Butene bromination

The electrophilic bromination of ethylenic compounds, a reaction familiar to all chemists, is part of the basic knowledge of organic chemistry and is therefore included in every chemical textbook. It is still nowadays presented as a simple two-step, trans-addition involving the famous bromonium ion as the key intermediate. T]nis mechanism was postulated as early as the 1930s by Bartlett and Tarbell (1936) from the kinetics of bromination of trans-stilbene in methanol and by Roberts and Kimball (1937) from stereochemical results on cis- and trans-2-butene bromination. According to their scheme (Scheme 1), bromo-derivatives useful as intermediates in organic synthesis... 

Methyl-1-butene Bromine 1-Bromo-2-methyl-2-butanol ... 

Butene Bromine atom (l-Bromomethyl)propyl radical... 

The stereochemistry of the products is a bit clearer if we redraw them, and in the scheme below the product of each reaction is shown in two different ways. Firstly, the products have been rotated to place the carbon chain in the plane of the paper in this conformation you can clearly see that there has been an anti addition across the E double bond. Secondly, the middle bond has been twisted 180° to give an (unrealistically) eclipsed conformation. We show this conformation for two reasons now you can clearly see that there has been an anti addition across the Z double bond too. It also makes it quite clear that the product of the -butene bromination is achiral you can see the plane of symmetry in this conformation, and this is why we haven t placed ( ) signs next to the products from the E alkene. 

Furthermore, treatment of the aminopalladation product with bromine affords aziridines[176]. The aziridine 160 was obtained stereoselectively from methylamine and 1-decene in 43% yield. The aminopalladation of PdCl2 complexes of ethylene, propylene, and 1-butene with diethylamine affords the unstable ir-alkylpalladium complex 161, which is converted into the stable chelated acylpalladium complex 162 by treatment with CO[177],... 

A secondary alkyl radical is more stable than a primary radical Bromine therefore adds to C 1 of 1 butene faster than it adds to C 2 Once the bromine atom has added to the double bond the regioselectivity of addition is set The alkyl radical then abstracts a hydrogen atom from hydrogen bromide to give the alkyl bromide product as shown m... 

Arrange the compounds 2 methyl 1 butene 2 methyl 2 butene i and 3 methyl 1 butene m order of decreasing reactivity toward bromine J... 

When bromine adds to (Z) or (E) 2 butene the product 2 3 dibromobutane con tains two equivalently substituted chirality centers... 

Figures 7 13 and 7 14 depict the stereochemical relationships associated with anti addition of bromine to (E) and (Z) 2 butene respectively The trans alkene (E) 2 butene yields only meso 2 3 dibromobutane but the cis alkene (Z) 2 butene gives a racemic mixture of 2R 3R) and 2S 3S) 2 3 dibromobutane...

Addition of halogens proceeds stepwise, sometimes accompanied by oxidation. Iodine forms 2,3-diiodo-2-butene-l,4-diol (53). Depending on conditions, bromine gives 2,3-dibromo-2-butene-l,4-diol, 2,2,3,3-tetrabromobutane-l,4-diol, mucobromic acid, or... 

Bromination in polar solvents usually gives /n j -3,4-dibromo-2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol in nonpolar solvents, with incandescent light, the cis isomer is the principal product (194). Chlorine adds readily up to the tetrachloro stage, but yields are low because of side reactions (195). 

Acetylene is condensed with carbonyl compounds to give a wide variety of products, some of which are the substrates for the preparation of families of derivatives. The most commercially significant reaction is the condensation of acetylene with formaldehyde. The reaction does not proceed well with base catalysis which works well with other carbonyl compounds and it was discovered by Reppe (33) that acetylene under pressure (304 kPa (3 atm), or above) reacts smoothly with formaldehyde at 100°C in the presence of a copper acetyUde complex catalyst. The reaction can be controlled to give either propargyl alcohol or butynediol (see Acetylene-DERIVED chemicals). 2-Butyne-l,4-diol, its hydroxyethyl ethers, and propargyl alcohol are used as corrosion inhibitors. 2,3-Dibromo-2-butene-l,4-diol is used as a flame retardant in polyurethane and other polymer systems (see Bromine compounds Elame retardants). 

