Over twenty years ago, my research group became interested in free-radical cyclization chemistry because we were impressed with the efficiency of a 5-hexenyl radical cyclization which we used to prove the stereochemistry of a product derived from an N-acyliminium ion cyclization [ 1, 21. A survey of the literature suggested that, at that time, free-radical cyclizations had been well developed for the preparation of carbocyclic materials, but the use of such reactions in heterocycle synthesis was not well developed. As one can see from the wealth of information that appears in Radicals in Organic Synthesis, we were clearly mistaken in our judgement of the state of the field relative to carbocycles. Nonetheless, it was this point of view that prompted us to pursue a research program designed to develop free radical cyclization reactions for use in alkaloid synthesis. Since the onset of our program [3, 41, this field has expanded enormously. This chapter will review progress in the area with certain limitations. The major focus will be on intramolecular carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, and the chapter will be organized largely according to the type of free radical cyclization featured in the synthesis. Intermolecular free-radical reactions and cyclizations involving carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions will be mentioned only in passing. Although emphasis will be placed on free radical cyclization chemistry, additional details will be described in an attempt to provide the reader with an overview of each synthesis. Whereas we recognize that the inherent value of a synthesis may lie in the methodology, there is no question that chemists judge syntheses in part by their length, and this information will therefore be provided in most instances. Finally, the focus will be on completed syntheses, and only a few model studies will be presented.
a-Acylamino and a-Amino Radical CyclizationsOur own efforts began with failure. Inspired by the radical addition-atom transfercyclization-fragmentation sequence reported by Heiba (Eq. 1) [ 51, we attempted the
Radicals in Organic Synthesis Edited by Philippe Renaud and Mukund P. Sibi