Quenching Rate Constants of Lewis Base-Boryl Radical by Substrates: a Laser Flash Photolysis Study.

The advanced strategy using Lewis base-boryl radicals (LBRs) has recently been proposed for the addition of alkyl substituents to the full-carbon quaternary center of an organic molecule. However, as the rate-determining step in the whole route, reaction rate constants of LBRs with substrates are extremely lacking. In this paper, 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP)-BH2• was selected as a representative of LBRs, and its reactions with six monochloro-substituted substrates, including three methyl chlorobenzoates and three chlorinated acetanilides were studied in experiments and theoretical calculations. The bimolecular reaction rate constants, kq, were determined using laser flash photolysis approach. By comparing activation energies along the two addition pathways, we have clarified the rate-determining step as the attacking to carbonyl oxygen instead of chlorine atom. Furthermore, noncovalent interaction (NCI) analyses on these substrates indicate that weak interactions, such as hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals interactions, have significant influence on the reactivity of these substrates. Our study provides concrete clues to extend this synthetic strategy.