization, producing dienes I2 and I3 after isomerization, as shown in Scheme 5. The high efficiency
of this bond scission illustrates that this process can be conveniently used as a “radical clock” for the experimental study of radical
reaction mechanisms. The fragmented thiyl radical is relatively reactive, and likely assists in the isomerization of the initially formed
non-conjugated diene into two conjugated diene products, the majority of which is derived from HAA at the benzylic position.43
A
small amount (~4%) of the naphthalene product I4 was also observed. Subsequent computational analysis suggested that the minor
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product I4 could have been derived directly via the 6-endo-trig pathway due to the smaller ΔG≠ difference between 5-exo and 6-endo
pathways for this substrate (0.6 kcal/mol).
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Scheme 5. The presence of a weak C-S bond allows trapping of the initial 5-exo-trig product via C-S scission and prevents the
homoallylic ring expansion into naphthalene.
The interception of the intermediate 5-exo-trig product via β-scission of the weak C-S bond provided direct mechanistic evidence
that, even after the alkene substituent was altered from a radical stabilizing group (Ar, ester) to an alkyl group, the cyclization
preferentially proceeded via the 5-exo path. We will provide computational comparison of the direct 6-endo-path and the 5-exo/3-
exo/fragmentation cascade in one of the following sections. However, first, we will discuss experimental data for the final step of the
cascade, the aromatization of naphthalenes via scission of an exocyclic C-C bond.
Terminating the ring expansion via fragmentation: rational design of radical leaving groups. The feasibility of the
fragmentation pathway is largely rationalized by the aromatic stabilization gained in the conversion of the initial 6-endo-trig products
into napthalenes. The fragmentation is further enhanced by stabilizing the departing radical fragment via the rational design of radical
leaving groups (LG). A balance between stability and reactivity is crucial because the reactivity of radicals formed in fragmentations
dictates the outcome of the competition between propagation and termination of radical cascades. In particular, reactive radicals can
react further in an undesirable way. We aimed to design the cascade such that the balance between stability and reactivity is struck,
resulting in the sole formation of naphthalenes. We found that this is possible upon altering the alkene substituent to CH2XCH3, where
X=O or NMe (Figure 10).
2-Center, 3-electron (2c-3e) delocalization between the alkyl radical center and lone pair of the adjacent heteroatom serves to stabilize
the radical leaving group effectively allowing the cascade to “self-terminate.” This term was introduced by Wille et al. to describe
transformations44 where stable fragmenting radicals “exit” the reaction without exhibiting subsequent reactivity.45 Such 2c-3e
interactions correspond to the formal bond order of ½ and can be referred to as “half-bonds.” Their presence accounts for the observed
increase in the yield of naphthalenes from enynes incorporating this rational design. Figure 10 shows substrates containing either Ph
or a heteroatom at the pendant alkene. For both substitution patterns, the fragmentation/aromatization proceeds fully because both
the Ph group and the lone pairs are better radical stabilizing substituents than C-H/C-C bonds.46 Furthermore, the higher product yield
for X=N relative to X=O is consistent with nitrogen being a better donor than oxygen.47 As expected, an increase in the experimental
yields correlates with greater reaction exergonicity: CH2NMe2 > CH2OMe/CH2OH > CH2Alkyl (Figure 10). Elimination of a benzylic
radical (R=CH2Ph) is also a viable, albeit less atom-economical, option.
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Figure 10. A) Left: Efficiency of fragmentation can be increased by proper substitution at the alkene terminus. B) Middle: 2-Center,
3-electron interactions are stabilizing “half-bonds” that account for radical stabilization energies in heteroatom-substituted radicals
(at UM062X/LanL2DZ level). C) Right: Important molecules stabilized by 2c – 3e bonds.
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Coupling ring expansion to fragmentations: from enynes to naphthalenes. All enynes in Figure 11 cyclized to the substituted
naphthalenes selectively and, with a few exceptions, in very good yields. The variations of substituents at the alkyne terminus
demonstrated that the reaction’s efficiency increased when substituents on the alkyne terminus provided additional delocalization to
the vinyl radical formed via the intial intermolecular attack (Figure 11, K23-K25). The reaction retained its efficiency when alkene
substitution was changed from hydrogen to methyl group and became more efficient with the methyl substituent on the inner alkene
carbon (Figure 11, K20).
