Aromatic compounds, addition amination

The addition product, C QHgNa, called naphthalenesodium or sodium naphthalene complex, may be regarded as a resonance hybrid. The ether is more than just a solvent that promotes the reaction. StabiUty of the complex depends on the presence of the ether, and sodium can be Hberated by evaporating the ether or by dilution using an indifferent solvent, such as ethyl ether. A number of ether-type solvents are effective in complex preparation, such as methyl ethyl ether, ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, dioxane, and THF. Trimethyl amine also promotes complex formation. This reaction proceeds with all alkah metals. Other aromatic compounds, eg, diphenyl, anthracene, and phenanthrene, also form sodium complexes (16,20). 

Arynes are intermediates in certain reactions of aromatic compounds, especially in some nucleophilic substitution reactions. They are generated by abstraction of atoms or atomic groups from adjacent positions in the nucleus and react as strong electrophiles and as dienophiles in fast addition reactions. An example of a reaction occurring via an aryne is the amination of o-chlorotoluene (1) with potassium amide in liquid ammonia. According to the mechanism given, the intermediate 3-methylbenzyne (2) is first formed and subsequent addition of ammonia to the triple bond yields o-amino-toluene (3) and m-aminotoluene (4). It was found that partial rearrangement of the ortho to the meta isomer actually occurs. 

Our recent studies on effective bromination and oxidation using benzyltrimethylammonium tribromide (BTMA Br3), stable solid, are described. Those involve electrophilic bromination of aromatic compounds such as phenols, aromatic amines, aromatic ethers, acetanilides, arenes, and thiophene, a-bromination of arenes and acetophenones, and also bromo-addition to alkenes by the use of BTMA Br3. Furthermore, oxidation of alcohols, ethers, 1,4-benzenediols, hindered phenols, primary amines, hydrazo compounds, sulfides, and thiols, haloform reaction of methylketones, N-bromination of amides, Hofmann degradation of amides, and preparation of acylureas and carbamates by the use of BTMA Br3 are also presented. 

In recent years, the importance of aliphatic nitro compounds has greatly increased, due to the discovery of new selective transformations. These topics are discussed in the following chapters Stereoselective Henry reaction (chapter 3.3), Asymmetric Micheal additions (chapter 4.4), use of nitroalkenes as heterodienes in tandem [4+2]/[3+2] cycloadditions (chapter 8) and radical denitration (chapter 7.2). These reactions discovered in recent years constitute important tools in organic synthesis. They are discussed in more detail than the conventional reactions such as the Nef reaction, reduction to amines, synthesis of nitro sugars, alkylation and acylation (chapter 5). Concerning aromatic nitro chemistry, the preparation of substituted aromatic compounds via the SNAr reaction and nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydrogen (VNS) are discussed (chapter 9). Preparation of heterocycles such as indoles, are covered (chapter 10). 

Photoadditions that arise by initial excitation of the aromatic compound are not common. Benzvalenes are readily attacked by hydroxylic compounds, and so irradiation of benzene in aqueous solutions of acetic acid, for example, results in the formation of a bicydic product (and an isomer derived from it by subsequent photoisomerizationl as a result of addition to the initially formed valence isomer (3.38). A different kind of photoaddition occurs when benzenes react photochemically with amines cyclohexa-T, 4-dienes are the major products (3.39), accompanied by cyclohexa-1.3-dienes, and unlike many of the photochemical reactions of benzene this does not suffer loss of efficiency in scaling-up. 

Rapid reduction of aromatic nitro compounds into amines has been described using sodium hypophosphite and FeSC>4-7H20. The reactions showed best results in terms of yields and purity, when the substrates were pre-absorbed on alumina and irradiated by microwaves under solvent-free conditions. The reaction is chemoselective and does not affect functional groups such as CN, OH, COOH, CONH2 or halogens. In addition, oximes were not reduced under the given reaction conditions, but were dehydrated to the corresponding nitriles instead (Scheme 4.32)57. 

Formylation of the less reactive phenol and anisole with CO in HF-BF3 was found to require at least stoichiometric amount of the acid for effective transformation (50 equiv. of HF, 2 equiv. of BF3, 50 bar CO, 45°C).445 Conversion increases with increasing reaction time but results in decreasing paralortho ratios suggesting a change from kinetic control to thermodynamic control and the reversibility of formylation. Furthermore, the amount of byproducts (mainly diphenylmethane derivatives) originating from reactions between substrates and products also increases. Additional studies in ionic liquids showed that imidazolium cations with increased chain lengths—for example, l-octyl-3-methylimidazolium salts—are effective in the formylation process. This was attributed to the enhanced solubility of CO in the ionic liquid medium. Tris(dichloromethyl)amine, triformamide, and tris (diformylamino)methane have recently been applied in the formylation of activated aromatic compounds in the presence of triflic acid at low temperature (— 10 to 20°C) albeit yields are moderate.446... 

Another example concerning the reduction of carbonyl compounds also relates to the salt effect theme. Shaefer and Peters (1980), Simon Peters (1981,1982,1983,1984), Rudzki et al. (1985), and Goodman and Peters (1986) described photoreductions of aromatic ketones by amines. In this case, the addition of excess NaC104 results in considerable retardation, even prevention, of final product formation. The two fundamental steps in this photoreduction consist of rapid electron transfer from the amine to the photoactivated ketone (in its triplet state), followed by the slow transfer of proton from the amine cation radical to the carbonyl anion radical ... 

Electronically excited carbonyl chromophores in ketones, aldehydes, amides, imides, or electron-deficient aromatic compounds may act as electron acceptors (A) versus alkenes, amines, carboxylates, carboxamides, and thioethers (D, donors). In addition, PET processes can also occur from aromatic rings with electron-donating groups to chloroacetamides. These reactions can be versatile procedures for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds with six-membered (or larger) rings [2],... 

The following reactions proceed with the participation of the allylic boron system (i) allylboration and protolytic cleavage of organic compounds with multiple bonds, (ii) allylboron-alkyne condensation,598 599 (iii) reductive mono-and trans-a,a -diallylation of nitrogen aromatic compounds, (iv) disproportionation processes between tribut-2-enylborane and BX3 (X = C1, Br, OR, SR). Allylboration of carbonyl compounds, thioketones, imines, or nitriles leads to the homoallylic alcohols, thiols, or amines (Equations (136) and (137). It is most important that 1,2-addition to aldehydes and imines proceeds with high diastereoselectivity so that ( )-allylic boranes and boronates give the anti-products, while -products are formed preferentially from (Z)-isomers. 

Microwave irradiation of a mixture of cyclohexenones and ethyl acetoacetate adsorbed on the surface of solid lithium 5-(2)-prolinate leads to the stereoselective construction of bicyclo[2.2.2]octanone (69) systems through Michael addition and subsequent intramolecular aldolization (Ranu et al., 2000). Electron-rich aromatic compounds react with formaldehyde and a secondary amine under solvent-free condition and microwave irradiation in a microwave oven to produce amino ethylated products (70) in good to excellent yields (Mojtahedi et al., 2000). 

The analogous primary amine had been earlier studied by Wubbels and gave only the photo-Smiles reaction, but this process was not observed for the present system and the reaction is suggested to proceed by a photo-electron transfer mechanism to yield the radical ion pair. Photoaddition of N-H bonds to aromatic compounds has been known for some years, and the intramolecular process which leads to cyclization products has been reported for the reaction of 9-(aj-anilinolalkyl)phenanthrenes (220). The formation of the spiro-compounds (221) by addition of the N-H bond across the phenan-threne 9,10-positions is suggested to arise from the intramolecular exciplex in... 

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