Friedel-Crafts reactions benzylation

One exception to the amorphous structure has been reported [30]. Crystalline polybenzyl was obtained from the low temperature (- 125° C) polymerization of benzyl chloride. However, the reaction was difficult to reproduce [31,32]. Consequently this procedure is not an effective method for the synthesis of linear polybenzyls. The usual amorphous, highly branched structure is formed as a result of a lack of positional selectivity and multiple substitution of the arene rings. Similar polymeric structures are obtained upon the polymerization of other nonsubstituted benzyl halides and benzyl alcohol [29]. The highly branched structure is a consequence of the involvement of benzyl carbenium ions in the Friedel-Crafts reaction. Benzyl substituents activate the monosubstituted phenyl groups toward further benzylation reaction. However, monomers containing alkyl substituents that sterically hinder substitution at the ortho position have been polymerized to linear polybenzyls. For example, the following... 

Friedel- Crafts reactions. Benzyl ethers are activated by FeCls to react with arenes to provide diarylmethanes. A-Tosyhmines and aziridines also become electrophilic toward electron-rich arenes. ... 

Oxazol-5(2H)-one, 2-benzylidene-4-methyl-tautomerism, 6, 186 Oxazol-5(2ff)-one, 2-methylene-isomerization, 6, 226 Oxazol-5(2H)-one, 2-trifluoromethyl-acylation, 6, 201 Oxazol-5(4ff)-one, 4-allyl-thermal rearrangements, 6, 199 Oxazol-5(4H)-one, 4(arylmethylene)-Friedel-Crafts reactions, 6, 205 geometrical isomerism, 6, 185 Oxazol-5(4ff)-one, 4-benzylidene-2-phenyl-configuration, 6, 185 photorearrangement, 6, 201 Oxazol-5(4ff)-one, 4-benzyl-2-methyl-Friedel-Crafts reactions, 6, 205 Oxazol-5(4ff)-one, 4-methylene-in amino acid synthesis, 6, 203 Oxazol-5(4ff) -one. 2-trifluoromethyl-hydrolysis, 6, 206 Oxazolones... 

In one accident, benzyl bromide had been stored on zeolites. The bottle detonated after eight days because of the overpressure resulting from the formation of large quantities of hydrogen bromide. This accident was put down to the Friedel-Crafts reaction (see on p.256) of benzyl bromide, itself catalysed by zeolites. This is an identical behaviour to the one described with benzyl alcohol on p.256. 

The chloride is usually (but not always) stabilised in storage by addition of aqueous alkali or anhydrous amines as acid acceptors. A 270 kg batch which was not stabilised polymerised violently when charged into a reactor. Contact of the chloride (slightly hydrolysed and acidic) with rust led to formation of ferric chloride which catalysed an intermolecular Friedel-Craft reaction to form polybenzyls with evolution of further hydrogen chloride. Contact of unstabilised benzyl chloride with aluminium, iron or rust should be avoided to obviate the risk of polycondensation. See Benzyl bromide Molecular sieve... 

The molten material, after holding for 4 h at 78°C in a stainless steel vessel, underwent a thermal runaway reaction and 500 kg erupted through the vent line. It was later found that addition of 0.1% of rust to the hot material led to an accelerating self-condensation Friedel-Craft reaction, catalysed by iron(III) chloride, which led to formation of poly-benzyls accompanied by evolution of hydrogen chloride. 

Intramolecular Friedel-Crafts reactions can sometimes compete with organosil-icon hydride reductions of benzylic-type alcohols to cause formation of undesired products. An example is the attempted reduction of alcohol 26 to the corresponding hydrocarbon. When 26 is treated with triethylsilane in trifluoroacetic acid at room temperature for 15 hours, a mixture of the two fluorene isomers 27 and 28 is obtained in a combined yield of 45%. None of the hydrocarbon structurally related to the substrate alcohol 26 is obtained.171 Whether this problem could be circumvented by running the reduction at a lower temperature or with a different acid remains subject to experimentation. 

Friedel-Crafts reactions involving electrophilic substitution of aromatic compounds have been reported on solid base catalysts such as thallium oxide and MgO. The rates of benzylation of toluene by benzyl chloride over MgO nanocrystals were found to be of the order CP-MgO > CM-MgO > AP-MgO.56 An important observation in the study was that x-ray diffraction of the spent catalyst... 

The termination of polymerization of substituted ethylenes is by an internal Friedel-Crafts reaction, whereas that of the substituted benzyl chlorides is by the reaction with chloride ions. 

