Acylium ion, 98

The mechanism of acylation with acyl halides is usually regarded as involving the acyl cation (acyl carbonium or acylium ion) ... 

In their reactions with suitable nucleophiles, such as tt-aromatics or heteroatom donor nucleophiles, the readily polarizable linear acylium ions shift a Tt-electron pair to oxygen, bending the ions and developing an empty p-orbital at the carbocationic center. This enables the reaction with aromatics. The acetylation of benzene can be depicted as... 

The electrophile in a Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction is an acyl cation (also referred to as an acylium ion) Acyl cations are stabilized by resonance The acyl cation derived from propanoyl chloride is represented by the two resonance forms... 

Acyl cations (acylium ions) generated by treating an acyl chloride or acid anhydride with aluminum chloride attack aromatic rings to yield ketones The arene must be at least as reactive as a halobenzene Acyl cations are relatively stable and do not re arrange... 

Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds (Section 12 7) Acyl chlorides and carboxylic acid anhydrides acylate aromatic rings in the presence of alumi num chloride The reaction is electrophil ic aromatic substitution in which acylium ions are generated and attack the ring... 

Mass Spectrometry Aldehydes and ketones typically give a prominent molecular ion peak m their mass spectra Aldehydes also exhibit an M— 1 peak A major fragmentation pathway for both aldehydes and ketones leads to formation of acyl cations (acylium ions) by cleavage of an alkyl group from the carbonyl The most intense peak m the mass spectrum of diethyl ketone for example is m z 57 corresponding to loss of ethyl radi cal from the molecular ion... 

Acylium ion (Section 12 7) The cation R—C=0 Acyl transfer (Section 20 3) A nucleophilic acyl substitution A reaction in which one type of carboxylic acid derivative IS converted to another... 

Oxidative Ring Closure Reactions 4.03.4.1.1 C—N bond formation N—N bond formation C—S bond formation N—S bond formation O—C bond formation O—N bond formation S—S, S—Se and Se—Se bond formation Electrophilic Ring Closures via Acylium Ions and Related Intermediates Ring Closures via Intramolecular Alkylations... 

Electrophilic Ring Closures via Acylium Ions and Related Intermediates... 

The mesomeric anion (157 Scheme 10) reacts readily with electrophilic reagents such as alkyl or acyl halides at N-2, C-4 and the exocyclic oxygen atom. The percentages of the different products formed are controlled by the HSAB principle. The acylium ion (hard) attacks preferentially at oxygen (hard), whilst the softer alkylating agents attack the nitrogen atom. 

There are alternatives to the addition-elimination mechanism for nucleophilic substitution of acyl chlorides. Certain acyl chlorides are known to react with alcohols by a dissociative mechanism in which acylium ions are intermediates. This mechanism is observed with aroyl halides having electron-releasing substituents. Other acyl halides show reactivity indicative of mixed or borderline mechanisms. The existence of the SnI-like dissociative mechanism reflects the relative stability of acylium ions. 

Friedel-Crafts acylation usually involves the reaction of an acyl halide, a Lewis acid catalyst, and the aromatic substrate. Several species may function as the active electrophile, depending on the reactivity of the aromatic compound. For activated aromatics, the electrophile can be a discrete positively charged acylium ion or the complex formed... 

The formation of acyl halide-Lewis acid complexes have been observed by several methods. For example, both 1 1 and 1 2 complexes of acetyl chloride, with AICI3 can be observed by NMR spectroscopy. The existence of acylium ions has been demonstrated by X-ray diffraction studies on crystalline salts. For example, crystal structure determinations have been reported for /i-methylphenylacylium and acetylium ions as SbFg salts. There is also a good deal of evidence from NMR measurements which demonstrates that acylium ions can exist in nonnucleophilic solvents. " The positive charge on acylium ions is delocalized onto the oxygen atom. This delocalization is demonstrated in particular by the short O—C bond lengths in acylium ions, which imply a major contribution from the structure having a triple bond ... 

Aryl acylium ions have substantial charge delocalization into the aromatic ring. 

This provides unequivocal evidence that the acylium ion can act as the active electrophile. 

