Hydrogen abstraction from primary amines. Substituent effects on the carbon–nitrogen bond rotation barriers in aminoalkyl radicals

Hydrogen abstraction by t-butoxyl radicals from primary amines RCH2NH2(R = H, Me, Et, Pri, or But) gave mainly α-aminoalkyl radicals which were observed by e.s.r. spectroscopy. The barriers to rotation about the C–N bonds were determined from exchange broadening. For 2-fluoro- and 2-chloro-ethylamine the initial α-aminoalkyl radical lost hydrogen halide to give a mixture of syn- and anti-1-aza-allyl radicals. In contrast, the 1-amino-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl radical was stable under the same experimental conditions. The α-amino radicals formed on hydrogen abstraction from the methyl and t-butyl esters of glycine and the t-butyl ester of alanine were also examined. The stabilisation energy of the α-aminomethyl radical was estimated from the C–N bond rotation barriers of the aminoalkyl radicals. The pattern of stabilisation was found to be consistent with an extra stabilisation in radicals with captodative substitution.