Figure 11. Formation of naphthalene products upon cyclization of aromatic enynes with suitable alkene substitution.
Limitations. Alkyne substitution plays a crucial role in the formation of the right initial radical. In order for the cyclization to work,
the Bu3Sn attack has to occur at the “internal” alkyne carbon. The two examples in Scheme 6 illustrate this point as well as the
interesting observation that formation of naphthalenes seems to be more sensitive to substitution at the alkyne terminus than formation
of indenes. For example, the dialkyl enyne L1 does not give cyclic product whereas the respective alkyl ester L1´ provides 74% of
the indene. These results suggest that the alkyl substituted vinyl radical is too unstable to be present in sufficient amounts for the
cyclization, especially if this cyclization has to involve an intramolecular attack at a non-activated (alkyl-substituted) double bond.
The potential 5-endo/4-exo trig cyclizations of the alternative vinyl radical are known to be relatively inefficient so the benzylic
radical has no choice but to abstract hydrogen and form the reduced acyclic product.
Stabilization of the internal vinyl radical A (Scheme 6) by conjugation provides an alternative way to deplete the reactive radical pool
as illustrated by the lack of anthracene product from the bis-enyne L4. Again, intramolecular attack at the activated alkene (X=CO2Et)
does not suffer from this as much as attack at the non-activated alkene (X-=CH2OMe). Furthermore, the cyclization can be disfavored
by sterics resulting in the formation of acyclic reduced products as is the case for the naphthyl substituted enyne L7.
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Scheme 6. Top: limitations in the Bu3Sn-mediated radical cyclization of enynes arise when electronic factors disfavor reactions of
radical B shown in the middle panel. Bottom: Low yield of L8 and formation of L9 exemplified how steric congestion in the naph-
thyl substituted enyne decreases the efficiency of cyclization.
Mechanistic insights into the fragmentation step. Intramolecular trapping of the benzylic radical with a pendant alkene using enyne
M1 was unsuccessful and indicated that β-scission is sufficiently fast to compete with 6-exo cyclization, Scheme 7a. The stabilized
CH2XR radical formed in the fragmentation step is unreactive to sensitive functionalities, i.e., to the alkyne and alkene moieties in
enyne reactants and to the polyaromatics formed. To circumvent the volatile nature of the fragment, enyne M3 was synthesized and
although successful cyclization to naphthalene was evident, the reaction mixture indicated that the α- oxy alkyl radical fragmented
further into the β-methyl naphthalene product shown in Scheme 7b. Ultimately, successful “trapping” of the radical fragment was
accomplished in the cyclization of spiroalkene M5 where the fragmenting radical remained attached to the substrate M6 (Scheme
7c).
Scheme 7. Attempts to trap and/or isolate products associated with the departing radical fragment.
Possible ring expansion mechanisms. Further experiments were carried out with the goal of delineating the ring expansion cascade
and differentiating between the two possible routes (Scheme 8).
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Scheme 8. The lack of carbon transposition of the substituted alkene rules out the neophyl pathway as the rearrangement mechanism.
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As shown in Scheme 8, the intramolecular rearrangement of the 5-exo radical adduct into the formal 6-endo benzylic radical occurs
via 3-exo trig attack at the “isolated” double bond as a homoallyl ring expansion (red pathway, Scheme 8) rather than at the vicinal
benzene ring as a neophyl ring expansion (blue pathway, Scheme 8). This is experimentally supported by the lack of carbon transpo-
sition product observed upon the cyclization of enyne N1. Both the neophyl and the homoallyl ring48 openings are exergonic (~16
and ~12 kcal/mol relative to the 5-exo radical)14 as expected for the less strained six-membered radical which is significantly stabilized
by additional electronic effects (i.e. allylic and benzylic resonance). However, the barrier for the 3-exo closure onto the “isolated”
alkene is much lower than the barrier for cyclization which disrupts aromaticity, although the former barrier is still quite significant
due to accumulation of strain in the tricyclic moiety.
