Revisiting the Radical Initiation Mechanism of the Diamine-Promoted Transition-Metal-Free Cross-Coupling Reaction

Radical chain reactions leading to C-C bond formation are widely used in organic synthesis, and initiation of the radical chain process usually requires thermolabile radical initiators. Recent studies on transition-metal-free cross-coupling reactions between aryl halides and arenes have demonstrated an unprecedented initiation system for radical chain reactions, where the combination of simple organic additives and a base was used in place of conventional radical initiators. Among them, the combination of N,N'-dimethylethylenediamine (DMEDA) and t-BuOK is one of the most efficient and representative reaction systems, and the radical initiation mechanism of this system has attracted considerable research interest. In this study, through the combination of kinetic studies, deuterium labeling experiments, and DFT calculations, the radical initiation mechanism of the diamine-promoted cross-coupling reaction was carefully reinvestigated. In light of the present study, a mechanistic network of radical initiation in the DMEDA/t-BuOK system was revealed, which differs dramatically from the previously realized single radical initiation pathway. In this mechanism, the diamine acts as a hydrogen atom donor and plays a dual role as both "radical amplifier" and "radical regulator" to initiate the radical chain process as well as to control the concentration of reactive radical species. This represents a rare example of a structurally simple molecule playing such a subtle role in the radical chain reaction system. The present study sheds some light on the novel radical initiation mode in transition-metal-free cross-coupling reactions following a base-promoted homolytic aromatic substitution (BHAS) mechanism, and may also help to understand the mechanism of relevant reactions.