Acylium Ions Acyl Cations

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... 

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

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... 

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... 

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. 

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. 

If R is tertiary, RCOmay lose CO to give R, so that the alkylarene ArR is often a side product or even the main product. This kind of cleavage is much more likely with relatively unreactive substrates, where the acylium ion has time to break down. For example, pivaloyl chloride (McaCCOCl) gives the normal acyl product with anisole, but the alkyl product MesCPh with benzene. In the other mechanism an acyl cation is not involved, but the 1 1 complex attacks directly. 

Sometimes acylium ions lose carbon monoxide to generate an ordinary carbonium ion. It will be recalled that free acyl radicals exhibit similar behavior at high temperatures. Whether or not the loss of carbon monoxide takes place seems to depend on the stability of the resulting carbonium ion and on the speed with which the acylium ion is removed by competing reactions. Thus no decarbonylation is observed in Friedel-Crafts reactions of benzoyl chloride, the phenyl cation being rather unstable. But attempts to make pivaloyl benzene by the Friedel-Crafts reaction produce tert-butyl benzene instead. With compound XLIV cyclization competes with decarbonylation, but this competition is not successful in the case of compound XLV in which the ring is deactivated.263... 

A Friedel-Crafts acylation is a synthetic method that avoids the problem of rearrangement of the cation. Figure 7-10 illustrates the generation of the electrophile (the acylium ion) from an acid chloride. The presence of resonance stabilizes the acylium ion, and that reduces the possibility of rearrangement. 

Upon acylation of some benzyl carbonyl compounds (25, R = H, Me 51, R = OH) dibenzo[a,tropylium salts 65 have been isolated in low yields (5-15 %) along with the major products, 2-benzopyrylium salts. Veratryl acetone 25 (R = Me) as well as homoveratric aldehyde 25 (R = H) (or carboxonium ions 31 which are formed from them) may undergo an oxidative a-cleavage, resulting in the benzyl cation 64. The formation of the same cation from homoveratric acid 51 is the result of decarbonylation of the acylium ion 63. Further interaction of the benzyl cation 64 with the substrate, followed by cyclization and oxidation, results in the polycyclic tropylium salts 65 (82ZOR589). 

Investigation of acyl cations has been extended to the study of cycloacylium ions 332-336,652 diacylium ions (dications) 337-339,569,653 and unsaturated acylium ions 340-342.654 Computational studies at various levels of theory have also been... 

The acyl cation (acylium ion, oxocarbonium ion) is a resonance hybrid of the two main contributing structures 192 and 192a. The importance of structure 192a is indicated, for instance, by the high frequency carbonyl absorption (2200-2300 cm-1) observed in acyl cations generated from acyl halides and Lewis acids (Olah et al., 1962, 1963 Bethell and Gold, 1967). 

Acylium ion pairs, as well as the related oxonium complexes with Lewis acids, are recognized as the effective intermediates of aromatic (Friedel-Crafts) acylations. Kinetic studies apparently exclude that the electrophilic attack at the aromatic nucleus is by free acyl cations (Brown and Jensen, 1958). 

In the course of acyloxycarbocation investigations112 it has been noted that the reactions of both aldehydes and ketones follow an unusual course or are strongly accelerated if either acylium ions RCO+ are present in the reaction mixtures or conditions to generate them in situ arise. These observations are explained by a transformation of carbonyl compounds into the highly reactive acyloxycarbocations 163 which easily react with weak nucleophiles such as vinyl ethers, vinyl esters, etc. Hence the electrophilic catalysis by acyl cations in carbonyl reactions takes place regardless of the origin of the latter. This catalysis was used in the reaction of ketones with nitriles. 

In the case of acyl chlorides, reaction with the Lewis acid generates an electrophilic acylium ion. These species show no tendency to rearrange (Scheme 3.4). Again, it is questionable whether a free cation is formed or if a complex between the acyl group and AICI3 is the attacking species. 

The preparation, characterisation and reactivity of acylium ions and acyl complexes and esters have been extensively investigated, partfcularly in the last two decades. Their use as initiators in the cationic polymerisation of alkenyl monomers is however a more recent extension of these studies, except for some old exploratory work. 

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