The need to use stoichiometric amount of initiator (0.5 equiv. AIBN produces 1 equiv. of isobutyronitrile radical) for full conversion
to naphthalene further suggested the “self-terminating” nature of the cascade via β C-C bond scission. In other words, the fragmented
radicals did not efficiently propagate the radical chain process. The absence of significant amounts of acyclic products suggested
that premature HAA from R3Sn-H by the acyclic radicals could be controlled by concentration of reagents. Slow addition of Sn kept
its concentration low at any given time and allowed sufficiently fast intramolecular reactions, especially 5-exo-trig, to dominate the
reaction pathway.
Computational analysis of the full cascades. Questions still remained regarding the interplay of effects dictating product selectivity.
Computations and experiments elucidated the multifold role of the pendant alkene in the transformation to naphthalene and further
supported the intermediacy of the 5-exo step. In particular, the computational analysis found a significantly higher activation barrier
for 6-endo-trig ring closure relative to the alternative 5-exo-trig cyclization. Even for the alkene with the CH2OMe substituent where
the 5-exo product does not get additional stabilization through conjugation (as it does for Ph-substituted alkenes), the difference in
the activation barriers between the two pathways remained significant (e.g., ΔΔG≠~2.6 kcal/mol). This is not surprising since intra-
molecular radical attack at π-bonds intrinsically favors the exo-path,49 unless special factors such as steric or polar effects can over-
weigh this intrinsic preference.50,51,52
Once highly exothermic (~20 kcal) and essentially irreversible 5-exo-trig cyclization takes place, the alkyl radical adduct is flexible
enough to allow intramolecular rearrangement that ultimately affords the formal 6-endo product. The key step in this rearrangement
is the 3-exo-trig attack at the double bond of indene to provide a radical that, albeit strained, enjoys both benzylic and -Sn stabili-
zation. The subsequent C-C bond fragmentation releases strain and relocates the radical center to the other benzylic position. The
final benzylic radical is ~30 kcal/mol more stable than the vinyl radical at the entry point of the cascade. At the final step, aromatizing
β-C-C bond scission yields the Sn-substituted naphthalene. Although this mechanism involves a relatively complex rearrangement,
it can provide the final product in >80% yield.
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Figure 12. Calculated free energy profile for the alternative paths to 6-endo-trig products: Sn-mediated cyclization/ring expansion
(black) vs. direct 6-endo-trig (blue) at the UM062X/LanL2DZ level of theory. ΔG values, in kcal/mol, are calculated at 384K.
Figure 13. Alternate reactivity and calculated free energy profile (UM062X/LanL2DZ) for thio-substituted enynes. ΔG values, in
kcal/mol, are calculated at 384K. The new “radical clock” pathway based on the -scission of a weak C-S bond is shown in red.
Interestingly, both 5-exo and 6-endo-trig cyclizations have lower barriers for R=CH2SEt and the calculated difference in the two
barriers decreased to only 0.7 kcal/mol (Figure 13). In good agreement with these computational results, a small amount of the 6-
endo-product was observed in the reaction, indicating that the presence of a -C-S bond at the alkene terminus facilitated 6-endo
cyclization.
Conceptual implications: the role of aromaticity and through-bond interactions in the C-C bond fragmentation step.
Furthermore, computational analysis of the reaction led to intriguing theoretical implications regarding the role of electronic effects.
Although radical fragmentations provide a valuable option for the termination of cascade transformations,53 both thermodynamics
and kinetics of this process need to be optimized in order to break unstrained C-C bonds under relatively mild conditions.54 The
unusually facile homolytic cleavage of an unstrained C-C bond is assisted by aromatic stabilization gained in the naphthalene product.
