Bromine reaction with silver carboxylates

The classical Hunsdiecker reaction (equation 18), involving the reaction of silver carboxylates with halogens, and the various associated side reactions, has been reviewed several times. Optimum yields are obtained with bromine, followed by chlorine. Iodine gives acceptable yields provid that the correct stoichiometry of 1 1 is used. The reaction is most frequently carried out in tetrachloromethane at reflux. From a practical point of view, one drawback is the difficulty encountered in the preparation of dry silver carboxylates the reaction of silver oxide on the acyl chloride in tetrachloromeAane at reflux has been employed to circumvent this problem. Evidently the use of molecular bromine limits the range of functional groups compatible with the reaction the different reaction pathways followed by the silver salts of electron poor (equation 19) and electron rich (equation 20) aryl carboxylates illustrate this point well. 

The Hunsdiecker reaction is the reaction of silver carboxylate 1 with bromine to give bromide 2 at elevated temperature.1The reaction also works for making chlorides and iodides. It is also known as the Hunsdiecker-Borodin reaction. 

The first step of the Hunsdiecker reaction is quite straightforward. The reaction between silver carboxylate 1 and bromine gives rise to insoluble silver bromide along with acyl hypobromite 3. The unstable acyl hypobromite 3 undergoes a homolytic cleavage of the O-Br bond to provide carboxyl radical 4. Carboxyl radical 4 then decomposes via radical decarboxylation to release carbon dioxide and alkyl radical 5, which subsequently reacts with another molecule of acyl hypobromite 3 to deliver alkyl bromide 2, along with regeneration of carboxyl radical 4. Because of the radical pathway, chirality is often lost for the chiral carbon atom immediately adjacent to the carboxylic acid. 

Silver carboxylates 1 can be decarboxylated by treatment with bromine, to yield alkyl bromides 2 in the so-called Hunsdiecker reaction. ... 

The reaction is likely to proceed by a radical-chain mechanism, involving intermediate formation of carboxyl radicals, as in the related Kolbe electrolytic synthesis. Initially the bromine reacts with the silver carboxylate 1 to give an acyl hypobromite species 3 together with insoluble silver bromide, which precipitates from the reaction mixture. The unstable acyl hypobromite decomposes by homolytic cleavage of the O-Br bond, to give a bromo radical and the carboxyl radical 4. The latter decomposes further to carbon dioxide and the alkyl radical 5, which subsequently reacts with hypobromite 3 to yield the alkyl bromide 2 and the new carboxyl radical 4Z... 

The procedure described here allows for a convenient and efficient preparation in very high yields of large quantities of bromides from carboxylic acids containing an olefinic functionality. The Hunsdiecker reaction is traditionally accomplished by treating anhydrous silver carboxylates with bromine or iodine.2 Heavy metal salts such as mercury,3 lead,4 and thallium5 have also been used successfully as well as tert-butyl hypoiodite.6 The major disadvantages associated with the above methods, such as use of heavy metal salts and non-tolerance towards olefins, has led to the development of a more versatile method using O-acyl thiohydroxamates.7 8 The O-... 

Hundsdieke reaction org chem Production of an alkyl halide by boiling a silver carboxylate with an equivalent weight of bromine in carbon tetrachloride. honz.dek-o re,ak-sh3n ... 

Hunsdiecker reaction of the silver salts of both cis-(56) and trans-2-methylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid (57) yielded the same mixture of cis- (58) and trans-1-bromo-2-methylcyclopropane (59), thus demonstrating that the 2-methylcyclopropyl radical was incapable of maintaining its configuration . Brominative decarboxylation of the silver salts of exo- (60) and em/o-norcarane-7-carboxylic acid (61) produced the same mixture (16 84) of exo- (62) and entio-7-bromonorcarane (63)". Similarly, cis- and trans-silver 1,2-cyclopropanedicarboxylate gave rise to the same isomer ratio (24 76) of cis- and fraws-1,2-dibromocyclopropane. Consistent with these results is the report that the Hunsdiecker reaction with the silver salt of trans-2,2,3-d3-cyclopropanecarboxylic acid (64) gives an equimolar mixture of cis- (65) and rrans-2,2,3-d3-cyclopropane (66) . 

In the Hunsdiecker reaction, the silver salt of a carboxylic acid (RC02Ag) is treated with Br2 to give an alkyl bromide RBr with one fewer C atoms. The reaction does not work well with aromatic acids, suggesting that a free-radical mechanism is involved. The carboxylate and bromine react to give an acyl hy-pobromite, which decomposes by a free-radical chain mechanism. 

In the Hunsdiecker reaction, the silver salt of a carboxylic acid, prepared by treating the acid with silver oxide, is treated with a halogen. Bromine is the usual reagent, but iodine may also be used. Carbon dioxide is evolved and the corresponding alkyl halide is obtained, usually in fair to good yield. 

