Alkyl bromides as mechanistic probes of reductive dehalogenation: Reactions of vicinal dibromide stereoisomers with zerovalent metals

Whether reductive dehalogenation proceeds via a one- or a two-electron mechanism has been suggested to affect product distributions, hence potentially influencing the success of engineered treatment systems. In this work, we explore vicinal dibromide stereoisomers as "probes" of the concertedness of electron transfer in reduction by aqueous suspensions of iron and zinc metal. Dibromides consisted of 2,3-dibromopentane (diBP) stereoisomers and (+/-),2-dibromo-1,2-diphenylethane. All dibromides reacted with metals to give the same E:Z ratio of olefins observed during dehalogenation by iodide (a two-electron reductant). Reduction by Cr([l) (a one-electron reductant) yielded distinctly different proportions of E and Z olefins. Although this might be construed as evidence that metals function as two-electron reductants, high stereospecificity was also obtained for reduction of diBPs by Fe(II) adsorbed to goethite, a presumed one-electron reductant; this can be explained by two single-electron transfers in rapid succession,facilitated by the focally elevated concentration of reducing equivalents at the oxide-water interface. The results suggest that reduction of alkyl halides by metals is not likely to produce free radicals that persist long enough to undergo radical-radical coupling or hydrogen-atom abstraction from minor dissolved constituents. Apparent free-radical coupling products are more Likely to result from (possibly surface-bound) organometallic intermediates.