Friedel-Crafts acylation aryl ketones

The synthetic importance of the Houben-Hoesch reaction is even more limited by the fact that aryl ketones are also available by application of the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction. 

While the Friedel-Crafts acylation is a general method for the preparation of aryl ketones, and of wide scope, there is no equivalently versatile reaction for the preparation of aryl aldehydes. There are various formylation procedures known, each of limited scope. In addition to the reactions outlined above, there is the Vdsmeier reaction, the Reimer-Tiemann reaction, and the Rieche formylation reaction The latter is the reaction of aromatic compounds with 1,1-dichloromethyl ether as formylating agent in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst. This procedure has recently gained much importance. 

I Aryl ketones are prepared by Friedel-Crafts acylation of an aromatic ring with an acid chloride in the presence of AICI3 catalyst (Section 16.3). 

Figure 7-11 shows a Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction. The reaction produces an aryl ketone, which is useful in synthesis because it makes it relatively easy to convert the ketone (RCOR) group to an alkyl (R) group. The procedure involves the catalytic hydrogenation of the aryl ketone, and it s particularly useful when the electrophile in a Friedel-Crafts alkylation is susceptible to rearrangement. 

A new approach to the formation of the 2-aryl thietane derivatives 124 includes Friedel-Crafts acylation to give a )9-halo ketone. Following conversion of the ketone to the chloride, cyclization is effected with thiourea ... 

The synthesis of the right-hand fragment of ziprasidone started with a Wolff-Kishner reduction of isatin 43 to give the oxmdole 44 (Scheme 14). Friedel-Crafts acylation with chloroacetyl chloride afforded aryl ketone 45, which was reduced with triethylsilane in trifluoroacetic acid to the phenethyl chloride 46. The two fragments were joined by alkylation of 40 with 46 in the presence of Nal and Na2CO3 to give ziprasidone (4) in low yield. The yield of the coupling step was improved dramatically when the reaction was conducted in water (Scheme 15). 

The most important method for the preparation of aryl ketones is known as Friedel-Crafts acylation.26t The reaction is of wide scope. Reagents used262 are not only acyl halides but... 

Triflates of boron, aluminum, and gallium were found to be efficient catalysts in Friedel-Crafts acylations.46 However, these are water-sensitive materials and were required to be used in equimolar quantities to be effective. More recently various water-tolerant and recyclable triflate salts, which were also tested in alkylation, were found to exhibit similar good characteristics in Friedel-Crafts acylations. Although benzene cannot be acylated, Sc triflate,47 48 lanthanum triflates,48-51 and Hf triflate52 usually give high yields of aryl ketones in acylation with acid anhydrides. In many cases, Li perchlorate was found to accelerate the reactions.48 52... 

Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatics is of considerable practical value owing to the importance of aryl ketones and aldehydes as chemical intermediates.346 Whereas alkylation of aromatics with alkyl halides requires only catalytic amounts of catalysts, acylation to ketones generally necessitates equimolar or even some excess of the Friedel-Crafts catalysts. Usually one molar equivalent of catalyst combines with an acyl halide, giving a 1 1 addition compound, which then acts as the active acylating agent [Eq. (5.137)]. 

Aryl alkyl ketones are readily prepared by the Friedel-Crafts acylation process (see Section 6.11.1, p. 1006) and their Clemmensen reduction constitutes a more efficient procedure for the preparation of monoalkylbenzenes than the alternative direct Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction (see below). Alternatively aldehydes and ketones may be reduced to the corresponding hydrocarbon by the Wolff-Kishner method which involves heating the corresponding hydrazone or semicarbazone with potassium hydroxide or with sodium ethoxide solution. 

In a Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction an acyl chloride or acid anhydride reacts with an arene to yield an aryl ketone. 

Friedel-Crafts acylation is an excellent method for making alkyl aryl ketones or diaryl ketones. It cannot be used, however, on strongly deactivated aromatic systems. 

Friedel-Crafts alkylation with t-alkyl chlorides and Lewis acids (usually AICI3) gives t-alkyl benzenes. The more reliable Friedel-Crafts acylation with acid chlorides and Lewis acids (usually AICI3) gives aryl ketones. 

The most important method for the preparation of aryl ketones is known as Friedel-Crafts acylation. The reaction is of wide scope. Reagents other than acyl halides can be used," including carboxylic acids," anhydrides, and ketenes. Oxalyl chloride has been used to give diaryl 1,2-diketones." Carboxylic esters usually give alkylation as the predominant product (see 11-11)." A-Carbamoyl p-lactams reacted with naphthalene in the presence of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid to give the keto-amide." ... 

Ashforth, R., Desmurs, J.-R. Friedel-Crafts acylation Interactions between Lewis acids-acyl chlorides and Lewis acids-aryl ketones. Ind. Chem. Library 996, 8, 3-14. 

Trifluoroacetylation. Aryl trifluoromethyl ketones are obtained from the Friedel-Crafts acylation with this stable reagent in the presence of aluminum chloride. 

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