Alkylation organomercury compounds

Organomercury compounds undergo a similar reaction. Alkyl and aryl Grignard reagents can be converted to carboxylic esters with Fe(CO)5 instead of CO. Amides have been prepared by the treatment of trialkyl or triarylboranes with CO and an imine, in the presence of catalytic amounts of cobalt carbonyl ... 

Alkyl radicals generated by reduction of organomercury compounds can also add to alkenes having EWG groups. Radicals are generated by reduction of the organomercurial by NaBH4 or a similar reductant. These techniques have been... 

Ealy [ 75 ] also used conversion to alkyl mercury iodides for the gas chromatographic determination of organomercury compounds in benzene extracts of water. The iodides were then determined by gas chromatograph of the benzene extract on a glass column packed with 5% of cyclohexane-succinate on Anakron ABS (70-80 mesh) and operated at 200 °C with nitrogen (56 ml min-1) as carrier gas and electron capture detection. Good separation of chromatographic peaks was obtained for the mercury compounds as either chlorides, bromides, or iodides. The extraction recoveries were monitored by the use of alkylmer-cury compounds labelled with 203 Hg. 

Cappon and Crispin-Smith [59] have described a method for the extraction, clean-up and gas chromatographic determination of alkyl and aryl mercury compounds in sediments. The organomercury compounds are converted to their chloroderivatives and solvent extracted. Inorganic mercury is then isolated as methylmercury upon reaction with tetramethyltin. The initial extract is subjected to a thiosulphate clean-up and the organomercury species are isolated as their bromoderivatives. Total mercury recovery was in the range 75-90% and down to lpg kg-1 of specific compounds can be determined. 

The reductive decomposition of alkylmercury compounds is also a useful source of radicals.205 206 207 The organomercury compounds are available by oxymercuration (Section 4.3) or from an organometallic compound as a result of metal-metal exchange (Section 7.3.3). The mercuric hydride formed by reduction undergoes chain decomposition to generate alkyl radicals. 

Organomercury compounds are also sources of alkyl radicals. Organomercurials can be prepared either by solvomercuration (Section 4.3) or from organometallic reagents (Section 7.3.3). 

Organomercury compounds undergo a similar reaction.388 Alkyl and aryl Grignard reagents can be converted to carboxylic esters with Fe(CO)s instead of CO.389... 

Examples of radical-mediated C-alkylations are listed in Table 5.4. In these examples, radicals are formed by halogen abstraction with tin radicals (Entries 1 and 2), by photolysis of Barton esters (Entry 3), and by the reduction of organomercury compounds (Entry 4). Carbohydrate-derived, polystyrene-bound a-haloesters undergo radical allylation with allyltributyltin with high diastereoselectivity (97% de [41]). Cleavage from supports by homolytic bond fission with simultaneous formation of C-H or C-C bonds is considered in Section 3.16. 

Mercury contaminated foodstuffs and water supplies are a concern because of the extreme toxicity of the element and its compounds. Elemental mercury is used in the production of chlorine gas, and organomercury compounds formerly found use as pesticides and fungicides. Alkyl mercury compounds are of greatest concern since they do not degrade readily, and methyl mercury compounds concentrate in fish lipid tissue [9]. Pregnant women are at greatest risk since methyl mercury readily crosses the placenta, affecting the fetus [6]. 

By reacting directly with the alkali metal, organomercury compounds are commonly used to synthesize organoalkali metal compounds of the heavier alkali metals. This route has been used to make various alkyl compounds, such as butyl and trimethylsilylmethyl derivatives (equation 10). 

Organometallic compounds of less active metals and metalloids (e.g., silicon," antimony, and bismuth, are quite inert to water. Organomercury compounds (RHgX or R2Hg) can be reduced to RH by H2, NaBITj, or other reducing agents." The reduction with NaBH4 takes place by a free-radical mechanism." Alkyl-Si... 

Many other types of organometallics which are not acylated directly acid chlorides and which do not undergo addition to ketones may still transmetallate into the acylpalladiumfll) complex. Simple alkyl organomercurials have been acylated in this fashion to give moderate to good yields of ketones. " Larock has studied the palladium-catalyzed acylation of vinylmercury(II) compounds with acyl halides (equation 104). The reaction was only modestly productive and could not compare to the yield provided by aluminum chloride catalysis. 

Ethers are prepared either by a Williamson synthesis or by alkoxymercuration/demercuration sequence. The Williamson ether sy thesis involves S -2 attack of an alkoxide ion on a primary alkyl halide. The alkoxymercuration reaction involves the formation of an intermediate organomercury compound, followed by NaBH4 reduction of the C-Hg bond. The net result is Markovnikov addition of an alcohol to an alkene. 

Oxymercuration of simple alkyl- and acyl-substituted cyclopropenes generally results in ring opening.Addition of mercury(II) acetate to 3-methyl-3-phenylcyclopropene, however, gave a low yield of a cyclopropane containing organomercury compound (15-20%), which was converted into an isomeric mixture of 1 -methoxy-2-methyl-2-phenylcyclopropanes by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride. Reaction of 5 with mercury trifluoroacetate in methanol and then sodium hydroxide led predominantly to one cylopropane. ... 

Alkyl and vinylthallium(in) compounds are mostly obtained by oxythallation of alkenes or alkynes. They can also be formed by transmetallation between, for example, an organomercury compound and thallium(ni) salts. Various types of reactivity have been observed for these compounds. The evolution of the carbon-thallium bond into functionalised products usually takes place homolytically or heterolytically. The ligand coupling process has also been evoked to rationalize a small number of transformations. 

The alkyls may also be prepared, and the diaryls most conveniently obtained, by the reaction of zinc metal with an organomercury compound ... 

A different method of preparation is advisable if the pure, solvent-free organolithium compound is required. In a procedure due to Schlenk and Holtz50 the organolithium compound is prepared from metallic lithium and the organomercury compound in an indifferent solvent since most organolithium compounds, in particular the higher alkyl derivatives, are very readily soluble in hydrocarbons, they can be easily separated from the separating mercury and then obtained pure by evaporation of the solution. 

The simple organometallic compounds usually react with metals by displacement, when the more reactive can displace the less reactive metal from the compound. The most important example of this is the utilization of organomercury compounds to obtain the more reactive metal alkyls of such metals as sodium, lithium, and aluminum ... 

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