Alkyl halides nitrile preparation from

Preparation of nitriles Cyanide ion (CN ) is a good nucleophile, and can displace leaving groups from 1° and 2° alkyl halides. Nitriles are prepared hy the treatment of alkyl halides with NaCN or KCN in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO). The reaction occurs rapidly at room temperature. 

Strictly speaking the alkyl halides are esters of the halogen acids, but since they enter into many reactions (t.g., formation of Grignard reagents, reaction with potassium cyanide to yield nitriles, etc.) which cannot be brought about by the other eaters, the alkyl halides are usually distinguished from the esters of the other inorganic acids. The preparation of a number of these is described below. 

Because nitriles can be prepared from alkyl halides by nucleophilic substitution with cyanide ion the overall process RX RC=N RCH2NH2 leads to primary amines that have one more carbon atom than the starting alkyl halide... 

Replacement of one of the phenyl groups by an alkyl group of similar bulk, on the other hand, alters the biologic activity in this series. Alkylation of phenylacetonitrile with isopropyl bromide affords the substituted nitrile, 136. Treatment of the anion prepared from 136 with strong base with 2-dimethylamino-l-chloropropane gives isoaminile (137). It is of note that alkylation of this halide, isomeric with that used in the early methadone synthesis, is apparently unaccompanied by isomer formation. Isoaminile is an agent with antitussive activity. 

Carboxylic acids can be prepared from nitriles by reaction with hot aqueous acid or base by a mechanism that we ll see in Section 20.9. Since nitriles themselves are usually made by Sts 2 reaction of a primary or secondary7 alkyl halide with CN , the two-step sequence of cyanide displacement followed by nitiile hydrolysis is a good way to make a carboxylic acid from an alkyl halide (RBr —> RC=N RC02H). 

The following carboxylic acid can t be prepared from an alkyl halide by either the nitrile hydrolysis route or the Grignard carboxylation route. Explain. 

Many other examples of synthetic equivalent groups have been developed. For example, in Chapter 6 we discussed the use of diene and dienophiles with masked functionality in the Diels-Alder reaction. It should be recognized that there is no absolute difference between what is termed a reagent and a synthetic equivalent group. For example, we think of potassium cyanide as a reagent, but the cyanide ion is a nucleophilic equivalent of a carboxy group. This reactivity is evident in the classical preparation of carboxylic acids from alkyl halides via nitrile intermediates. 

Sandmeyer s synthesis of aromatic nitriles is far more elegant than the removal of water from the ammonium salts of carboxylic acids, which latter reaction is also applicable to benzene derivatives. In particular, the former synthesis permits of the preparation of carboxylic acids via the nitriles, and so provides a complete substitute for Kolbe s synthesis (alkyl halide and potassium cyanide), which is inapplicable to aromatic compounds. The simplest example is the conversion of aniline into benzoic add. The converse transformation is Hofmann s degradation (benzamide aniline, see p. 152). 

As we know, the Grignard reagents and nitriles ean be prepared from alkyl halides (refer Unit 10, Class XII). The above methods... 

Cross coupling between an aryl halide and an activated alkyl halide, catalysed by the nickel system, is achieved by controlling the rate of addition of the alkyl halide to the reaction mixture. When the aryl halide is present in excess, it reacts preferentially with the Ni(o) intermediate whereas the Ni(l) intermediate reacts more rapidly with an activated alkyl halide. Thus continuous slow addition of the alkyl halide to the electrochemical cell already charged with the aryl halide ensures that the alkyl-aryl coupled compound becomes the major product. Activated alkyl halides include benzyl chloride, a-chloroketones, a-chloroesters and amides, a-chloro-nitriles and vinyl chlorides [202, 203, 204], Asymmetric induction during the coupling step occurs with over 90 % distereomeric excess from reactions with amides such as 62, derived from enantiomerically pure (-)-ephedrine, even when 62 is a mixture of diastereoisomcrs prepared from a racemic a-chloroacid. Metiha-nolysis of the amide product affords the chiral ester 63 and chiral ephedrine is recoverable [205]. 

Preparation of alkyl azides The azide ion (N3 ), a good nucleophile, can displace leaving groups from 1° and 2° alkyl halides. Alkyl azides are easily prepared from sodium or potassium azides and alkyl halides. The reaction mechanism resemhles the formation of nitrile. 

Nitriles may be prepared by several methods (1). The first nitrile to be prepared was propionitrile, which was obtained in 1834 by distilling barium ethyl sulfate with potassium cyanide. This is a general preparation of nitriles from sulfonate salts and is referred to as the Pelouze reaction (2). Although not commonly practiced today, dehydration of amides has been widely used to produce nitriles and was the first commercial synthesis of a nitrile. The reaction of alkyl halides with sodium cyanide to produce nitriles (eq. 1) also is a general reaction with wide applicability ... 

Ketenimines are usually prepared from carboxylic acid derivatives such as amides and imino chlorides via elimination and from nitriles via alkylation with alkyl halides under strong basic conditions (21,64). 

Alkyl halides (particularly bromides) undergo oxidative addition with activated copper powder, prepared from Cu(I) salts with lithium naphthalenide, to give alkylcopper species10. The alkyl halides may be functionalized with ester, nitrile and chloro functions ketone and epoxide functions may also be tolerated in some cases11. The resulting alkylcopper species have been shown to react efficiently with acid chlorides, enones (conjugate addition) and (less efficiently) with primary alkyl iodides and allylic and benzylic bromides (equations 5 and 6). If a suitable ring size can be made, intramolecular reactions with epoxides and ketones are realized. 

From a historical perspective, the a-(dialkylamino)nitrile anions were the first acyl anion equivalents to undergo systematic investigation. More recent studies indicate that anions of a-(dialkylamino)nitriles derived from aliphatic, aromatic or heteroaromatic aldehydes intercept an array of electrophiles including alkyl halides, alkyl sulfonates, epoxides, aldehydes, ketones, acyl chlorides, chloroformates, unsaturated ketones, unsaturated esters and unsaturated nitriles. Aminonitriles are readily prepared and their anions are formed with a variety of bases such as sodium methoxide, KOH in alcohol, NaH, LDA, PhLi, sodium amide, 70% NaOH and potassium amide. Regeneration of the carbonyl group can be achieved... 

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