Reversed electron apportionment in mesolytic cleavage: The reduction of benzyl halides by SmI₂

The paradigm that the cleavage of the radical anion of benzyl halides occurs in such a way that the negative charge ends up on the departing halide leaving behind a benzyl radical is well rooted in chemistry. By studying the kinetics of the reaction of substituted benzylbromides and chlorides with SmI₂ in THF it was found that substrates para-substituted with electron-withdrawing groups (CN and CO₂Me), which are capable of forming hydrogen bonds with a proton donor and coordinating to samarium cation, react in a reversed electron apportionment mode. Namely, the halide departs as a radical. This conclusion is based on the found convex Hammett plots, element effects, proton donor effects, and the effect of tosylate (OTs) as a leaving group. The latter does not tend to tolerate radical character on the oxygen atom. In the presence of a proton donor, the tolyl derivatives were the sole product, whereas in its absence, the coupling dimer was obtained by a S_N2 reaction of the benzyl anion on the neutral substrate. The data also suggest that for the para-CN and CO₂Me derivatives in the presence of a proton donor, the first electron transfer is coupled with the proton transfer. Reverse breakup: In the mesolytic cleavage of the radical anions of benzyl halides that are para-substituted by CN or CO₂Me groups, the halogen departs, counterintuitively, as a radical and the benzyl system carries the negative charge (see figure).