2 Synthetic methods Part (i) Free-radical reactions

Abstract

This chapter attempts to highlight a number of advances in the use of free-radical reactions in organic synthesis in 2004. The author apologises, but due to the quantity of quality reports in this area, much elegant work cannot be included. Particular highlights include the use of a hydrogen bond donor–acceptor molecule to induce enantioselectivity in a cyclisation, the use of catalytic titanocene(III) chloride in a cascade cyclisation process to yield a tricyclic alcohol, the development of a biphasic system for the generation of alkyl radicals from decacarbonyldimanganese that allows the use of sub-stoichiometric quantities of the manganese complex, and the use of both xanthates and the dithiocarbamate group in metal-free lactam synthesis.