Aromatization aluminum chloride

Catalysis and activation are not the same. In Friedel-Crafts acylations of aromatics, aluminum chloride is used in more than stoichiometric amounts as an activator and coreagent. A similar approach is often used on a stoichiometric basis to activate carbon-hydrogen bonds toward hydride donation. This chemical approach stands in sharp contrast to the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which works catalyti-cally via a complex mechanism wherein activation is achieved but not at the expense of irreversible consumption of a coreagent.""... 

Butyne trimerizes in the presence of aluminum chloride to give hexamethyl Dewar-benzene (W. Schafer, 1967). Its irradiation leads not only to aromatization but also to hexa-methylprismane (D.M. Lemal, 1966). Highly substituted prlsmanes may also be obtained from the corresponding benzene derivatives by irradiation with 254 nm light. The rather stable prismane itself was synthesized via another hydrocarbon, namely benzvalene, a labile molecule (T. J. Katz, 1971, 1972). 

Alkyl halides by themselves are insufficiently electrophilic to react with benzene Aluminum chloride serves as a Lewis acid catalyst to enhance the electrophihcity of the alkylating agent With tertiary and secondary alkyl halides the addition of aluminum chlonde leads to the formation of carbocations which then attack the aromatic ring... 

Aluminum chloride is a stronger Lewis acid than iron(lll) bromide and has been used as a catalyst in electrophilic bromination when as in the example shown the aromatic ring bears a strongly deactivating substituent... 

Carbocations usually generated from an alkyl halide and aluminum chloride attack the aromatic ring to yield alkylbenzenes The arene must be at least as reactive as a halobenzene Carbocation rearrangements can occur especially with primary alkyl hal ides... 

One of the most useful reac tions of acyl chlorides was presented in Section 12 7 Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic rings takes place when arenes are treated with acyl chlorides in the presence of aluminum chloride... 

Friedel-Crafts alkylation (Section 12 6) An electrophilic aro matic substitution in which an aromatic compound reacts with an alkyl halide in the presence of aluminum chloride An alkyl group becomes bonded to the nng... 

Ring formation readily occurs ia the alkylation of aromatics with di- and polyhaUdes, eg, the reaction of di- and ttihalomethanes with aromatics ia the presence of aluminum chloride. In the reaction of dichioromethane and ben2ene, besides diaryknethanes, anthracene derivatives are also formed (54). 

Cycloalkylation of aromatic compounds with 1,4- or 1,3-glycols ia the presence of aluminum chloride leads to the formation of derivatives of tetrahydronaphthalene oriadane, respectively (55). 

Ketone Synthesis. In the Friedel-Crafts ketone synthesis, an acyl group is iatroduced iato the aromatic nucleus by an acylating agent such as an acyl haUde, acid anhydride, ester, or the acid itself. Ketenes, amides, and nittiles also may be used aluminum chloride and boron ttitiuotide are the most common catalysts (see Ketones). 

Aldehyde Synthesis. Formylation would be expected to take place when formyl chloride or formic anhydride reacts with an aromatic compound ia the presence of aluminum chloride or other Friedel-Crafts catalysts. However, the acid chloride and anhydride of formic acid are both too unstable to be of preparative iaterest. 

In the presence of aluminum chloride and a small amount of cuprous haUde, a mixture of hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide serves as a formyl a ting agent of aromatics (Gattermann-Koch reaction) (107) ... 

Amides result from the reaction of aromatic hydrocarbons with isocyanates, such as phenyl isocyanate [103-71-9], ia the presence of aluminum chloride. Phenyl isothiocyanate [103-72-0] similarly gives thioanilides (136). 

Dinitrogen tetroxide is an effective Eriedel-Crafts nitrating agent (152) for aromatics in the presence of aluminum chloride, ferric chloride, or sulfuric acid (153). Dinitrogen pentoxide is a powerhil nitrating agent, even in the absence of catalysts, preferably in sulfuric acid solution (154). SoHd dinitrogen pentoxide is known to be the nitronium nitrate, (N02) (N02). The use of BE as catalyst has been reported (155). 

Aluminum chloride [7446-70-0] is a useful catalyst in the reaction of aromatic amines with ethyleneknine (76). SoHd catalysts promote the reaction of ethyleneknine with ammonia in the gas phase to give ethylenediamine (77). Not only ammonia and amines, but also hydrazine [302-01-2] (78), hydrazoic acid [7782-79-8] (79—82), alkyl azidoformates (83), and acid amides, eg, sulfonamides (84) or 2,4-dioxopyrimidines (85), have been used as ring-opening reagents for ethyleneknine with nitrogen being the nucleophilic center (1). The 2-oxopiperazine skeleton has been synthesized from a-amino acid esters and ethyleneknine (86—89). 