One particular radical decarboxylation reaction, which is used in the synthesis of alkyl or aryl bromide (Hunsdiecker reaction), involves reaction of the silver salt of a carboxylic acid with bromine, and results overall in loss of CO2 to form the corresponding alkyl or aryl bromide (Scheme 4.47). When silver carboxylate is treated with I2 ester formation occurs (Simonini reaction). 

In a similar vein, the silver (Ag+) salts of carboxylic adds undergo decarboxylation in the presence of bromine (Br2) to produce silver bromide and bromoalkane (the Hunsdiecker reaction). The Hunsdiecker reaction also appears to involve radicals as shown in Scheme 9.101, where,in the first step,silver bromide precipitates from the reaction mixture with formation of an acyl hypobromite (RC(D2Br). Then, homolysis of the oxygen-bromine bond generates bromine atoms and the carboxyl radical, seen here as the same radical generated in Scheme 9.100. Following loss of carbon dioxide (CO2), it is held that the alkyl radical is captured by the bromine atom (Br ) to produce alkylbromide (1-bromoethane [CH3CH2Br]). 

Scheme 9.101. A representation of the Hnnsdiecker reaction of the silver salt of propanoic acid. It is generally accepted that the precipitation of silver bromide (AgBr) is accompanied by formation of an acylhypobromite and the homolysis of the oxygen bromine bond generates a bromine atom and the carboxyl radical. The arrows shown on the carboxyl radical (with half-heads) are drawn to account for the apparent movement of one electron (in contrast to the usual cartoons showing two electron arrows ) at a time to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and the ethyl radical (CH3CH2 ). The latter reacts with bromine to yield bromobutane (CHsCHjBr).

Ester formation when silver carboxylate is treated with iodine. Alternatively, when silver carboxylate is treated with bromine, the product is alkyl bromide, R-Br (Hunsdiecker reaction, page 202). 

Suitable substrates for the Hunsdiecker reaction are first of all aliphatic carboxylates. Aromatic carboxylates do not react uniformly. Silver benzoates with electron-withdrawing substituents react to the corresponding bromobenzenes, while electron-donating substituents can give rise to formation of products where an aromatic hydrogen is replaced by bromine. For example the silver /)-methoxybenzoate 6 is converted to 3-bromo-4-methoxybenzoic acid 7 in good yield ... 

In a modified procedure the free carboxylic acid is treated with a mixture of mercuric oxide and bromine in carbon tetrachloride the otherwise necessary purification of the silver salt is thereby avoided. This procedure has been used in the first synthesis of [1.1.1 ]propellane 10. Bicyclo[l.l.l]pentane-l,3-dicarboxylic acid 8 has been converted to the dibromide 9 by the modified Hunsdiecker reaction. Treatment of 9 with t-butyllithium then resulted in a debromination and formation of the central carbon-carbon bond thus generating the propellane 10." ... 

The Hunsdiecker reaction is the treatment of the dry silver salt of a carboxylic acid with bromine in carbon tetrachloride. Decarboxylation occurs, and the product isolated is the corresponding organic bromide 16). Since dry silver salts are tedious to prepare, a modification of the reaction discovered by Cristol and Firth (77) is now... 

Reaction of a silver salt of a carboxylic acid with bromine is called the Hunsdiecker... 

Mercury(II) oxide together with a halogen is an early development of the classic Hunsdiecker reaction (bromodecarboxylation of a carboxylic acid silver salt, see below) which is still in use.20 22 A double Hunsdiecker reaction of cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylic acid with red mer-cury(ll) oxide in the presence of bromine gave 1,1-dibromocyclobutane (2) in 46% yield.21 However, a similar reaction performed on spiro[3.3]heptane-2-carboxylic acid afforded 2-bro-mospiro[3.3]heptane (3) in only 16% yield.22... 

Reaction of a silver salt of a carboxylic acid with bromine is called the Hunsdiecker reaction438 and is a way of decreasing the length of a carbon chain by one unit.439 The reaction is of... 

Of lesser relevance to this discussion are halogenation methods involving the modification of the carbon skeleton (synthesis and degradation). The Hunsdiecker reaction, as applied to certain heterocyclic acids, has had limited application for the synthesis of halogen derivatives. The preparation of 3-bromo-4,6-dimethyl-2-pyridone from the silver salt of the respective 3-carboxylic acid by treatment with bromine in carbon tetrachloride is a rare example of success.13 The interaction of carbenes with heterocycles also has been employed infrequently, but recent advances in carbene generation may reactivate this approach.14 The Ciamician-Dennstedt ring expansion of pyrrole to / -halopyridines is a case in point18 [Eq. (4)] ... 

Fragmentation with loss of CO2 also occurs in the Hunsdiecker reaction, in which a silver salt of a carboxylic acid reacts with bromine to produce an alkyl halide. The reaction results in shortening of the carbon chain by one carbon. The overall reaction is as follows ... 

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