Intramolecular reactions Friedel-Crafts alkylation

Friedel-Crafts alkylation. Reaction of phenylacelaldehyde (la) with iodolri-methylsilane effects an intramolecular orrbo-alkylation to give the cyclic ether 2a.5... 

An intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction follows, in which the carbocation attacks the adjacent aromatic ring. 

Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions are, in general, accompanied by isomerization processes. Olah et a/. reported the results of the water-promoted, AlCb-catalyzed isomerization of o-, m- and p-di-f-bu-tylbenzene. No ortho isomer was present in the equilibrium mixture. The isomerization of o-di-r-bu-tylbenzene was very rapid largely due to relief of steric strain. In these and other related sterically hindered arenes, intramolecular isomerization and not dealkylation was observed. Isomerization of di-and mono-methylnaphthalenes, catalyzed by HF-BF3, was also reported. Isomerization of /i-alkyl-toluenes and -xylenes, catalyzed by AICI3 at room temperature, afforded chiefly /n-/i-alkyltoluenes and /n-/i-alkylxylenes, respectively. The process leading to the meta isomer has a lower energy than the other processes. 

The main synthesis of oxindoles is simple and direct and involves an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction as the cyclising step. Also straightforward in concept is the displacement of halogen from an ort/to-halo-nitroarene with malonate, this leading to an oxindole after decarboxylation and reduction of the nitro group with spontaneous lactamisation. ... 

The main synthesis of oxindoles is simple and direct and involves an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction as the cyclising step. ... 

Zhao and co-workers have described a convenient and practical AlCls-promoted coupling reaction between readily available a-hydr-oxyketene-5, iS -acetals 340 " and various phenols, including 2-naphthalenols, to produce a series of bio- and pharmacologically important 3,4-disubstituted dihydrocoumarins in high yields. The reaction proceeds by a sequential Friedel-Crafts alkylation and intramolecular annulation under mild conditions (Scheme 4.108). 

Friedel-Crafts Reactions. Aluminum trifluoromethanesulfonate has been used for the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction of toluene with isopropyl and tert-butyl chlorides (eq 1), and for the acylation of benzene and toluene with acetyl and benzoyl chlorides in low to moderate yields. Intramolecular Friedel-Crafts acylation of an aromatic compound with Meldrum s acid has also been reported using catalytic amounts of Al(OTf)3. Acylation of 2-methoxynaphthalene with acetic anhydride has been reported using Al(OTf)3 and lithium perchlorate as an additive to afford the corresponding 6-acetylated adduct in 83% yield. Effective acylation of arenes with carboxylic acids has also been disclosed using polystyrene-supported Al(OTf)3. ... 

Two successive Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions (the first intermolecular and the second intramolecular) will form the desired additional ring. 

Preformed Carbocationic Intermediates. Propargyl cations stabilized by hexacarbonyl dicobalt have been used to effect Friedel-Crafts alkylation of electron-rich aromatics, such as anisole, /V, /V- dim ethyl a n il in e and 1,2,4,-trimethoxybenzene (24). Intramolecular reactions have been found to be regio and stereo-selective, and have been used ia the preparatioa of derivatives of 9JT- uoreaes and dibenzofurans (25). 

For example /-butyl phenyl ether with aluminium chloride forms para-t-butyl phenol155. Often the de-alkylated phenol is also formed in considerable quantity. The reaction formally resembles the Fries and Claisen rearrangements. Like the Fries rearrangement the question of inter- or intramolecularity has not been settled, although may experiments based on cross-over studies156, the use of optically active ethers157 and comparison with product distribution from Friedel-Crafts alkylation of phenols158 have been carried out with this purpose in view. 

Highly reactive mixed anhydrides can also promote acylation. Phenylacetic acid reacts with alkenes to give 2-tetralones in TFAA-H3P04.55 This reaction involves an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation subsequent to the acylation. 

Friedel-Crafts alkylation can occur intramolecularly to form a fused ring. Intramolecular Friedel-Crafts reactions provide an important method for constructing polycyclic hydrocarbon frameworks. It is somewhat easier to form six-membered than five-membered rings in such reactions. Thus, whereas 4-phenyl-1-butanol gives a 50% yield of a cyclized product in phosphoric acid, 3-phenyl-1-propanol is mainly dehydrated to alkenes.43... 

The possible importance of side reactions such as Friedel Craft alkylation, inter or intramolecular Diels Alder cyclization or re-addition of HC1 in this context have also been emphasised (43). 

A fourfold anionic sequence which is not initiated by a Michael but an aldol reaction has been reported by the group of Suginome and Ito (Scheme 2.129) [295]. In this approach, the borylallylsilane 2-573 reacts selectively in the presence of TiCl4 with two different aldehydes which are added sequentially to the reaction mixture. First, a Lewis acid-mediated allylation of the aldehyde with 2-573 takes place to form a homoallylic alcohol which reacts with the second aldehyde under formation of the oxenium ion 2-574. The sequence is terminated by a Prins-type cyclization of 2-574 and an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation of the intermediate 2-575 with formation of the fraws-1,2-be rizoxadeca lines 2-576 as single diastereomers. 

From a mechanistic point of view, it can be envisaged that this reaction proceeds via the desired benzylated pentanedione intermediate 14f. The subsequent intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation of the electron-rich arene results in the quaternary benzyl alcohol II, which readily eliminates water to give the highly substituted indene 16 (Scheme 14). 

Subsequent intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation and elimination yields the coumarin derivatives (See Scheme 14, Sect. 2.2). With 5 mol% of BiCl3, the desired products 21a-d have been obtained in high yields after short reaction times (1-2 h) (Scheme 17). 

Similar to Rueping s procedure, Hua and coworkers developed a BiCl3-catalyzed synthesis of 1,1-diarylalkanes also starting from electron-rich arenes and styrenes [68]. They found that styrenes 37 could be transformed to the substituted cyclopentanes 39 if catalytic amounts BiCl3 were applied (Scheme 30). This reaction is believed to proceed via an intermolecular ene-reaction between styrene and the carbocationic intermediate I, followed by an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation of the resulting intermediate II. 

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. 

The third possibility for a selective monoalkylation is provided by intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylations. There are no multiple alkylations simply because all electrophilic centers react most rapidly intramolecularly (i.e., only once). Friedel-Crafts alkylations of this type are ring closure reactions. 

Friedel-Crafts alkylations are especially useful for forming polycyclic compounds. These are usually intramolecular reactions in which the electrophile and the aromatic system are all part of the... 

Again, % electrons are involved, but the reaction is now electrophilic aromatic substitution (Chapter 22) rather like an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation with a delocalized intermediate often termed a phenonium ion. 

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