Catalysis Friedel-Crafts alkylation

Friedel-Crafts alkylation using alkenes has important industrial appHcations. The ethylation of benzene with ethylene to ethylbenzene used in the manufacture of styrene, is one of the largest scale industrial processes. The reaction is done under the catalysis of AlCl in the presence of a proton source, ie, H2O, HCl, etc, although other catalysts have also gained significance. 

Akiyama and coworkers extended the scope of electrophiles applicable to asymmetric Brpnsted acid catalysis with chiral phosphoric acids to nitroalkenes (Scheme 57). The Friedel-Crafts alkylation of indoles 29 with aromatic and aliphatic nitroalkenes 142 in the presence of BINOL phosphate (7 )-3r (10 mol%, R = SiPhj) and 3-A molecular sieves provided Friedel-Crafts adducts 143 in high yields and enantioselectivities (57 to >99%, 88-94% ee) [81]. The use of molecular sieves turned out to be critical and significantly improved both the yields and enantioselectivities. 

Beside the Friedel-Crafts-type alkylation of arenes, the direct functionalization of 2,4-pentanediones is of great interest in Lewis acid catalysis. Although Pd-catalyzed Tsuji-Trost type allylations of 1,3-diketones are known, direct benzylation procedures catalyzed by Lewis acids are less explored [40-43]. Based on the previously described Friedel-Crafts alkylation of arenes and heteroarenes, the Rueping group developed a Bi(OTf)3-catalyzed benzylation of 2,4-pentanediones. Alcohols such as benzyl, allyl or cinnamyl alcohols were used as the electrophilic component to yield important 2-alkylated 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds. Initially, different Bi(III) salts were screened. In contrast... 

Preparative use could be made also from the perturbed redox catalysis (Eqs. (84)—(86), (93)-(95). For example, alkylated aromatic hydrocarbons that are difficult to obtain by Friedel-Crafts alkylation could be synthesized in this way. The most suitable alkylating agent is tert-butyl chloride or bromide -ass) alkyla-... 

Here we report the synthesis and catalytic application of a new porous clay heterostructure material derived from synthetic saponite as the layered host. Saponite is a tetrahedrally charged smectite clay wherein the aluminum substitutes for silicon in the tetrahedral sheet of the 2 1 layer lattice structure. In alumina - pillared form saponite is an effective solid acid catalyst [8-10], but its catalytic utility is limited in part by a pore structure in the micropore domain. The PCH form of saponite should be much more accessible for large molecule catalysis. Accordingly, Friedel-Crafts alkylation of bulky 2, 4-di-tert-butylphenol (DBP) (molecular size (A) 9.5x6.1x4.4) with cinnamyl alcohol to produce 6,8-di-tert-butyl-2, 3-dihydro[4H] benzopyran (molecular size (A) 13.5x7.9x 4.9) was used as a probe reaction for SAP-PCH. This large substrate reaction also was selected in part because only mesoporous molecular sieves are known to provide the accessible acid sites for catalysis [11]. Conventional zeolites and pillared clays are poor catalysts for this reaction because the reagents cannot readily access the small micropores. 

Another advantage of this approach is that we can now use electrophilic substitution on the pyrrole to add the rest of the molecule. So the secondary benzylic alcohol 106 might well cyclise to 105 with Lewis acid catalysis as the cation will be reasonably stable and the reaction is intramolecular. But the Friedel-Crafts alkylation to give 107 will not succeed as the cation would be primary. 

As indicated from computational studies, the catalyst-activated iminium ion MM3-2 was expected to form with only the (E)-conformation to avoid nonbonding interactions between the substrate double bond and the gem-dimethyl substituents on the catalyst framework. In addition, the benzyl group of the imidazolidinone moiety should effectively shield the iminium-ion Si-face, leaving the Re-face exposed for enantioselective bond formation. The efficiency of chiral amine 1 in iminium catalysis was demonstrated by its successful application in several transformations such as enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions [6], nitrone additions [12], and Friedel-Crafts alkylations of pyrrole nucleophiles [13]. However, diminished reactivity was observed when indole and furan heteroaromatics where used for similar conjugate additions, causing the MacMillan group to embark upon studies to identify a more reactive and versatile amine catalyst. This led ultimately to the discovery of the second-generation imidazolidinone catalyst 3 (Fig. 3.1, bottom) [14],... 

