Benzyl halides, hydrolysis

Benzylic halides resemble allylic halides m the readiness with which they form carbocations On comparing the rate of S l hydrolysis m aqueous acetone of the fol lowing two tertiary chlorides we find that the benzylic chloride reacts over 600 times faster than does tert butyl chloride... 

This method is particularly applicable to the more reactive benzyl halides which are easily hydrolyzed in the aqueous media usually employed for the metathetical reaction with alkali cyanides. For example, anisyl chloride treated with sodium cyanide in aqueous dioxane gives, as a by-product, 5-10% of anisyl alcohol as determined by infrared analysis. The use of anhydrous acetone not only prevents hydrolysis to the alcohol but also decreases the formation of isonitriles. This method was also applied successfully by the submitters to the preparation of -chlo-rophenylacetonitrile in 74% yield. 

Nucleophilic substitution of the halogen atom of halogenomethylisoxazoles proceeds readily this reaction does not differ essentially from that of benzyl halides. One should note the successful hydrolysis of 4-chloromethyl- and 4-(chlorobenzyl)-isoxazoles by freshly precipitated lead oxide, a reagent seldom used in organic chemistry. Other halides, ethers, and esters of the isoxazole series have been obtained from 3- and 4-halogenomethylisoxazoles, and 3-chloro-methylisoxazole has been reported in the Arbuzov rearrangement. Panizzi has used dichloromethylisoxazole derivatives to synthesize isoxazole-3- and isoxazole-5-aldehydes/ ... 

In an alternate synthesis of the intermediate ketone, the benzylic halide, 69, is used to alkylate sodium phenoxide. Cyclization of the acid (70) obtained on hydrolysis of the ester by means of trifluoroacetic anhydride again gives 67... 

The oxygen nucleophiles that are of primary interest in synthesis are the hydroxide ion (or water), alkoxide ions, and carboxylate anions, which lead, respectively, to alcohols, ethers, and esters. Since each of these nucleophiles can also act as a base, reaction conditions are selected to favor substitution over elimination. Usually, a given alcohol is more easily obtained than the corresponding halide so the halide-to-alcohol transformation is not used extensively for synthesis. The hydrolysis of benzyl halides to the corresponding alcohols proceeds in good yield. This can be a useful synthetic transformation because benzyl halides are available either by side chain halogenation or by the chloromethylation reaction (Section 11.1.3). 

Benzyl chloride undergoes all the transformations of the alkyl halides. Hydrolysis with hot aqueous alkalis yields the corresponding alcohol, benzyl alcohol C6H5.CH2OH, a colourless liquid which boils at 206°. (Chap. V. 4, p. 220.)... 

Organonickel(II) species are believed to be formed during the reaction between [Ni(TMC)] and primary alkyl halides, and subsequently undergo hydrolysis with cleavage of the Ni—C bond. Kinetic data measured in the presence of excess alkyl halide indicate a rate law -dlNi1 (TMC)+]/cft = MNi (TMCr][RX]. The rate constants increase for R and X in the order methyl < primary < secondary < allyl < benzyl halides and Cl < Br < I (133, 140). This suggests that the rate-determining step is electron transfer from the Ni(I) complex to R—X via an inner-sphere atom-transfer mechanism (143). 

Many of the common laboratory methods for the preparation of alcohols have been discussed in previous chapters or will be considered later thus to avoid undue repetition we shall not consider them in detail at this time. Included among these methods are hydration (Section 10-3E) and hydroboration (Section 11-6D), addition of hypohalous acids to alkenes (Section 10-4B), SN1 and Sn2 hydrolysis of alkyl halides (Sections 8-4 to 8-7) and of allylic and benzylic halides (Sections 14-3B and 14-3C), addition of Grignard reagents to carbonyl compounds (Section 14-12), and the reduction of carbonyl compounds (Sections 16-4E and 16-5). These methods are summarized in Table 15-2. 

Potassium carbonate is a weak base. Hydrolysis of the primary benzylic halide converts it to an alcohol. 

These lithium compounds arc very reactive and will combine with most electrophiles—in this example the organolithium is alkylated by a benzylic halide. Treatment with aqueous acid gives the 1,4-diketone by hydrolysis of the two enol ethers. 

Aromatic alcohols are obtained by the hydrolysis of benzyl halides and by the reduction of aromatic aldehydes and ketones. 

Benzylic halides are also converted into aldehydes on treatment with nitroso compounds, usually the easily prepared p-nitrosodimethylaniline, in the presence of pyridine with subsequent hydrolysis of the nitrones by hydrochloric acid or by hydrazine (equation 197) [984, ... 

It is interesting to note that the hydrolysis of unhindered benzoyl chlorides is not catalyzed by acids, but benzoyl fluoride is acid catalyzed and follows Kq (Bevan and Hudson, 1953). Similarly, acid catalysis of benzyl fluoride hydrolysis which follows occurs (Swain and Spalding, 1960), but no acid catalysis of benzyl chloride hydrolysis is known. Furthermore, benzyl halide reactions show non-linear pa correlations (Hudson and Klopman, 1962 Hill and Fry, 1962 Swain and Langsdorf, 1951). Although much less work has been carried out on benzoyl halides, it would appear then that nucleophilic reactions with benzoyl halides resemble, in many respects, nucleophilic reactions with benzyl systems, including the considerable uncertainty as to the S l or bimolecular nature of these reactions (Thornton, 1964). 

The transformation of alkyl halides with cyanides (equation 1) represents not only the classical route to nitriles, but, if modified properly, is still of very great practical importance even today. A whole series of review articles stress the scope and value of this reaction. Although the substituent R may be varied to a large extent, the primary as well as the benzylic halides generally give higher yields than secondary and tertiary ones, as, with the latter, the formation of alkenes gains in importance. This side reaction as well as the undesired formation of alcohols and ethers, which sometimes takes place in aqueous media or with alcohols as solvent, is of course due to the basicity of the cyanide ion. Under deleterious conditions one may even observe carboxylic acids, which result fi-om the hydrolysis of the nitriles. - Some of these undesired side reactions may be avoided by the use of CuCN instead of sodium or potassium cyanide. ... 

Krohnke aldehyde synthesis. Transformation of benzyl halides into aldehydes via their pyri-dinium salts which, on treatment with p-nitrosodi-methylaniline, give nitrones. Hydrolysis of the nitrones yields aldehydes. 

In a variation, high yields of phosphonium salts (77%) have been claimed to be obtained from the reaction of white phosphorus and benzyl halides, XC Y nClA2 with the aid of metal or metal salt (CuCl) catalysis The reaction may also be carried out in a high boiling solvent. Here dialkylation prevails and tlie phosphinic acid (PhCH2)2P(O)OH is isolated after hydrolysis... 

Alkylation solves the awkward problem of how to make aryl ketones of the pattern 151, awkward because the Friedel-Crafts reaction doesn t work with this substitution pattern. Alkylation of a nitroalkane with the benzylic halide 149 does work well and the product 150 can be oxidised to the ketone32151. Reactions with aldehydes work even with masked aldehydes33 like dihydropyran to give 154 and hence the ketone 155 with a 1,2-substitution pattern after hydrolysis.34 More vigorous conditions give nitroalkenes 145 from aldehydes and these will be very useful later as a2 reagents. 

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