The mechanism of polarity-reversal catalysis as involved in the radical-chain reduction of alkyl halides using the silane–thiol couple

The mechanism by which thiols promote the radical-chain reduction of alkyl halides by a variety of simple silanes, such as Et3SiH and Ph3SiH, has been investigated in detail. Kinetic studies of the thiol-catalysed reduction of 1-bromooctane and of 1-chlorooctane by Et3SiH in cyclohexane at 60 °C are consistent with a mechanism that involves reversible abstraction of hydrogen by the thiyl radical from the silane, followed by abstraction of halogen from the octyl halide by the resulting triethylsilyl radical and quenching of the derived octyl radical by the thiol to give octane. On the basis of this mechanism, rate constants for abstraction of hydrogen from Et3SiH by the adamantane-1-thiyl radical (kXSH) and for transfer of hydrogen in the reverse direction (kSiH) were determined as 3.2 × 104 M−1 s−1 and 5.2 × 107 M−1 s−1, respectively, at 60 °C. The equilibrium constant kXSH/kSiH is thus 6.2 × 10−4 at 60 °C and corresponds to ΔrH ≈ ΔrG = +20.4 kJ mol−1 for abstraction of hydrogen from Et3SiH by 1-AdS˙, implying that the Si–H bond in the silane is stronger by ca. 20 kJ mol−1 than the S-H bond in the alkanethiol. The silanethiol (ButO)3SiSH was found to be a more effective catalyst than 1-AdSH, because kXSH is greater (1.3 × 105 M−1 s−1) while kSiH is very similar (5.1 × 107 M−1 s−1). The value of kXSH/kSiH is now 2.6 × 10−3 at 60 °C and thus the S–H bond in this silanethiol is stronger by ca. 4 kJ mol−1 than that in 1-AdSH. The proposed mechanism for alkyl halide reduction is strongly supported by kinetic studies of the thiol-catalysed H/D-exchange between R3SiH/D and XSH/D and the thiol-catalysed racemisation of (S)-ButMePhSiH, radical-chain processes that provide independent confirmation of the values of kXSH derived from octyl bromide reduction. The value of ΔrH determined in this work indicates that abstraction of hydrogen from Et3SiH by an alkanethiyl radical in cyclohexane solvent is ca. 11 kJ mol−1 less endothermic than implied by the difference in the currently-favoured experimental gas-phase dissociation enthalpies for the Et3Si–H and MeS–H bonds.