Triflic acid benzene acylation

Tetralone 31 could also be synthesized much more efficiently by employing a chemoselective ketone reduction of 32 to give the lactone 33. A double Friedel-Crafts alkylation/acylation sequence employing a variety of Lewis or protic acids and benzene gave the tetralone 31 directly. Triflic acid and HF produced the highest yields of tetralone, presumably through the intermediacy of the diaryl acid 34 (Scheme 6)... 

Klumpp and co-workers362 have performed a detailed study of the acylation reactions of benzene with a variety of cinnamic acid derivatives in triflic acid. Cinnamic acids with alkyl or weakly electron-withdrawing groups (F, Br) on the phenyl ring give the corresponding substituted indanones as a result of a two-step... 

In most instances these catalysts were not satisfactory in terms of yield, range of substrates and turnover numbers of the catalyst. Additionally, they were mostly efficient only in the case of activated aromatics. In order to develop also Friedel-Crafts acylations of less activated or even deactivated arenes, a new generation of catalysts had to be developed. Here, particularly bismuth(III) triflate [33] and hafnium(IV) triflate in the presence of lithium perchlorate [34] or triflic acid [35] are effective, alternative catalysts actually acylating benzene, toluene and halobenzenes. 

Metal triflates can be easily prepared from metal halides and triflic acid at -78 C. They show several unique properties compared with the corresponding metal halides. In an early study, Olah reported the use of boron-, aluminum-, and gallium triflates [M(OTf)J as effective Friedel-Crafts catalysts. In the benzoylation and acetylation of toluene and benzene with acyl chlorides, the relative reactivity is boron triflate > gallium triflate > aluminum triflate, in agreement with the relative acidity strength. 

A dramatic acceleration of benzene acylation is also observed by using a similar catalyst consisting of a combination of hafnium triflate and triflic acid. While in the benzoylation of benzene with BC, low yields of benzo-phenone (BP) (5%-10%) are obtained in the presence of hafnium triflate (5% mol) or triflic acid (5% mol), a 77% yield is obtained when combining hafnium triflate (5% mol) with triflic acid (5% mol). The yield is improved to 82% when hafnium triflate and triflic acid are used in higher quantity (10% mol) a further increase of the catalyst amount does not improve the... 

The mixed carboxylic-triflic anhydride produced between the acyl chloride and triflic acid has been earlier described to give electrophilic acylation without any catalyst.This acylation method is advantageous in terms of the mild conditions employed and the easy availability of acyl chlorides. The aromatic substrates are mainly limited to electron-rich arenes. However, the methodology can be applied to unactivated aromatics such as benzene and chlorobenzene under special conditions. 

Friedel-Crafts acylation usually involves the reaction of an acyl halide, a Lewis acid catalyst, and the aromatic reactant. Several species may function as the active electrophile, depending on the reactivity of the aromatic compound. For activated aromatics, the active electrophile can be a discrete positively charged acylium ion or a complex formed between the acyl halide and the Lewis acid catalyst. For benzene and less reactive aromatics, it is believed that the active electrophile is a protonated acylium ion or an acyiium ion complexed by a Lewis acid. Reactions using acylium salts are slow with toluene or benzene as the reactant and do not proceed with chlorobenzene. The addition of triflic acid accelerates the reactions with benzene and toluene and permits reaction with chlorobenzene. These results suggest that a protonation step must be involved. 

The direct reaction of indoles with carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure to give the 3-carboxylated derivatives has been reported. The reaction occurs in dimethyl for-mamide in the presence of a large excess in lithium t-butoxide whose function is to deprotonate the indole. Although the N-H proton is more acidic, the C(3) anion yields the thermodynamically more stable carboxylated product. Acyl transfer from amides, such as A-(4-nitrophenyl)acetamide to benzene may occur in triflic acid. The mechanism is likely to involve diprotonation of the amide, as shown in (39), and dissociation of the C-N bond to give an acyl cation. The methodology allows the formation of aromatic ketones by inter- or intra-molecular reaction. The acylation of arenes may also be... 

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