N-oxyphthalimides are stable and easily accessible compounds that can produce oxygen radicals upon 1-electron reduction. We present a systematic study of electrochemical properties of N-oxyphthalimide derivatives (PI-ORs) in DMF by cyclic voltammetry. In all cases, electron transfer to the substrate leads to decomposition of the intermediate radical anion via the N-O bond cleavage. In the case of benzyloxyphthalimide or its derivatives containing electrondonating substituents, reductive electron transfer induces the chain decomposition of the substrate to phthalimide (PI) radical-anion and the corresponding carbonyl compound. The PI radical-anion product is a powerful reductant that can transfer an electron to the reactant PI-OR, thus establishing a catalytic cycle for reductive N-O scission. This self-catalytic process is reflected in a considerable decrease in the reduction current for the substrate (<1e -/molecule). By contrast, reductive fragmentations of benzyl derivatives containing electronwithdrawing substituents in the aromatic ring or at the benzylic position, as well as tosyl and alkyl derivatives, occur via a 1-electron mechanism. A sequence of N-O and C-C scissions was engineered to support the intermediacy of O-centered radicals in these processes.

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Catalytic reaction of arylhydroxamic acids with alkenes represents a convenient method for preparation of biologically active dihydroisoquinolones. Here, the rhodium(III) complex [(C H tBu CH tBu)RhCl ] , which allows one to carry out such reactions with high regioselectivity to obtain 4-substituted dihydroisoquinolones in 72-97 % yields, is described. The regioselectivity is provided by the bulky cyclopentadienyl ligand of the catalyst, which is formed through a [2+2+1] cyclotrimerization of tert-butylacetylene. The catalytic reaction tolerates various distant functional groups in alkenes, but is inhibited by bulky (e.g., tBu) or strongly coordinating (e.g., imidazolyl) substituents. Some of the prepared dihydroisoquinolones effectively inhibit growth of phytopathogenic fungi.

A method was developed for the bisperoxidation of styrenes with tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of a catalytic amount of manganese(III) acetate. It was shown that compounds of manganese in oxidation states 2, 4, and 7 also catalyze this reaction. The target [1,2-bis(tert-butylperoxy)ethyl]arenes were synthesized in yields from 46 to 75%.