Acetic anhydride aromatics acetylation

Aromatic amines are less basic than their aliphatic counterparts. The lone pair on the nitrogen atom is delocalized over the 7t-system of the aromatic ring. Furthermore, the basicity is influenced by substituents on the aromatic ring. Thus 4-nitroaniline (4.5) is less basic than aniline. However, the aromatic amines behave as typical nucleophiles. Alkylation of the nitrogen by alkyl halides leads to the mono- and dialkylanilines. Reaction with acetic anhydride or acetyl chloride affords acetanilides. 

Anhydrides of carboxylic acids are best prepared by the classical method of treating acid chlorides with salts of acids, a method that can be used equally for preparing mixed anhydrides. The salt may be replaced by the free acid if pyridine is added to the reaction mixture. Further, water may be removed directly from carboxylic acids, either by heat in certain cases where aliphatic or aromatic dicarboxylic acids give cyclic anhydrides, or by means of acetic anhydride or acetyl chloride. 

Acetic Anhydride Acetone Acetyl Bromide Acetyl Chloride Ammonium Hydroxide Amyl Acetate Aromatic Hydrocarbons Butyl Acetate Carbon Bisulfide... 

The ketones are readily prepared, for example, acetophenone from benzene, acetyl chloride (or acetic anhydride) and aluminium chloride by the Friedel and Crafts reaction ethyl benzyl ketones by passing a mixture of phenylacetic acid and propionic acid over thoria at 450° and n-propyl- p-phenylethylketone by circulating a mixture of hydrocinnamic acid and n-butyric acid over thoria (for further details, see under Aromatic Ketones, Sections IV,136, IV,137 and IV,141). 

Acetyl derivatives of aromatic amines may be prepared either witli acetic anhydride or acetic acid or with a mixture of both reagents. Primary amines react readily upon warming with acetic anhydride to yield, in the first instance, the mono-acetyl derivative, for example ... 

Certain ortho substituted derivatives of aromatic amines are difficult to acetylate under the above conditions owing to steric hindrance. The process is facilitated by the addition of a few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid (compare Section IV,47), which acts as a catalyst, and the use of a large excess of acetic anhydride. 

Azlactones (anhydrides of a-acylamino acids) are formed by the condensation of aromatic aldehydes with acyl derivatives of glycine in the presence of acetic anhydride and anhydrous sodium acetate. Thus beiizaldehyde and acetyl-... 

Certain features of the addition of acetyl nitrate to olefins in acetic anhydride may be relevant to the mechanism of aromatic nitration by this reagent. The rapid reaction results in predominantly cw-addition to yield a mixture of the y -nitro-acetate and y5-nitro-nitrate. The reaction was facilitated by the addition of sulphuric acid, in which case the 3rield of / -nitro-nitrate was reduced, whereas the addition of sodium nitrate favoured the formation of this compound over that of the acetate. As already mentioned ( 5.3. i), a solution of nitric acid (c. i 6 mol 1 ) in acetic anhydride prepared at — 10 °C would yield 95-97 % of the nitric acid by precipitation with urea, whereas from a similar solution prepared at 20-25 °C and cooled rapidly to —10 °C only 30% of the acid could be recovered. The difference between these values was attributed to the formation of acetyl nitrate. A solution prepared at room... 

TABLE 5.3 The nitration of polycyclic aromatic compounds in solutions of acetyl nitrate in acetic anhydride... 

The authors of this work were concerned chiefly with additions to alkenes, and evidence about the mechanism of aromatic nitration arises by analogy. Certain aspects of their work have been repeated to investigate whether the nitration of aromatic compounds shows the same phenomena ( 5-3-6). It was shown that solutions of acetyl nitrate in acetic anhydride were more powerful nitrating media for anisole and biphenyl than the corresponding solutions of nitric acid in which acetyl nitrate had not been formed furthermore, it appeared that the formation of acetyl nitrate was faster when 95-98% nitric acid was used than when 70 % nitric acid was used. 

First-order nitrations. The kinetics of nitrations in solutions of acetyl nitrate in acetic anhydride were first investigated by Wibaut. He obtained evidence for a second-order rate law, but this was subsequently disproved. A more detailed study was made using benzene, toluene, chloro- and bromo-benzene. The rate of nitration of benzene was found to be of the first order in the concentration of aromatic and third order in the concentration of acetyl nitrate the latter conclusion disagrees with later work (see below). Nitration in solutions containing similar concentrations of acetyl nitrate in acetic acid was too slow to measure, but was accelerated slightly by the addition of more acetic anhydride. Similar solutions in carbon tetrachloride nitrated benzene too quickly, and the concentration of acetyl nitrate had to be reduced from 0-7 to o-i mol 1 to permit the observation of a rate similar to that which the more concentrated solution yields in acetic anhydride. 

Under these first-order conditions the rates of nitration of a number of compounds with acetyl nitrate in acetic anhydride have been determined. The data show that the rates of nitration of compounds bearing activating substituents reach a limit by analogy with the similar phenomenon shown in nitration in aqueous sulphuric and perchloric acids ( 2.5) and in solutions of nitric acid in sulpholan and nitro-methane ( 3.3), this limit has been taken to be the rate of encounter of the nitrating entity with the aromatic molecule. 

Zeroth-order nitrations. The rates of nitration at 25 °C in solutions of acetyl nitrate (6xio —0-22 mol 1 ) in acetic anhydride of 0- and jw-xylene, and anisole and mesitylene were independent of the concentration and nature of the aromatic compound provided that... 

