Benzyne intermediates diazonium salts

Benzyne intermediates may be formed in a large number of different ways. If o-aminobenzoic acid is treated with nitrous acid, the resultant diazonium salt may decompose to form benzyne itself. Write out this reaction sequence. 

In Chapter 16, we will look at the reactions of substituted benzenes. First we will study reactions that change the nature of the substituent on the benzene ring and we will see how the nature of the substituent affects both the reactivity of the ring and the placement of any incoming substituent. Then we will look at three types of reactions that can be used to synthesize substituted benzenes other than those discussed in Chapter 15— reactions of arene diazonium salts, nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions, and reactions that involve benzyne intermediates. You will then have the opportunity to design syntheses of compounds that contain benzene rings. 

There are many other reactions that possibly involve aryne intermediates. While some are of mechanistic curiosities, some have been studied in detail, although none are generally synthetically useful. Irradiation of 1,2-diiodobenzene can lead to ortho-benzyne, probably via an aryl radical intermediate resulting from cleavage of the weak C-1 bond (Scheme 7.19). Aryl cations, formed by the decomposition of diazonium salts are also possible intermediates to ortho-benzynes provided that a large ortho-substituent is present, loss of a proton to give an aryne becomes competitive with the normal nudeophihc addition to the cation. 

Sol 7. (d) Diazotization of anthranilic acid gives a diazonium salt, which on treatment with a mild base undergoes elimination of CO2 and N2 to give benzyne intermediate (I). It immediately undergoes Diels—Alder reaction to... 

In addition to the SNAr mechanism, several other mechanisms are known for nucleophilic aromatic substitutions. For example, an SnI mechanism is relevant for nucleophilic substitution reactions which encounter aromatic diazonium salts. Radical-nucleophilic aromatic substitutions (SrnI) are known in reactions where no electron-withdrawing group is available, whereas a mechanism via a benzyne intermediate is of relevance for substitutions employing NHJ as a nucleophile. 

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