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.