Chemistry of the tert-Butyl Radical: Polar Character, ρ Value for Reaction with Toluenes, and the Effect of Radical Polarity on the Ration of Benzylic Hydrogen Abstraction to Addition to Aromatic Rings

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00374a031

We have reexamined the reactions of tert-butyl radicals with toluenes and have obtained a ρ value of 0.49 +/- 0.04 at 80 deg C.The new, independent system involves the quantification of all of the principal products from the reaction of tert-butyl radicals with mixtures of toluene and substituted toluene.Five major products contain benzyl fragments and are formed in significant yields: two symmetrical bibenzyls, the cross bibenzyl, and the two neopentylbenzenes that result from combination of tert-butyl and the two benzyl radicals.Attack on the side chain is a major reaction of free tert-butyl radicals and is the only significant reaction that they undergo other than cage and termination reactions. tert-Butyl radicals do not add to the ring of toluenes.Data on the relative rates of addition to benzenes and hydrogen abstraction from toluenes are collected for a series of radicals including hydrogen atoms; methyl, isopropyl, and tert-butyl radicals; and p-nitrophenyl, p-bromophenyl, and phenyl radicals.The data demonstrate that more electrophilic radicals have a larger tendency to add to rings whereas more nucleophilic radicals have a larger tendency to abstract benzylic hydrogens.