Weak Base Anion Exchangers. Both styreoic and acryHc copolymers can be converted to weak base anion-exchange resias, but differeat syathetic routes are aecessary. Styreae—DVB copolymers are chloromethylated and aminated ia a two-step process. Chloromethyl groups are attached to the aromatic rings (5) by reactioa of chloromethyl methyl ether [107-30-2] CH2OCH2CI, with the copolymer ia the preseace of a Friedel-Crafts catalyst such as aluminum chloride [7446-70-0], AlCl, iroa(III) chloride [7705-08-0], FeCl, or ziac chloride [7646-85-7], ZaCl. ... 

PoIysuIfonyIa.tlon, The polysulfonylation route to aromatic sulfone polymers was developed independendy by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) and by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) at about the same time (81). In the polymerisation step, sulfone links are formed by reaction of an aromatic sulfonyl chloride with a second aromatic ring. The reaction is similar to the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction. The key to development of sulfonylation as a polymerisation process was the discovery that, unlike the acylation reaction which requires equimolar amounts of aluminum chloride or other strong Lewis acids, sulfonylation can be accompHshed with only catalytic amounts of certain haUdes, eg, FeCl, SbCl, and InCl. The reaction is a typical electrophilic substitution by an arylsulfonium cation (eq. 13). 

Reactions other than those of the nucleophilic reactivity of alkyl sulfates iavolve reactions with hydrocarbons, thermal degradation, sulfonation, halogenation of the alkyl groups, and reduction of the sulfate groups. Aromatic hydrocarbons, eg, benzene and naphthalene, react with alkyl sulfates when cataly2ed by aluminum chloride to give Fhedel-Crafts-type alkylation product mixtures (59). Isobutane is readily alkylated by a dipropyl sulfate mixture from the reaction of propylene ia propane with sulfuric acid (60). 

Friedel-Crafts Acylation. The Friedel-Crafts acylation procedure is the most important method for preparing aromatic ketones and thein derivatives. Acetyl chloride (acetic anhydride) reacts with benzene ia the presence of aluminum chloride or acid catalysts to produce acetophenone [98-86-2], CgHgO (1-phenylethanone). Benzene can also be condensed with dicarboxyHc acid anhydrides to yield benzoyl derivatives of carboxyHc acids. These benzoyl derivatives are often used for constmcting polycycHc molecules (Haworth reaction). For example, benzene reacts with succinic anhydride ia the presence of aluminum chloride to produce P-benzoylpropionic acid [2051-95-8] which is converted iato a-tetralone [529-34-0] (30). 

Continuous chlorination of benzene at 30—50°C in the presence of a Lewis acid typically yields 85% monochlorobenzene. Temperatures in the range of 150—190°C favor production of the dichlorobenzene products. The para isomer is produced in a ratio of 2—3 to 1 of the ortho isomer. Other methods of aromatic ring chlorination include use of a mixture of hydrogen chloride and air in the presence of a copper—salt catalyst, or sulfuryl chloride in the presence of aluminum chloride at ambient temperatures. Free-radical chlorination of toluene successively yields benzyl chloride, benzal chloride, and benzotrichloride. Related chlorination agents include sulfuryl chloride, tert-huty hypochlorite, and /V-ch1orosuccinimide which yield benzyl chloride under the influence of light, heat, or radical initiators. 

In the presence of Eriedel-Crafts catalysts, gaseous ethyl chloride reacts with ben2ene at about 25°C to give ethylben2ene, three diethylben2enes, and other more complex compounds (12) (see Xylenes and ethylbenzene). Aromatic compounds can generally be ethylated by ethyl chloride in the presence of anhydrous aluminum chloride (see Eriedel-Crafts REACTIONS). Ethyl chloride combines directly with sulfur trioxide to give ethyl chlorosulfonate,... 

The six-position may be functionalized by electrophilic aromatic substitution. Either bromination (Br2/CH2Cl2/-5°) acetylation (acetyl chloride, aluminum chloride, nitrobenzene) " or chloromethylation (chloromethyl methyl ether, stannic chloride, -60°) " affords the 6,6 -disubstituted product. It should also be noted that treatment of the acetyl derivative with KOBr in THF affords the carboxylic acid in 84% yield. The brominated crown may then be metallated (n-BuLi) and treated with an electrophile to form a chain-extender. To this end, Cram has utilized both ethylene oxide " and dichlorodimethyl-silane in the conversion of bis-binaphthyl crowns into polymer-bound resolving agents. The acetylation/oxidation sequence is illustrated in Eq. (3.54). 

The course of reduction of unsaturated and aromatic ketones is more complicated. Diaryl ketones, alkylaryl ketones and some aryl alcohols are smoothly reduced to the corresponding hydrocarbons. The recommended way of performing these reductions is to add an equimolar mixture of aluminum chloride and the ketone in ether to an equimolar mixture of aluminum chloride and LiAlH4 in ether. 

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