In order to investigate the evolution of aromaticity throughout the reactions, Nucleus Independent Chemical Shifts (NICS) were
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calculated throughout the reaction coordinate (see Figure S7 in SI). NICS values were calculated in the plane of the forming aromatic
ring, one Å above the plane and one Å below. NICS(1) values, a better measure of π-aromaticity than NICS(0),55 show the
development of aromaticity along the reaction coordinate, going from nonaromatic (NICS(1) = -2-0 ppm) reactant to aromatic
(NICS(1) ~ 9.5 ppm) product. Thus, this process provides an interesting addition to the family of aromaticity-driven organic
reactions.56
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The facilitating effect of aromaticity is well-established and has many precedents. However, the influence of a remote lone pair
(positioned at the -atom) at the radical reactivity is novel and conceptually interesting. The significant effect observed in the
computational analysis of the C-C bond fragmentation step points to the existence of a new electronic interaction of potentially broad
importance for radical chemistry. Free energies (ΔG) for the final C-C bond fragmentation yielding the aromatic naphthalene product
are negative due to the combination of radical stabilization and favorable entropic contribution. Somewhat paradoxically,
fragmentation leading to the formation of the more stable α-oxy radical (OCH2Me, Figure 10) is less exothermic that the analogous
fragmentation of propyl radical (Figure 14). We suggested earlier that this surprising observation can be explained by the presence
of stabilizing through-bond (TB) interaction57 between benzylic radical and the lone pair at the -position.14 The role of TB coupling
between two non-bonding orbitals populated with three electrons is not commonly recognized; however, as shown in Figure 9 (top),
the calculated fragmentation exergonicities for O-containing substrates (CH2OMe/CH2OH) are lower than that for propyl-substituted
substrate, indicating a stabilization of the benzylic radical containing a β-C-X bond.
Figure 14. Top: Fragmentation paradox-formation of the more stable radical is calculated as less exergonic, indicating a remote
stabilizing effect arising in the benzylic radical. Energies in kcal/mol, ΔGs are calculated at 384K using UM06-2X/LanL2DZ level
,
of theory. Bottom: Stereoelectronics of the fragmentation viewed through the prism of Marcus Theory58 59- The top insert summarizes
differences in reaction and activation free energies imposed by the substituents. The bottom insert shows intrinsic reaction barriers
for the fragmentation. Electronic coupling between non-bonding orbitals in 1,4-diradicals and β-heteroatom substituted radicals
strengthens in the TS, facilitating C-C bond fragmentation. Additional stabilization due to TB coupling through the breaking bridging
bond is shown as ΔE (red). σ and σ* energies in the starting radical are shown in grey. Left: Optimized geometry for the fragmentation
TS (X=CH2OH). Right: Orbital alignment with the σ* of the bridge facilitates Through-Bond coupling between the non-bonding
orbitals leading to the fragmentation. For a more detailed discussion of these effects, see ref.14.
Furthermore, the odd-electron TB communication between the radical and the lone pair through the σ-bridge serves as a stereoe-
lectronic conduit for kinetic acceleration of the bond scission because this electronic effect is increased at the transition state. Along
the reaction path, the calculated molecular geometry in the CCOH moiety changes to adopt the coplanar arrangement between the
radical center and the p-type lone pair on oxygen. The increase in TB interaction through stretched bonds can be understood from
the second order perturbation energies provided by NBO analysis. During fragmentation the energy of the σ*-antibonding orbital is
lowered, decreasing the ΔEij term for stabilizing interaction with the antisymmetric combination of non-bonding orbitals (i.e., the
radical and lone pair). In addition, as the fragmentation progresses, the ~sp3 σ-bond is transformed into two p-orbitals (one π-bonded
in naphthalene and the other in a 2c-3e “half-bond”), increasing overlap between interacting orbitals (Figure 14, bottom right). To-
gether these interactions are responsible for selective TS stabilization for the fragmentation process.60 Additional discussion of this
interesting phenomenon is provided in the SI.
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Although the importance of such three-electron TB interactions has not been previously recognized in radical chemistry, similar
effects are involved in the fragmentation of radical cations reported earlier by the groups of Whitten61 and Kutateladze.62 The latter
group also utilized this chemistry creatively in bioanalytical applications (Figure 15).63 Our work provides an approach to study these
intriguing orbital effects in neutral compounds.
