Allyl halides nucleophilic substitution

Nucleophilic Substitution on Alkyl Halides by Heteroatoms. A number of more or less activated alkyl halides, such as benzyl halides and allyl halides, undergo substitution reactions mediated by AgBp4 in the presence of a heteroatom nucleophile. For example, treatment of pentamethylcyclopentadienyl bromide with AgBp4 in the presence of a nucleophile gives the corresponding substituted product (eq 2). Thiols, amines, and alcohols have been used as nucleophiles. ... 

Secondary alkyl halides Sjvj2 substitution occurs if a weakly basic nucleophile is used in a polar aprotic solvent, E2 elimination predominates if a strong base is used, and ElcB elimination takes place if the leaving group is two carbons away from a carbonyl group. Secondary allylic and benzyiic alkyl halides can also undergo S l and El reactions if a weakly basic nucleophile is used in a pro tic solvent. 

Alkyl halides can be hydrolyzed to alcohols. Hydroxide ion is usually required, except that especially active substrates such as allylic or benzylic types can be hydrolyzed by water. Ordinary halides can also be hydrolyzed by water, if the solvent is HMPA or A-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone." In contrast to most nucleophilic substitutions at saturated carbons, this reaction can be performed on tertiary substrates without significant interference from elimination side reactions. Tertiary alkyl a-halocarbonyl compounds can be converted to the corresponding alcohol with silver oxide in aqueous acetonitrile." The reaction is not frequently used for synthetic purposes, because alkyl halides are usually obtained from alcohols. 

The method is quite useful for particularly active alkyl halides such as allylic, benzylic, and propargylic halides, and for a-halo ethers and esters, but is not very serviceable for ordinary primary and secondary halides. Tertiary halides do not give the reaction at all since, with respect to the halide, this is nucleophilic substitution and elimination predominates. The reaction can also be applied to activated aryl halides (such as 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene see Chapter 13), to epoxides, " and to activated alkenes such as acrylonitrile. The latter is a Michael type reaction (p. 976) with respect to the alkene. 

In basic aqueous media, a kinetic study of the reaction between stannate(II) ions and alkyl halide shows that mono- and disubstituted organotin compounds are formed (Eq. 6.12a).27 The monosubstituted organotin compound is obtained after a nucleophilic substitution catalyzed by a complexation between the tin(II) and the halide atom. The disubstituted compound results from an electrophilic substitution coupled with a redox reaction on a complex between the monosubstituted organotin compound and the stannate(II) ion. Stannate(IV) ions prevent the synthesis of the disubstituted compound by complexation. Similarly, when allyl bromide and tin were stirred in D2O at 60° C, allyltin(II) bromide was formed first. This was followed by further reaction with another molecule of allyl bromide to give diallyltin(IV) dibromide (Eq. 6.12b).28... 

Nucleophilic substitution, aliphatic, 31, 45, 77-100 Ag catalysis, 97 allyl halides, 85 ambident nucleophiles, 97 benzyl halides, 84, 91 bridgehead halides, 86 bromomethane, 78 2-bromopropanoate, 94 1-bromotriptycene, 87 carbanions in, 100,288... 

We have previously seen (p. 345) that this is the reason nucleophilic substitutions are not feasible at a cyclopropyl substrate. The reaction is often used to convert cyclopropyl halides and tosylates to allylic products, especially for the purpose of ring expansion, an example being1211... 

We might prefer route b because phenol is much more acidic (p a 10) than an alcohol such as 31 (pATa about 15) and so a weaker base such as NaOH can be used. But the main reason to prefer route b is that route a will not work. Nucleophilic substitutions on bromobenzene do not work3 while those on allylic halides such as 34 work very well indeed4 (chapters 2 and 3). 

Allylic amination of allyl halides can also be achieved using lithium and potassium bis(trimethylsilyl)amides [34] and potassium 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisilazide [35] as the nucleophiles. It has been found that for the reaction of alkyl-substituted allyl chlorides using lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amides as the nucleophile the allylic amination proceeds smoothly in a SN2 fashion to give /V,Af-disilylamines in high yields when silver(I) iodide was used as an additive. Other metal complexes such as copper ) iodide and other silver(I) salts can also be used as additives for the reaction. 

Mechanism 6-1 Allylic Bromination 228 Summary Methods for Preparing Alkyl Halides 229 6-7 Reactions of Alkyl Halides Substitution and Elimination 231 6-8 Second-Order Nucleophilic Substitution The Sn2 Reaction 232 Key Mechanism 6-2 The S j2 Reaction 233 6-9 Generality of the SN2 Reaction 234... 

If the allylic halide is unsymmetrically substituted, we can tell which process occurs and the normal result is that nucleophilic attack occurs at the less hindered end of the allylic system whether that means S 2 or Sn2. This important allylic bromide, known as prenyl bromide , normally reacts entirely via the Sn2 reaction. 

---