Formylation of aromatic rings

Reactions 11-15-11-18 are direct formylations of the ring. Reaction 11-14 has not been used for formylation, since neither formic anhydride nor formyl chloride is stable at ordinary temperatures. Formyl chloride has been shown to be stable in chloroform solution for 1 h at -60°C, but it is not useful for formylating aromatic rings under these conditions. Formic anhydride has been prepared in solution, but has not been isolated.Mixed anhydrides of formic and other acids are known and can be used to formylate amines (see 10-56) and alcohols, but no formylation takes place when they are applied to aromatic rings. See 13-15 for a nucleophilic method for the formylation of aromatic rings. 

The reaction with disubstituted formamides and phosphorus oxychloride, called the Vilsmeier or the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction,is the most common method for the formylation of aromatic rings. However, it is applicable only to active substrates, such as amines and phenols. An intramolecular version is also known.Aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocycles can also be formylated, but only if they are much more active than benzene (e.g., azulenes, ferrocenes). Though A-phenyl-A-methyl-formamide is a common reagent, other arylalkyl amides and dialkyl amides are also used. Phosgene (COCI2) has been used in place of POCI3. The reaction has also been carried out with other amides to give ketones (actually an example of 11-14),... 

Formylation of aromatic rings with formamides and POCI3... 

Reimer-Tiemann reaction The formylation of aromatic rings using CHC13 and OH-. Useful only for phenol, and a few heterocyclic compounds. 

Formylation of aromatic rings with carbon monoxide requires the use of superacidics to activate carbon monoxide by protonation and to protonate the formed aldehyde which is the thermodynamic driving force of the reaction. 

In conclusion, formylation of aromatic rings can be obtained in HF-BF3 medium using methyl formate, a stable and cheap material. 

Formylation of Aromatic Rings. The Vilsmeier reagent attacks electron-rich aromatic systems to form aryl-methyleneiminium ions which liberate a formylated aromatic compound upon hydrolysis (eq 2). Thio- and selenoaldehydes can be prepared by hydrolysis in the presence of Sodium Hydrogen Sulfide or Sodium Hydrogen Selenide. A wide range of aromatic systems can be formylated in this fashion, including benzene derivatives, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (eq 3), and azulene. Substitution occurs at relatively electron-rich positions. 

As our final example of the use of phosphorus in organic synthesis, we will choose the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction, the classic method for electrophilic formylation (addition of an aldehyde functionality) of aromatic rings with POCI3 and dimethylformamide (DMF, HCONMc2). 

The electrophile 4 adds to the aromatic ring to give a cationic intermediate 5. Loss of a proton from 5 and concomitant rearomatization completes the substitution step. Subsequent hydrolysis of the iminium species 2 yields the formylated aromatic product 3. Instead of the highly toxic hydrogen cyanide, zinc cyanide can be used. The hydrogen cyanide is then generated in situ upon reaction with the hydrogen chloride. The zinc chloride, which is thereby formed, then acts as Lewis acid catalyst. 

Besides 11-15-11-17, several other formylation methods are known. In one of these, dichloromethyl methyl ether formylates aromatic rings with Friedel-Crafts catalysts.The Compound ArCHClOMe is probably an intermediate. Orthoformates have also been used. In another method, aromatic rings are formylated with... 

Nowhere, perhaps, is this phenomenon better illustrated than in the phenothiazine class. The earlier volume devoted a full chapter to the discussion of this important structural class, which was represented by both major tranquilizers and antihistamines. The lone phenothiazine below, flutiazin (130), in fact fails to show the activities characteristic of its class. Instead, the ring system is used as the aromatic nucleus for a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agent. Preparation of 130 starts with formylation of the rather complex aniline 123. Reaction with alcoholic sodium hydroxide results in net overall transformation to the phenothiazine by the Smiles rearrangement. The sequence begins with formation of the anion on the amide nitrogen addition to the carbon bearing sulfur affords the corresponding transient spiro intermediate 126. Rearomatization... 

By contrast with the reconcilable data observed with para-substituted substrates, a range of ortho substituents (entries h-j, Table 2.1) all resulted in significant weakening of the C7-C8 anti selectivity. We take these data to suggest that ortho substitution results in some steric inhibition of the rotamer in which the faces of the aromatic ring and formyl group are parallel (see structure III). 

---