Figure 15. Selected examples of cationic fragmentations where three-electron Through-Bond interactions are likely to play an ac-
celerating role.
Practical applications: access to extended polyaromatics. For convenience, we usually remove the Bu3Sn moiety by protode-
stannylation of the reaction mixtures prior to purification. However, the Sn moiety in the indene and naphthalene products can be
retained and utilized as a useful functionality for further synthetic transformations. In particular, Stille coupling and iodination of the
α-Sn-substituted naphthalene confirmed the direction of tin attack and presented a synthetic advantage for facile functionalization of
naphthalene cores. Both approaches provided highly substituted naphthalene derivatives that are otherwise difficult to prepare from
the parent aromatic core, shown in Scheme 9.
Scheme 9. Use of Bu3Sn-group as a functional handle for the preparation of more substituted naphthalene building blocks.
As noted above, changing the alkyne substituent in simple enynes, from benzene to naphthalene or anthracene decreases the product
yield. We attribute this decrease to an increase in steric congestion during the intramolecular attack of the vinyl radical on the alkene
(Figure 11, compounds K33 and K34). The stabilizing effect of conjugating substituents for the unproductive Bu3Sn attack at the
external alkyne (and, possibly, alkene) positions pose limitations that are illustrated by unsuccessful attempts to directly access tri-
phenylene derivatives from the cyclization of enyne P7 shown in Scheme 10.
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Scheme 10. Conjugating substituents at the core interfere with the cyclization but the same substituents at the periphery effectively
participate in the reaction. Furthermore, substitution at the cores is likely to make the substrates too crowded for successful cycliza-
tion using the bulky Bu3Sn radical.
To test the validity of the above assumption, we moved conjugating substituents to the outside aryl group where they would stabilize
the productive radicals. To our delight, we found that, with this structural change, the reaction successfully gives bis- and tris-naph-
thalene substituted biphenyl compounds P4 and P6 in excellent yield (Scheme 10). The success of the cascade and selectivity of the
transformation was confirmed by X-ray analysis (see SI). The overall efficiency of >75% is remarkable considering that nine bonds
were formed and six bonds were broken in the process of this cascade that involves the cyclization/expansion/fragmentation sequence
at each of the three enyne functionalities.
Furthermore, such products can serve as a convenient launching point for the preparation of extended polyaromatics. For example,
the successful iodination of the Sn-substituted 1,3,5-tris(naphthyl)benzene structure P10 creates a versatile scaffold for iterative ex-
pansion into larger derivatives. Suzuki coupling with (4-pentylphenyl)boronic acid, phenyl boronic acid, and bromophenyl boronic
acid yielded Q2, Q4,Q5 in 92, 95 and 30 % yield, respectively. Alternatively, Sonogashira coupling with phenylacetylene gave the
trialkynyl product Q3 in 86%.
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Scheme 11. The utility of the Sn functional handle is demonstrated by iodination and subsequent extension of the trinaphthalene
aromatic core with Suzuki and Sonogashira couplings to form large functionalized polyaromatics.
Photophysical properties of selected extended compounds. The photophysical properties for select compounds (O2, Q2, Q3 and
Q4) were recorded in dichloromethane and the results are summarized in Table S1 in SI. Representative spectra for emission and
absorption from 5M solutions of the compound are shown in Figure 16. The low energy absorption onset (~330 nm) and absorption
maxima (~290 nm) for O2, Q2 and Q4 are similar. This feature can presumably be attributed to -* transition of the naphthyl
moiety. In contrast, compound Q3 exhibits a ~50 nm red-shift in absorption features relative to O2, Q2 and Q4. This red-shift is
expected given the extended conjugation of the phenylacetylene functionalization of the naphthyl groups in Q3 relative to the other
complexes. Similar to that observed with absorption, emission energies trend in the order of O2 ≈ Q2 ≈ Q4 > Q3 (Figure S1).
