Three-Electron SN2 Reactions of Arylcyclopropane Cation Radicals. 1. Mechanism1

The mechanism of photosensitized nucleophilic substitution reactions on arylcyclopropanes was investigated. Stereochemical experiments with methanol, water, and cyanide as nucleophiles showed that the reactions occurred stereospecifically with complete inversion of configuration at the carbon atom undergoing substitution. Independent generation of the arylcyclopropane cation radicals by nanosecond transient methods showed that they reacted rapidly with nucleophiles with kinetics that were first-order in both the cation radical and the nucleophiles. Through a combination of transient kinetics and steady-state Stern−Volmer quenching experiments, the reaction of the phenylcyclopropane cation radical with methanol was kinetically correlated with the formation of the substitution product. The reaction of phenylcyclopropane cation radical with a series of alcohols as nucleophiles showed small steric effects.