Theoretical support for the involvement of a radical pathway in the formation of allenylzincs from propargyl iodides and dialkylzincs: influence of zinc coordination.

Propargyl iodides are good precursors for allenylzincs via reaction with diethylzinc, even in nondegassed medium. These reactions proceed via zinc/iodine exchange. Owing to the previously reported detection of propargyl radical by ESR experiments, in this process a radical mechanism was suspected. Calculations of the C-Zn BDEs in allenyl- and propargylzinc species were performed with the CBS-QB3 method to demonstrate that propargyl radicals could undergo homolytic substitution at zinc. The stabilization of allenylzinc derivatives by chelation, made possible by the selection of appropriate ortho-substituted 3-phenylalkynyl iodides as precursors, was shown to influence the regioselectivity of their addition to aldehydes and ketones. The more stabilized the chelated allenylzinc intermediate, the higher the ratio of homopropargylic alcohols.