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Figure 16. Room temperature absorption and normalized emission spectra of compounds O2 (a), Q2 (b), Q3 (c) and Q4 (d) in di-
chloromethane (5  10-6 M).
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The luminescent quantum yields (Φ) for Q3 and O2, measured by using an integrating sphere, were found to be 0.303 and 0.0194,
respectively. Due to their relatively low emission intensities the quantum yields for Q2 (0.0014) and Q4 (0.0018) were obtained
relative to O2. Despite having the shortest lifetime, 1.75 ns, Q3 exhibits an order of magnitude higher emission quantum yield than
the other complexes. Given the similarity in non-radiative decay rates (knr = 1.78-3.98 × 108s-1), the increased emission yield can be
attributed to a radiative rate constant (kr) that is significantly higher for Q3 (17.3 × 107s-1) and moderately higher for O2 (0.35 × 107s-
1) relative to Q2 (0.03 × 107s-1) and Q4 (0.04 × 107s-1). The origin of the increased radiative rates for Q3 is not currently understood.
In addition to the high energy absorption feature at ~350 nm for Q2 and Q4, there is a second low energy emission band between
440-580nm (Figure 16b, d). The excitation spectra for both emission features resembles the absorption spectra for the complex indi-
cating that it is not simply an emission impurity. The absorption features of Q2 and Q4 were consistent at both high and low concen-
trations suggesting that there is minimal ground state aggregation in these complexes. However, in the emission spectra the ratio of
the peak intensities (I370nm/I500nm) increases steadily with dilution (Figures S2 and S3) indicating that the low energy emission feature
may be due to excimer formation for Q2 and Q4, even in dilute solutions.
CONCLUSIONS
This work presents a full experimental and theoretical study of the first radical enyne cascade in which chemo- and regioselective
interaction of the triple bond with Bu3Sn radicals originates from a conceptually novel source and propagates in an unprecedented
sequence of steps that renders alkenes synthetic equivalents of alkynes. The previously inaccessible 6-endo-dig products are obtained
by coupling cyclization/rearrangement cascade with an aromatizing C-C bond fragmentation. The net result is a convenient transfor-
mation of readily available enyne reactants to α-Sn substituted naphthalenes that can be used as a launching platform for the prepa-
ration of extended distorted polyaromatics. Every step in the multi-step cascade provides fundamental insights in the new ways to
control radical transformations. In particular, the remarkable chemo- and regio-selectivity of the initial radical attack originates from
the combination of Dynamic Covalent Chemistry (DCC) with kinetic self-sorting. Furthermore, we have identified a new 1,2 stannyl
shift as a low-barrier mechanism for the conversion of an unproductive vinyl radical to the radical adduct which can undergo fast 5-
exo-trig closure (serving as kinetic self-sorting). We have also identified substitution patterns that can selectively direct the initially
formed cyclic radical to react further in one of the following three ways: H-abstraction, β-scission or ring expansion. Unlike the
analogous radical that would be formed from a 5-exo-dig closure of an enediyne, the 5-exo-trig product originating from the enyne
is sufficiently flexible to undergo homoallylic ring expansion to the formal 6-endo product. In the overall sequence, the alkene moiety
of enynes serves as a synthetic alkyne equivalent because this radical sequence “self-terminates” via aromatizing C-C bond cleavage.
The key C-C bond fragmentation is assisted by a new electronic effect in radical chemistry, the three-electron through-bonding (TB)
interaction. This interaction provides a conduit for selective transition state stabilization in the fragmentation process.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
Supporting Information. Full experimental details, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, NMR spectra for all of the prepared compounds, X-ray crystallo-
graphic data for selected products, and computational details for all calculated structures are provided in the SI. This material is available
free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
alabugin@chem.fsu.edu
Author Contributions
All authors have given approval to the final version of the manuscript. / ‡These authors contributed equally.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The fundamental and synthetic aspects of this study were supported by the National Science Foundation (Grants CHE-1152491 and CHE-
1213578).
ABBREVIATIONS
DCC, dynamic covalent chemistry; HAA, hydrogen atom abstraction; TLC, thin layer chromatography;
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