Bromination of isoprene using Br2 at —5 ° C in chloroform yields only /n j -l,4-dibromo-2-methyl-2-butene (59). Dry hydrogen chloride reacts with one-third excess of isoprene at —15 ° C to form the 1,2-addition product, 2-chloro-2-methyl-3-butene (60). When an equimolar amount of HCl is used, the principal product is the 1,4-addition product, l-chloro-3-methyl-2-butene (61). The mechanism of addition is essentially all 1,2 with a subsequent isomerization step which is catalyzed by HCl and is responsible for the formation of the 1,4-product (60). The 3,4-product, 3-bromo-2-methyl-1-butene, is obtained by the reaction of isoprene with 50% HBr in the presence of cuprous bromide (59). Isoprene reacts with the reactive halogen of 3-chlorocyclopentene (62). 

In the petroleum (qv) industry hydrogen bromide can serve as an alkylation catalyst. It is claimed as a catalyst in the controlled oxidation of aHphatic and ahcycHc hydrocarbons to ketones, acids, and peroxides (7,8). AppHcations of HBr with NH Br (9) or with H2S and HCl (10) as promoters for the dehydrogenation of butene to butadiene have been described, and either HBr or HCl can be used in the vapor-phase ortho methylation of phenol with methanol over alumina (11). Various patents dealing with catalytic activity of HCl also cover the use of HBr. An important reaction of HBr in organic syntheses is the replacement of aHphatic chlorine by bromine in the presence of an aluminum catalyst (12). Small quantities of hydrobromic acid are employed in analytical chemistry. 

Bromine and chlorine convert the 1- and 2-butenes to compounds containing two atoms of halogens attached to adjacent carbons (vicinal dihahdes). Iodine fails to react. In this two-step addition mechanism the first step involves the formation of a cation. The halonium ion formed (a three-membered ring) requires antiaddition by the anion. 

Analysis. Butenes are best characterized by their property of decolorizing both a solution of bromine in carbon tetrachloride and a cold, dilute, neutral permanganate solution (the Baeyer test). A solution of bromine in carbon tetrachloride is red the dihaUde, like the butenes, are colorless. Decoloration of the bromine solution is rapid. In the Baeyer test, a purple color is replaced by brown manganese oxide (a precipitate) and a colorless diol. These tests apply to all alkenes. 

Entries 1 and 2 in Scheme 2.9 are typical of concerted syn addition to alkene double bonds. On treatment with peroxyacetic acid, the Z-alkene affords the cis-oxirane, whereas the -alkene affords only the iraws-oxirane. Similarly, addition of dibromocarbene to Z-2-butene yields exclusively l,l-dibromo-cw-2,3-dimethylcyclopropane, whereas only 1,1-dibromo-/ra 5-2,3-dimethylcyclopropane is formed from -2-butene. There are also numerous stereospecific anti additions. Entiy 3 shows the anti stereochemistry typical of bromination of simple alkenes. 

Other mechanisms must also operate, however, to account tor the fact that 5-10% of the product is formed with retained configuration at the chiral center. Isotopic labeling studies have also demonstrated that the 3-bromo-2-butyl radical undergoes reversible loss of bromine atom to give 2-butene at a rate which is competitive with that of the bromination reaction ... 

Iodine azide, 1N3, adds to alkenes by an electrophilic mechanism similar to that of bromine. If a monosubstituted alkene such as 1-butene is used, only one product results ... 

As regards the regioselectivity of monosubstituted, cis and trans disubstituted alkenes, bromination most frequently exhibits anti-Markovnikov behaviour. Only in the case of propene and 1-butene, i.e. when the double bond bears only one linear substituent, bromination in methanol is predominantly but not completely Markovnikov. Steric effects obviously play an important role in determining the... 

Energy profiles for two unimolecular processes (a) the unimolecular decomposition of a bromine molecule (b) the unimolecular Isomerization of ds-2-butene. 

The fact that we have three olefinic hydrogens means that our compound is a primary olefin, the fact that the other two carbons are both methylene carbons means that our substituent, bromine, is terminal. Thus the only possibility we have is that we are dealing with 4-bromo-1-butene (try to find another isomer that fits ). But this simple molecules has a highly complex proton spectrum, which can only be interpreted completely (exact chemical shift, coupling constants) by spectrum simulation. 

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