A Tetralone

A further example is given below illustrating the use of a dibasic anhydride (succinic anhydride) the succinoylation reaction is a valuable one since it leads to aroyl carboxylic acids and ultimately to polynuclear hydrocarbons. This general scheme of synthesis of substituted hydrocarbons through the use of succinic anhydride is sometimes called the Haworth reaction. Thus a-tetralone (see below) may be reduced by the Clemmensen method to tetralin (tetrahydronaphthalene) and the latter converted into naphthalene either catal3d.ically or by means of sulphur or selenium (compare Section, VI,33). 

The preparation of the cyclic ketone a-tetralone possesses a number of interesting features. Succinic anhydride is condensed with pure benzene in the presence of anhydrous aluminium chloride (slightly over two equivalents see 1 above) to yield (3-benzoylpropionlc acid ... 

The Y-phenylbutyric acid is cyclised to a-tetralone by converting it into the acid chloride with thionyl chloride or phosphorus pentachloride and then an intramolecular Friedel and Crafts reaction is carried out ... 

To the cold acid chloride add 175 ml. of pure carbon disulphide, cool in ice, add 30 g, of powdered anhydrous aluminium chloride in one lot, and immediately attach a reflux condenser. When the evolution of hydrogen chloride ceases (about 5 minutes), slowly warm the mixture to the boiling point on a water bath. Reflux for 10 minutes with frequent shaking the reaction is then complete. Cool the reaction mixture to 0°, and decompose the aluminium complex by the cautious addition, with shaking, of 100 g. of crushed ice. Then add 25 ml. of concentrated hydrochloric acid, transfer to a 2 htre round-bottomed flask and steam distil, preferably in the apparatus, depicted in Fig. II, 41, 3 since the a-tetralone is only moderately volatile in steam. The carbon disulphide passes over first, then there is a definite break in the distillation, after whieh the a-tetralone distils completely in about 2 htres of distillate. 

Separate the oil, and extract the aqueous layer with three 100 ml. portiom of benzene. Combine the oil and benzene extracts, dry with anhydrous magnesium sulphate, remove the solvent, and distil the residue under diminished pressure. Collect the a-tetralone at 105-107°/2 mm, (or at 135-137715 mm,). The yield is 23 g. 

In an alternative procedure the acids themselves undergo cyclization cataly2ed by hydrogen fluoride. y-Phenylbutyric acid [36541-31-8] can be cychzed to a-tetralone [29059-07-2] by this method ... 

Friedel-Crafts Acylation. The Friedel-Crafts acylation procedure is the most important method for preparing aromatic ketones and thein derivatives. Acetyl chloride (acetic anhydride) reacts with benzene ia the presence of aluminum chloride or acid catalysts to produce acetophenone [98-86-2], CgHgO (1-phenylethanone). Benzene can also be condensed with dicarboxyHc acid anhydrides to yield benzoyl derivatives of carboxyHc acids. These benzoyl derivatives are often used for constmcting polycycHc molecules (Haworth reaction). For example, benzene reacts with succinic anhydride ia the presence of aluminum chloride to produce P-benzoylpropionic acid [2051-95-8] which is converted iato a-tetralone [529-34-0] (30). 

The procedure described is an example of a more general synthetic method for the direct conversion of ketones into cyanides. " The reaction has been carried out successfully with acyclic and cyclic aliphatic ketones, including numerous steroidal ketones and aryl-alkyl ketones. The conversion of diaryl or highly hindered ketones such as camphor and )3,j8-dimethyl-a-tetralone requires the use of a more polar solvent. The dimethoxyethane used in the present procedure should be replaced by dimethyl sulfoxide. ... 

Extensions of the enamine alkylation to a-tetralones have also been used (245-248), but product yields were lower, presumably due to steric crowding in a transition state where generation of an imonium salt gives rise to a repulsion between a methylene group on nitrogen and a peri aromatic proton. 

A three-necked round-bottom flask is fitted with a dropping funnel, a thermometer, and a magnetic stirrer and is heated in a water bath to 30°. Tetralin (1.32 g, 0.01 mole) and 50 ml of 3.5 Anitric acid solution are placed in the flask and brought to temperature. Ceric ammonium nitrate (21.9 g, 0.04 mole) is dissolved in 100 ml of 3.5 N nitric acid, and the solution is added dropwise to the reaction mixture at a rate such that the temperature does not rise and only a pale yellow color is evident in the reaction mixture. At the completion of the reaction (1 to 2 hours), the mixture should be colorless. The solution is cooled to room temperature, diluted with an equal volume of water, and extracted twice with ether. The ether solution is dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and the ether is evaporated. The residue may be distilled to yield a-tetralone (bp 113-11676 mm or 170749 mm) or may be converted directly to the oxime, which is recrystallized from methanol, mp 88-89°. 

The cooled reaction mixture is separated in a separatory funnel, and the aqueous phase is extracted with three 50-ml. portions of benzene. These extracts are combined with each other but kept separate from the original organic phase each wash solution is used first with the original organic phase, then the extracts. The washes are 150 ml. of water (Note 4), 100 ml. of 10% sodium carbonate solution, 100 ml. of water, and finally 50 ml. of saturated sodium chloride solution (Note 5). Solvent is distilled from the combined extracts, and the residue is distilled at reduced pressure in a Claisen flask. The yield of a-tetralone, b.p. 135-137°/15 mm., 1.5671-1.5672, is 75-80 g. (85-91%). 

Autoxidation may in some cases be of preparative use thus reference has already been made to the large-scale production of phenol+ acetone by the acid-catalysed rearrangement of the hydroperoxide from 2-phenylpropane (cumene, p. 128). Another example involves the hydroperoxide (94) obtained by the air oxidation at 70° of tetrahydro-naphthalene (tetralin) the action of base then yields the ketone (a-tetralone, 95), and reductive fission of the 0—0 linkage the alcohol (a-tetralol, 96) ... 

Phenylnaphthalene has been prepared by the reaction of a-halonaphthalenes with mercury diphenyl3 6 or with benzene in the presence of aluminum chloride,6 and by means of the Gri-gnard synthesis, starting with either bromobenzene, cyclohexyl chloride, and a-tetralone 7 or with a-bromonaphthalene and cyclohexanone.6 8 9 Dehydrogenation of the reduced naphthalene has been accomplished by the use of sulfur,6 bromine,8 platinum black, or selenium.7 The formation of the hydrocar-... 

---