Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction acyl cations

Concerning my research during my Dow years, as I discuss iu Chapter 4, my search for cationic carbon intermediates started back in Hungary, while 1 was studying Friedel-Crafts-type reactions with acyl and subsequently alkyl fluorides catalyzed by boron trifluoride. In the course of these studies I observed (and, in some cases, isolated) intermediate complexes of either donor-acceptor or ionic nature. 

The electrophile in a Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction is an acyl cation (also referred to as an acylium ion) Acyl cations are stabilized by resonance The acyl cation derived from propanoyl chloride is represented by the two resonance forms... 

An acyl cation is an intermediate m Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions... 

PoIysuIfonyIa.tlon, The polysulfonylation route to aromatic sulfone polymers was developed independendy by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) and by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) at about the same time (81). In the polymerisation step, sulfone links are formed by reaction of an aromatic sulfonyl chloride with a second aromatic ring. The reaction is similar to the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction. The key to development of sulfonylation as a polymerisation process was the discovery that, unlike the acylation reaction which requires equimolar amounts of aluminum chloride or other strong Lewis acids, sulfonylation can be accompHshed with only catalytic amounts of certain haUdes, eg, FeCl, SbCl, and InCl. The reaction is a typical electrophilic substitution by an arylsulfonium cation (eq. 13). 

Friedel-Crafts acylation involves electrophilic attack by acyl cation (CHsCO ) on the ring, and the ring s electronic character should indicate its susceptibility to attack. Compare electrostatic potential maps of ferrocene and acetylferrocene. Which molecule contains the most electron-rich ring Which acylation reaction should be faster Does an acetyl substituent enhance or diminish ring reactivity What should be the major product when ferrocene is combined with one equivalent of acetic anhydride ... 

Figure 16.9 Mechanism of the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction. The electrophile is a resonance-stabilized acyl cation, whose electrostatic potential map indicates that carbon is the most positive atom (blue).

Acyl-transfer reactions are some of the most important conversions in organic chemistry and biochemistry. Recent work has shown that adjacent cationic groups can also activate amides in acyl-transfer reactions. Friedel-Crafts acylations are known to proceed well with carboxylic acids, acid chlorides (and other halides), and acid anhydrides, but there are virtually no examples of acylations with simple amides.19 During studies related to unsaturated amides, we observed a cyclization reaction that is essentially an intramolecular acyl-transfer reaction involving an amide (eq 15). The indanone product is formed by a cyclization involving the dicationic species (40). To examine this further, the related amides 41 and 42 were studied in superacid promoted conversions (eqs 16-17). It was found that amide 42 leads to the indanone product while 41... 

Friedel Crafts acetylation of butadiene complex 56 proceeds smoothly to give a mixture of 1-acetyldienes 58 and 59 via the cationic 7r-allyl complex 57 [16]. Intramolecular Friedel-Crafts acylation with the acid chloride of the diene complex 60, promoted by deactivated AICI3 at 0 °C, gave the cyclopentanones. The (Z)-dienone complex 61 was the major product and the ( )-dienone 62 the minor one [17]. Acetylation of the 1,3-cyclohexadiene phosphine complex 63 proceeded easily at —78°C to give the rearranged complex 65 in 85% yield. Without phosphine coordination, poor results were obtained [18,19], In this reaction, the acetyl group at first coordinates to Fe, and attacks at the terminal carbon of the diene from the same... 

The Friedel-Crafts acylation of acetanilide with chloroacetyl chloride yields l-acetamido-4-chloroacetylbenzene. The trimethylammonium group is introduced by reaction with trimethylamine, followed by hydrolysis of the acetamide group. This diazo component is a constituent of numerous yellow, orange, and red cationic azo dyes. Using diethyl- m-toluidine as the coupling component, the lightfast red dye 35 [67905-12-8] is obtained [99],... 

The reaction presented in this problem is known as a Friedel-Crafts acylation. Technically, this example belongs to a class of reactions referred to as electrophilic aromatic substitutions. Furthermore, the actual mechanism associated with this reaction, utilizing Lewis acid reagents as catalysts, proceeds through initial formation of an electrophilic acyl cation followed by reaction with an aromatic ring acting as a nucleophile. This mechanism, shown below, reflects distinct parallels to standard addition-elimination reaction mechanisms warranting introduction at this time. 

However, in contrast to benzene, ferrocene is sensitive to oxidation, and the ferrocenium cation, FeCpj, a paramagnetic 17-electron species, is readily formed in the presence of various oxidants. The ferrocenium cation is reluctant to undergo electrophilic substitution, and therefore reactions such as halogenation and nitration, which are important routes to substituted benzene derivatives, cannot be used for the synthesis of substituted ferrocenes. Only electrophilic substitution under nonoxidizing conditions (e.g., Friedel-Crafts acylation, Mannich reaction, borylation, lithiation or mercuration), and radical substitution are available as an entry into the chemistry of substituted ferrocenes. 

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