The observation of nitration at a rate independent of the concentration and the nature of the aromatic means only that the effective nitrating species is formed slowly in a step which does not involve the aromatic. The fact that the rates of zeroth-order nitration under comparable conditions in solutions of nitric acid in acetic acid, sulpholan and nitromethane differed by at most a factor of 50 indicated that the slow step in these three cases was the same, and that the solvents had no chemical involvement in this step. The dissimilarity in the rate between these three cases and nitration with acetyl nitrate in acetic anhydride argues against a common mechanism, and indeed it is not required from evidence about zeroth-order rates alone that in the latter solutions the slow step should involve the formation of the nitronium ion. 

The observation of nitration at a rate independent of the concentration and nature of the aromatic excludes AcONOa as the reactive species. The fact that zeroth-order rates in these solutions are so much faster than in solutions of nitric acid in inert organic solvents, and the fact that HNO3 and H2NO3+ are ineffective in nitration even when they are present in fairly lai e concentrations, excludes the operation of either of these species in solutions of acetyl nitrate in acetic anhydride. 

In addition to the conventional mixed acids commonly used to produce DNT, a mixture of NO2 and H2SO4 (8), a mixture of NO2 and oxygen (9), and just HNO (10) can also be used. TerephthaUc acid and certain substituted aromatics are more amenable to nitrations using HNO, as compared to those using mixed acids. For compounds that are easily nitratable, acetic acid and acetic anhydride are sometimes added to nitric acid (qv). Acetyl nitrate, which is a nitrating agent, is produced as an intermediate as follows ... 

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). 

A Methylanthrapyridone and Its Derivatives. 6-Bromo-3-methylanthrapyridone [81-85-6] (75) is an important iatermediate for manufacturiag dyes soluble ia organic solvents. These solvent dyes are prepared by replacing the bromine atom with various kiads of aromatic amines. 6-Bromo-3-methylanthrapyridone is prepared from 1-methyl amino-4-bromoanthra quin one (43) by acetylation with acetic anhydride followed by ring closure ia alkaU. The startiag material of this route is anthraquiaoae-l-sulfonic acid (16). 

Catalytic hydrpgenation in acetic anhydride-benzene,- moves the aromatic benzyl ether and forms a monoacetate hydrogenation in ethyl acetate re-moves the aliphatic benzyl ether to give, after acetylation, the diacetate. ... 

Acetoxylation is found to accompany nitration of fairly reactive aromatics by nitric acid in acetic anhydride and gives rise to zeroth-order kinetics76. The electrophile is believed to be protonated acetyl nitrate the formation of which is rate-determining, hence the kinetic order (see p. 37). Acetoxylation can also accompany halogenation by positive halogenating agents in acetic acid solvent, especially in the presence of sodium acetate137, but no kinetic studies have been carried out. 

Silica sol-gel inunobihzed La(OTf)3 (Scheme 48.2B) previously used in the acylation of a series of alcohols and activated aromatic compounds using acetic anhydride as acylating agent, showed a poor activity compared with other various sihca sol-gel inunobihzed triflate derivatives (tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl-trifluoromethane-sulfonate (BDMST), or trifhc acid (HOTf)). Acylation at the aromatic ring occurred over the BDMST and HOTf catalysts, while the La(OTl)3 catalysts only led to O-acetylated products [22]. Such behavior is characteristic... 

The aromatic character of triazoloindole 62 has been evidenced by its ability to enter into electrophilic substitution reactions, for instance with acetic anhydride, leading to the acetylated derivative 63 <2002CHE1019> (Scheme 1). 

The acetylation over protonic zeolites of aromatic substrates with acetic anhydride was widely investigated. Essentially HFAU, HBEA, and HMFI were used as catalysts, most of the reactions being carried out in batch reactors, often in the presence of solvent. Owing to the deactivation effect of the acetyl group, acetylation is limited to monoacetylated products. As could be expected in electrophilic substitution, the reactivity of the aromatic substrates is strongly influenced by the substituents, for example, anisole > m-xylene > toluene > fluorobenzene. Moreover, with the poorly activated substrates (m-xylene, toluene, and fluoroben-zene) there is a quasi-immediate inhibition of the reaction. It is not the case with activated substrates such as anisole and more generally aromatic ethers. It is why we have chosen the acetylation of anisole and 2-methoxynaphtalene as an example. 

It is generally admitted that over zeolites, acetylation of aromatic substrates with acetic anhydride (AA) is catalyzed by protonic acid sites. The direct participation of Lewis sites was excluded by using two BEA samples with similar protonic acidities, but with very different Lewis acidities indeed, these samples were shown to have quasi-similar activities. The currently accepted mechanism is shown in Figure 12.6 for the anisole acetylation example. The limiting step of the process is the attack of anisole molecules by acylium ions. 

The main problem encountered during electrophilic substitution reactions of aromatic amines is that of their veiy high reactivity. Substitution tends to occur at ortho- and para-positions. If we have to prepare monosubstituted aniline derivative, how can the activating effect of -NH group be controlled This can be done by protecting the -NH group by acetylation with acetic anhydride, then carrying out the desired substitution followed by hydrolysis of the substituted amide to the substituted amine. 

Scheme 75) (60JCS4101). Following the classical procedure, the oxime was acetylated (43% yield) and aromatized in acetic anhydride solution by the action of HC1 gas (18% yield). This procedure could be simplified and improved by refluxing the oxime in acetic anhydride containing a few drops of sulfuric acid. Presumably both acetylation and aromatization were accomplished in the same operation, providing 1-acetylaminoquinolizinium bromide (116) in an overall yield of 43%. 

Heating dicarboxylic acids, HOOC(CH,) COOH n = 2 or 3), forms cyclic anhydrides by intramolecular dehydration [Problem 16.22(a), (6)]. Anhydrides resemble acid halides in their reactions. Because acetic anhydride reacts less violently, it is often used in place of acetyl chloride. Acid anhydrides can also be used to acylate aromatic rings in electrophilic substitutions. 

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