Carboxylic acids silver salts, reaction with

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... 

A variety of oligomers with novel drum and ladder structures have also been prepared. They have the formulas [R Sn(0)02CR]6 and [(R Sn(0)02CR)2 R Sn(02CR)3 2, and contain four- and six-membered rings. They can be synthesized by the reaction of stannoic acid with a carboxylic acid, but the reaction of RSnCl3 with the silver salt of a carboxylic acid can also be used. If diphenylphosphinic acid or dicyclohexylphosphinic acid is used instead of the carboxylic acid, oxygen-capped clusters or cubic and butterfly structures are obtained.69... 

Silver nitrate test The compound to be tested is treated with a few drops of 1% alcoholic silver nitrate. A white precipitate indicates a positive reaction. This could be due to either silver chloride (reaction with a reactive alkyl halide), silver alkynide (reaction with a terminal alkyne), or the silver salt of a carboxylic acid (reaction with a carboxylic acid). 

Conductivity measurements have revealed that DMF and carboxylic acid chlorides form salt-like adducts (22) in an equilibrium reaction (equation 12). Such adducts can be prepared either from DMF and acid halides (chlorides and bromides) or from chloromethyleneiminium salts and salts of carboxylic acids. Acyloxyiminium salts (23) can be prepared in the pure state by reacting acid amides with carboxylic acid chlorides in the presence of silver trifluoromethanesulfonate (equation 13). Salts of type (24 equation 14) are regarded as being intermediates in the synthesis of ketones from carboxylic acids and Grignard reagents in the presence of a-chloroenamines as well as in the preparation of acyl halides (F, Cl, Br, I) by action of a-haloenamines on carboxylic acids. ... 

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 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... 

When iodine is the reagent, the ratio between the reactants is very important and determines the products. A 1 1 ratio of salt to iodine gives the alkyl halide, as above. A 2 1 ratio, however, gives the ester RCOOR. This is called the Simonini reaction and is sometimes used to prepare carboxylic esters. The Simonini reaction can also be carried out with lead salts of acids." A more convenient way to perform the Hunsdiecker reaction is by use of a mixture of the acid and mercuric oxide instead of the salt, since the silver salt must be very pure and dry and such pure silver salts are often not easy to prepare. 

The present procedure offers a convenient alternative to the Prevost reaction and the Woodward modification of the Prevost reaction in which silver carboxylates are used instead of thal-lium(I) carboxylates. Thallium(I) salts have the advantages of being generally stable crystalline solids that can be readily prepared in high yield by neutralization of the appropriate carboxylic acid with thallium(I) ethoxide. Silver salts, on the other hand, are frequently unstable and difficult to dry. Thallium and its compounds are, however, extremely toxic, and great care must therefore be taken in the use and disposal of thallium salts. ... 

In a subsequent reaction, n-BuSnClg was reacted with the silver salt of cyclohexane carboxylic acid in the presence of wet solvent. This reaction gave the ladder formulation, 3, identified above, Equation 2. 

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-... 

The "silver mirror test" is used to distinguish an aldehyde from a ketone. Tollen s reagent, Ag(NH3)20H, acts as an oxidizing agent. When it is mixed with an aldehyde, the aldehyde oxidizes to the salt of a carboxylic acid. The silver ions in Tollen s reagent are reduced to silver atoms, and coat the glass of the reaction container with solid silver metal. 

In addition to water, a variety of organic liquids, including amines, carboxylic acids, and hydrocarbons, have been used as solvents in the study of the homogeneous reactions of hydrogen with metal salts. In general, there is more uncertainty about the nature of the species present in such systems than in aqueous solution and, correspondingly, it is usually more difficult to elucidate the reaction mechanisms in detail. The most extensive solvent effect studies have been made on cupric, cuprous, and silver salts. A number of the more important results are considered below. 

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... 

Typical synthetic procedures include the reaction of alkyl halides with the silver salts of carboxylic acids, the reaction of carboxylate anions in alkali with an excess of a dialkyl sulphate, (especially dimethyl sulphate), and heating tertiary184 or quaternary ammonium salts of carboxylic acids. These routes are particularly valuable for the preparation of esters of seriously sterically hindered acids. For example, Fuson et al.iK made the methyl ester of 2,4,6-triethylbenzoic acid by heating the tetramethyl ammonium salt to 200-250°C, viz. 

Thiophene- and benzo[6]thiophene-carboxylic acids undergo all the normal reactions of an aromatic carboxylic acid (63AHC(1)1, 70AHC(11)177). They can be converted to acid chlorides, amides and esters the esters can be used to make hydrazides. Benzo[6]thiophene-2-carboxylic acid chloride has been converted to the methyl ketone with dimethylcadmium and to the diazoketone with diazomethane. Bromodecarboxylation of the silver salts (Hunsdiecker reaction) has been used to prepare the dibromo compounds (340) and (341). 

A common synthetic method is that of equation (9), where X = MeC02,168 PhS03,169 NO3170 or C104,171 and relies on the precipitation of silver chloride. A variation of this method is the synthesis of the ring complex (5), by the reaction (10).172 In other cases, the synthesis may involve mercury(II) salts or sodium salts (equations 11 and 12).173,174 Another useful synthetic method involves reaction of alkyl- or aryl-gold(I) complexes with carboxylic acids or acid anhydrides (equations 13-15).176,177... 

The silver(I) salts of carboxylic acids react with halogens to give unstable intermediates which readily decarboxylate thermally to yield alkyl halides. The reaction is believed to involve homolysis of the C-C bond and a radical chain mechanism. 

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