One other feature of the data in Table 10.10 is worthy of further comment Notice that alkyl substituted acylium ions exhibit a smaller ortho para ratio than the various arpyl systems. If steric factors were dominating the position selectivity, one would expect the opposite result A possible explanation for this feature of the data could be that the aryl compounds are reacting via free acylium ions, whereas the alkyl systems may involve more bulky acyl chloride-catalyst complexes. 

These reactions are presumed to occur through aroyl triflate intermediates which dissociate to aiyl acylium ions. Lithium perchlorate and scandium triflate also promote acylation. ... 

Mass Spectrometry A prominent peak in the mass spectra of most carboxylic acid derivatives conesponds to an acylium ion derived by cleavage of the bond to the carbonyl group ... 

Amides, however, tend to cleave in the opposite direction to produce a nitrogen-stabilized acylium ion ... 

There is disagreement about the importance of the direct displacement mechanism in these reactions. Yet another mechanistic possibility is for reaction via the acylium ion. Scheme IV. 

In highly concentrated acids, however, with leaving groups that facilitate bond cleavage, the A1 route may prevail, the intermediate being the acylium ion ... 

The reaction is initiated by formation of a donor-acceptor complex 4 from acyl chloride 2, which is thereby activated, and the Lewis acid, e.g. aluminum trichloride. Complex 4 can dissociate into the acylium ion 5 and the aluminum tetrachloride anion 4 as well as 5 can act as an electrophile in a reaction with the aromatic substrate ... 

Depending on the specific reaction conditions, complex 4 as well as acylium ion 5 have been identified as intermediates with a sterically demanding substituent R, and in polar solvents the acylium ion species 5 is formed preferentially. The electrophilic agent 5 reacts with the aromatic substrate, e.g. benzene 1, to give an intermediate cr-complex—the cyclohexadienyl cation 6. By loss of a proton from intermediate 6 the aromatic system is restored, and an arylketone is formed that is coordinated with the carbonyl oxygen to the Lewis acid. Since a Lewis-acid molecule that is coordinated to a product molecule is no longer available to catalyze the acylation reaction, the catalyst has to be employed in equimolar quantity. The product-Lewis acid complex 7 has to be cleaved by a hydrolytic workup in order to isolate the pure aryl ketone 3. 

Drawbacks as known from the Friedel-Crafts alkylation are not found for the Friedel-Crafts acylation. In some cases a decarbonylation may be observed as a side-reaction, e.g. if loss of CO from the acylium ion will lead to a stable carbenium species 8. The reaction product of the attempted acylation will then be rather an alkylated aromatic compound 9 ... 

The Lewis acid complex 4 can cleave into an ion-pair that is held together by the solvent cage, and that consists of an acylium ion and a Lewis acid-bound phenolate. A fr-complex 6 is then formed, which further reacts via electrophilic aromatic substitution in the ortho- or para-position ... 

Acylium ion (Section 16.3) A resonance-stabilised carbo-cation in which the positive charge is located at a carbonyl-... 

Brown and Jensen395 suggested that the rate equation (194) for the reaction of benzene with excess benzoyl chloride could be interpreted according to the mechanisms given by the reactions (201) and (202), (203) and (204) and (205) and (206) which refer to nucleophilic attack of the aromatic upon the polarised acyl halide-catalyst complex, upon the free acylium ion, and upon an ion pair derived from the acyl halide-catalyst complex, viz. 

In exceptional circumstances the acylium ion (or the polarised complex) can decompose to give an alkyl cation so that alkylation accompanies acylation. This occurs in the aluminium chloride-catalysed reaction of pivaloyl chloride which gives acylation with reactive aromatics such as anisole, but with less reactive aromatics such as benzene, the acylium ion has time to decompose, viz. 

On the basis of all these experiments various mechanisms have at some stage been advanced for the Fries rearrangement involving the free acylium ion or as a tightly bound ion pair, Ji-complexes and cyclic intermediates. It is clearly impossible to reconcile all the experimental data by one reaction mechanism. It is probable that many such mechanisms are possible, each one operative under a certain set of conditions. 

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