Thiourea catalyst 139 was also screened in the asymmetric Friedel-Crafts reaction between 2-naphthol trans-nitrostyrene (73% yield 0% ee 18 h in toluene at -20 °C and 10 mol%) [277], in the asymmetric aza-Michael reaction of O-benzyl-hydroxylamine to chalcone (72% conv. 19% ee 72 h in toluene at 20 °C and 20mol% catalyst loading) [293], and in the asymmetric Morita-BayUs-HiUman [176, 177] reaction between cyclohexenecarbaldehyde and 2-cyclohexene-l-one (20% yield 31% ee 46 h at rt and 20mol% DABCO and 139) [310]. In aU these transformations, thiourea 139 proved to be not competitive to the organocatalysts probed for these transformations under identical screening conditions and thus was not employed in the optimized protocols. 

Solid Lewis acid halide catalysts seem to have advantages in some Friedel-Crafts reactions. ZnCl2 and NiCl2, supported on K10 montmorillonite exhibit high activity and selectivity in benzylation 140... 

Benzylbenzo[i>]thiophene13z and 2-p-methoxybenzylbenzo[i>]-thiophene and its 3-ethyl derivative 464 may be prepared by treating 2-benzo[6]thienyllithium or its 3-ethyl derivative with benzyl chloride or anisyl chloride, respectively. Various p-methoxybenzyl-benzo [6]thiophenes may be prepared by Friedel-Crafts reactions between the appropriate benzo[6]thiophene and anisyl chloride.464... 

In practice, zinc chloride was used as the Lewis acid to catalyze the Friedel-Crafts reaction (64% yield). Oxidation of the methyl groups occurs preferentially because the fert-butyl group has no benzylic hydrogens. 

So the decision was taken to use succinic anhydride as the electrophile (chapter 5). Pyrroles prefer to react next to nitrogen with electrophiles (chapter 39), but with a large group on nitrogen 108 (j-P Si), Friedel-Crafts reaction occurred at the other position to give the keto-acid 109. Reduction to the benzylic alcohol and catalytic hydrogenation gave 110 in excellent yield. 

The hydantoins (116 and 117) have been prepared from DL-j8-ferrocenyl-a-alanine and N - ferrocenyl methyl-AT-(a-carbethoxy-benzyl)urea, respectively.68 The Friedel Crafts reaction of ferrocene and 2-pyrroylchloride gave the ketone (118).112,113 The polarographic half-wave potentials of 118 and other related ferrocenes were measured113 and it was concluded that the ferrocene radical was more electropositive than the phenyl radical. 

Benzylation of toluene with benzyl chloride, which is a typical example of Friedel-Crafts alkylation, is known to be catalyzed by Lewis-type superacids such as A1C13 and BF3. This type of catalyst has been mostly used for the Friedel-Crafts reaction, which is one of the most studied of organic reactions. This reaction was performed over several metal oxides and sulfates, and iron sulfates showed an unexpected effectiveness for the reaction (102-104). The catalytic activities of FeS04 and Fe2(S04)3 for the reaction were examined in detail the activities were remarkably dependent on calcination temperature, the maximum activity being observed with calcination at 700°C (105-107). Catalytic actions analogous to the above case were also observed with other Friedel-Crafts reactions, the benzoyl-ation of toluene with benzoyl chloride (108), the isopropylation of toluene with isopropyl halides (109), and the polycondensation of benzyl chloride UIO). 

Phenone is produced by the acetylation of benzyl chloride with o-xylene via a Friedel-Crafts reaction. Table 1.1 presents the elements of the material balance. Calculate the efficiency of raw materials. 

Treatment of saturated azlactones with aromatic compounds under Friedel-Crafts conditions gives acylamino ketones in high yield (equation 46). 4-Benzyl-2-methyl-5(4H)-oxazolone undergoes an intramolecular reaction to yield an acetamidoindanone (equation 47). Friedel-Crafts reactions of 4-(arylmethylene)-5(4H)-oxazolones are complicated by the presence of an additional electrophilic centre (cf. 201) and may follow three courses. The unsaturated azlactone (189) adds benzene under the influence of aluminum chloride to form the saturated azlactone (207) in inert solvents (189) undergoes an intramolecular acylation to yield a mixture of the indenone (208) and the isoquinoline (209 Scheme 20). 

The carbocation intermediate in the Friedel-Crafts reaction (Chapter 22) is rather stable, being tertiary and benzylic, and the formation of the cation, normally the rate-determining step, with inevitably a negative p value, goes faster and faster as the electron-donating power of the substituents increases until it is faster than the cyclization which becomes the rate-determining step. The cycliza-tion puts electrons back into the carbocation and has a positive p value. As the two steps have more or less the reverse electron flow to and from the same carbon atom, it is reasonable for the size of p to be about the same but of opposite sign. 

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