Electrophilic aromatic substitution general mechanism

The scope of electrophilic aromatic substitution is quite large both the aromatic com pound and the electrophilic reagent are capable of wide variation Indeed it is this breadth of scope that makes electrophilic aromatic substitution so important Elec trophilic aromatic substitution is the method by which substituted derivatives of benzene are prepared We can gam a feeling for these reactions by examining a few typical exam pies m which benzene is the substrate These examples are listed m Table 12 1 and each will be discussed m more detail m Sections 12 3 through 12 7 First however let us look at the general mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution... 

If the Lewis base ( Y ) had acted as a nucleophile and bonded to carbon the prod uct would have been a nonaromatic cyclohexadiene derivative Addition and substitution products arise by alternative reaction paths of a cyclohexadienyl cation Substitution occurs preferentially because there is a substantial driving force favoring rearomatization Figure 12 1 is a potential energy diagram describing the general mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution For electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions to... 

Now that we ve outlined the general mechanism for electrophilic aromatic substitution we need only identify the specific electrophile m the nitration of benzene to have a fairly clear idea of how the reaction occurs... 

Figure 12 3 adapts the general mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution to the nitration of benzene The first step is rate determining m it benzene reacts with nitro mum ion to give the cyclohexadienyl cation intermediate In the second step the aro maticity of the ring is restored by loss of a proton from the cyclohexadienyl cation... 

Scheme 10.2. Generalized Mechanism for Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution...

At this point, attention can be given to specific electrophilic substitution reactions. The kinds of data that have been especially useful for determining mechanistic details include linear ffee-energy relationships, kinetic studies, isotope effects, and selectivity patterns. In general, the basic questions that need to be asked about each mechanism are (1) What is the active electrophile (2) Which step in the general mechanism for electrophilic aromatic substitution is rate-determining (3) What are the orientation and selectivity patterns ... 

In general, the reaction between a phenol and an aldehyde is classified as an electrophilic aromatic substitution, though some researchers have classed it as a nucleophilic substitution (Sn2) on aldehyde [84]. These mechanisms are probably indistinguishable on the basis of kinetics, though the charge-dispersed sp carbon structure of phenate does not fit our normal concept of a good nucleophile. In phenol-formaldehyde resins, the observed hydroxymethylation kinetics are second-order, first-order in phenol and first-order in formaldehyde. 

Figure 12.1 is a potential energy diagram describing the general mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution. For electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions to... 

There are many other kinds of electrophilic aromatic substitutions besides bromination, and all are thought to occur by the same general mechanism. Let s look at some of these other reactions briefly. 

Resole syntheses entail substitution of formaldehyde (or formaldehyde derivatives) on phenolic ortho and para positions followed by methylol condensation reactions which form dimers and oligomers. Under basic conditions, pheno-late rings are the reactive species for electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions. A simplified mechanism is generally used to depict the formaldehyde substitution on the phenol rings (Fig. 7.21). It should be noted that this mechanism does not account for pH effects, the type of catalyst, or the formation of hemiformals. Mixtures of mono-, di-, and trihydroxymethyl-substituted phenols are produced. 

That cytochrome P450-catalyzed aromatic hydroxylation proceeded by a mechanistic pathway that was generally consistent with the rules of electrophilic aromatic substitution was never in doubt because of the abundance of experimental evidence supporting this conclusion. Despite the certainty of product formation, establishing the exact mechanism that defines the pathway has proved to be difficult. 

Bromination of benzene follows the same general mechanism of the electrophilic aromatic substitution. The bromine molecule reacts with FeBr3 by donating a pair of its electrons to it, which creates a more polar Br—Br bond. 

Since 1985, a major effort has been devoted to incorporating heterocyclic units within the backbone of poly(arylene etherjs (PAE). Heterocyclic units within PAE generally improve certain properties such as strength, modulus and the glass transition temperature. Nucleophilic and electrophilic aromatic substitution have been successfully used to prepare a variety of PAE containing heteorcyclic units. Many different heterocyclic families have been incorporated within PAE The synthetic approaches and the chemistry, mechanical and physical properties of PAE containing different families of heterocyclic units are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the effect variations in chemical structure (composition) have upon polymer properties. 

A general mechanism for the electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction is outlined in Figure 17.1. The process... 

Mechanism of a general electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction. 

All of the electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions follow this same general mechanism. The only difference is the structure of the electrophile and how it is generated. Let s look at a specific example, the nitration of benzene. This reaction is accomplished by reacting benzene with nitric acid in the presence of sulfuric acid ... 

These two brominations are examples of the mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution, which, in many different guises, will return again and again during this chapter. In its most general form the mechanism has two stages attack by an electrophile to give an intermediate cation and loss of a proton from the cation to restore the aromaticity. 

The simplest and most general mechanism for electrophilic aromatic substitution in solution is the so-called arenium ion mechanism, depicted in Scheme 2 [54,254]. 

The general mechanism outlined in Mechanism 18.1 can now be applied to each of the five specific examples of electrophilic aromatic substitution shown in Figure 18.1. For each mechanism we must learn how to generate a specific electrophile. This step is different with each electrophile. Then, the electrophile reacts with benzene by the two-step process of Mechanism 18.1. These two steps are the same for all five reactions. 

In bromination (Mechanism 18.2), the Lewis acid FeBr3 reacts with Br2 to form a Lewis acid-base complex that weakens and polarizes the Br- Br bond, making it more electrophilic. This reaction is Step [1] of the mechanism for the bromination of benzene. The remaining two steps follow directly from the general mechanism for electrophilic aromatic substitution addition of the electrophile (Br in this case) forms a resonance-stabilized carbocation, and loss of a proton regenerates the aromatic ring. 

These steps illustrate how to generate the electrophile E for nitration and sulfonation, the process that begins any mechanism for electrophilic aromatic substitution. To complete either of these mechanisms, you must replace the electrophile by either or S03H in the general mechanism (Mechanism 18.1). Thus, the two-step sequence that replaces H by E is the same r ardless of E. This is shown in Sample Problem 18.1 u.sing the reaction of benzene with the nitronium ion. 

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