Jorgensen and co-workers employed chiral bis-sulfonamide catalyst 27, a proven ligand for metal-based asymmetric catalysis, for the Friedel-Crafts alkylations of N-methylindoles (24) using -substituted nitroolefins [52]. Using optimized conditions, 2 mol% 27 gave the desired indole alkylation products of substituted aryl and heteroaryl nitroolefins in moderate to high yields (20-91%) and moderate enantiopurities (13-63% ee Scheme 6.3). Aliphatic -substitution... 

Ouellet SG, Tuttle JB, MacMillan DWC (2005) Enantioselective organocatalytic hydride reduction. J Am Chem Soc 127 32-33 Paras NA, MacMillan DWC (2001) New strategies in organic catalysis the first enantioselective organocatalytic Friedel-Crafts alkylation. J Am Chem Soc... 

Surprisingly, little follow-up work on this idea of small molecule asymmetric catalysis appeared for the next 25 years. In the late 1980s, Agami reported the asymmetric intramolecular aldol reaction of acyclic diketones with (S)-proline as the catalyst. It was not nntil the twenty-first centnry, however, when this notion of organocatalysts became fnlly exploited. List and Barbas ° pioneered enam-ines as catalysts for aldol and Mannich and related reactions. MacMillan has developed a variety of imininm-based catalysts prodncing large asymmetric indnction for Diels-Alder chemistry, Friedel-Crafts alkylations, Mnkaiyama-Michael and cyclopropanation " reactions. 

In the Xiao s laboratory [27], the pyridinium-based ionic liquids as the suitable media were used for the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene, which was carried out at a better rate but at relatively lower temperature with high product conversion. They found that the [EtPyKCFjCOO] (i-ethyl-pyridinium trifluoroacetatel-FeClj was an enviromnental friendly, recyclable, and reusable solvent-catalyst system to replace the traditional aluminum catalysis system. During the process, the alkylation... 

Scheme 2.1 The possible catalysis process of the Friedel-Crafts alkylations of 2-methylnaphthalene...

Friedel-Crafts alkylations and acylations, and Heck reactions. The ability of ionic Uquids to dissolve organo-metallic compounds also makes them potential solvents for homogeneous catalysis. 

Examples here are Friedel-Crafts alkylations and acylations, in which the zeolite catalyst replaces the homogeneous Lewis acid. Zeolite catalysts can also be used in place of mineral acids and organic acids. However, these catalyst substitutions also involve changing the process from homogeneous to heterogeneous catalysis. 

Mesoporous Metal Oxide Solid Acids Three-dimensional porous metal oxides have been recently synthesized and applied to acid-catalyzed reactions. The use of mesoporous metal oxides is an interesting approach to develop a solid acid catalyst with enhanced activity. The mesopores in the oxide allow the reactants to access additional active acid sites in the pores, resulting in improved rates of acid catalysis. Mesoporous niobium oxides and tantalum oxides treated with phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid have been examined as solid acid catalysts [57-59]. These mesoporous oxides exhibited remarkable activity in Friedel-Crafts alkylation and 1-hexene isomerization in the liquid phase. For sulfated mesoporous tantalum oxides /m-TsL O ), the effect of pore size has been investigated using... 

Dysprosium(III) catalysis in organic synthesis (Friedel—Crafts alkylation, Mannich-type, Diels—Alder, and Povarov reactions) 12T2015. Enamides and related functional groups as nucleophihc components in ring-forming processes catalyzed by electrophihc metal salts 12SL814. 

ILs may themselves also act as catalyst. For heterogeneous catalysis, the IL has to be immobilized, for example, by covalent bonds on a porous support, as shown by Hoelderich et al. [40] for Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions. Further examples of reactions tested with grafted ILs are acetylization [41], cycloaddition of CO2 [42, 43], and epoxidation of olefines [44]. 

Paras NA, MacMillan DWC (2(X)1) New Strategies in Organic Catalysis The First Enantioselective Organocatalytic Friedel-Crafts Alkylation. J Am Chan Soc 123 4370... 

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