Direct Access to Luminescent meta-Substituted Tris(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl Radicals through Nucleophilic

Tingxi Yu1, Ludi Wang2, Zekun Tong1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, P. R. China.

Organic Letters
|March 9, 2026
PubMed

Related Concept Videos

Radical Reactivity: Nucleophilic Radicals01:16

Radical Reactivity: Nucleophilic Radicals

Radicals adjacent to electron-donating groups are called nucleophilic radicals. These radicals readily react with electrophilic alkenes. The SOMO–LUMO interactions are the driving force for the reaction, where the high-energy SOMO of the electron-rich, nucleophilic radicals interacts with the low-energy LUMO of the electron-deficient, electrophilic alkenes. Such SOMO–LUMO interactions are the basis of reactive radical traps, affecting the selectivity in radical reactions. For...
2.7K
Radical Substitution: Allylic Chlorination01:31

Radical Substitution: Allylic Chlorination

Typically, when alkenes react with halogens at low temperatures, an addition reaction occurs. However, upon increasing the temperature or under reaction conditions that form radicals, providing a low but steady concentration of halogen radicals, allylic substitution reaction is favored. This is because allylic hydrogens are very reactive as the formed intermediate is resonance stabilized. For example, when propene is treated with chlorine in the gas phase at 400 °C, it undergoes allylic...
3.3K
Radical Reactivity: Electrophilic Radicals01:02

Radical Reactivity: Electrophilic Radicals

Radicals adjacent to electron‐withdrawing groups are called electrophilic radicals. These radicals readily react with nucleophilic alkenes. For example, the malonate radical, in which the radical center is flanked by two electron‐withdrawing groups, reacts readily with butyl vinyl ether, which consists of an electron‐donating oxygen substituent. The reaction between electrophilic malonate radical and nucleophilic vinyl ether is favored because the radical has a...
2.6K
Radical Reactivity: Intramolecular vs Intermolecular01:33

Radical Reactivity: Intramolecular vs Intermolecular

Radical reactions can occur either intermolecularly or intramolecularly. In an intermolecular radical reaction, a nucleophilic radical adds to an electrophilic alkene or vice versa. In such reactions, the radical and generally the alkene, which is also called the radical trap, are two different molecules. Additionally, for such intermolecular reactions to occur, the radical trap must be active, present in an excess concentration, and the radical starting material must have a weak...
2.3K
Radical Substitution: Hydrogenolysis of Alkyl Halides with Tributyltin Hydride01:26

Radical Substitution: Hydrogenolysis of Alkyl Halides with Tributyltin Hydride

Radical substitution reactions can be used to remove functional groups from molecules. The hydrogenolysis of alkyl halides is one such reaction, where the weak Sn–H bond in tributyltin hydride reacts with alkyl halides to form alkanes. Here, the reagent Bu3SnH yields tributyltin halide as a byproduct.
The bonds formed in this reaction are stronger than the bonds broken, making it energetically favorable. The reaction follows a radical chain mechanism similar to radical halogenation reactions,...
2.3K
Radical Substitution: Halogenation of Alkanes and Alkyl Substituents01:27

Radical Substitution: Halogenation of Alkanes and Alkyl Substituents

In the presence of heat or light, alkanes react with molecular halogens to form alkyl halides by a substitution reaction called radical halogenation. This reaction has three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination, as seen in the radical chlorination of methane to produce methyl chloride.
In the initiation step of the reaction, the chlorine molecule undergoes homolytic cleavage in the presence of light or heat, forming two highly reactive chlorine radicals. Propagation occurs in two...
10.3K