Electron Transfer-Catalyzed Vinylcyclopropane Rearrangements

Recently, electron has been recognized as the simplest catalyst in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. Addition or removal of electron can activate small molecules for further chemical transformations, which is referred to as redox catalysis. Reductive and/or oxidative single electron transfer (SET) can be induced by means of electro- and photochemistry, where an electron can play a role of catalysts. Radical ions are primarily generated via SET, offering unique reactive intermediates. Distonic radical ions are transient species with formally separated radical and charge cites. They potentially exhibit radical and ion reactivities independently, which may differ from usual radical ions. However, distonic radical ions are not commonly used as reactive intermediates in the field of synthetic organic chemistry, probably because of lack of their simple generation methods. We have been developing oxidative SET-triggered cycloadditions in a lithium perchlorate/nitromethane solution. Radical cations are involved in the reactions as distinctive reactive intermediates, facilitating intermolecular carbon-carbon bond formations. We questioned whether the distonic radical cation can also be generated by oxidative SET, leading to novel chemical transformations. In this presentation, oxidative SET-catalyzed vinylcyclopopane rearrangements will be described. Figure 1