Grignard reagents, aryl formation

Grignard reagents (aryl, vinyl, or alkyl) can be electrograted by oxidation on Si-H to give 5f-alkyl, vinyl, or aryl mnltilayers through the formation of radicals [420-421]. The films are therefore quite similar to those obtained from diazonium salts. The drawback of the method lies in the necessity to work under oxygen- and water-free conditions to prevent the oxidation of Si and the hydrolysis of the reagent. 

Formation of aryl Grignard reagents (Section 14 4) Aryl halides react with magnesium to form the corresponding arylmagnesium halide Aryl iodides are the most reac tive aryl fluorides the least A similar reaction occurs with lithium to give aryllithium reagents (Section 14 3)... 

The reaction proceeds by formation of the Grignard reagent from o bromofluorobenzene Because the order of reactivity of magnesium with aryl halides is Arl > ArBr > ArCl > ArF the Gngnard reagent has the structure shown and forms benzyne by loss of the salt FMgBr... 

Grignard reagents are a very important class of organometallic compounds. For their preparation an alkyl halide or aryl halide 5 is reacted with magnesium metal. The formation of the organometallic species takes place at the metal surface by transfer of an electron from magnesium to a halide molecule, an alkyl or aryl radical species 6 respectively is formed. Whether the intermediate radical species stays adsorbed at the metal surface (the A-modelf, or desorbs into solution (the D-model), still is in debate ... 

The synthesis and mechanism of formation of a triazene from an arenediazonium ion and an amine with one or two aliphatic substituents (see Scheme 13-1, R = alkyl, R = H or alkyl) will be discussed in Section 13.2. Here we will briefly mention Dimroth s method (1903, 1905 a) for synthesis of wholly aliphatic triazenes (Scheme 13-6, R and R = alkyl). Dimroth obtained these by the action of Grignard reagents on alkyl azides followed by isolation via copper(i) salts. The Grignard method can also be applied for the synthesis of triazenes with an aromatic substituent by using an aryl azide. 

Next to the formation of Grignard reagents, the most important application of this reaction is the conversion of alkyl and aryl halides to organolithium compounds, but it has also been carried out with many other metals, (e.g., Na, Be, Zn, Hg, As, Sb, and Sn). With sodium, the Wurtz reaction (10-93) is an important side reaction. In some cases, where the reaction between a halide and a metal is too slow, an alloy of the metal with potassium or sodium can be used instead. The most important example is the preparation of tetraethyl lead from ethyl bromide and a Pb—Na alloy. 

Grignard reagents or alkyllithium addition to methyl 2-aryl-l,3,4-oxadiazol-5-yl formates afforded a series of 2-acyl-5-aryl-oxadiazoles (Equation 9) <2005BML1423>. 

Biaryl synthesisThis reagent promotes coupling of aryl Grignard reagents to symmetrical biaryls in 70-95% yield with formation of allene and 3-aryl-2-chloropropene as co-products. The reaction is retarded by galvinoxyl and evidently involves an electron-transfer from the Grignard reagent to the dichloropropene. 

The formation of this product need not concern us, hut its nature is important, in that it contains the equivalent of R or Ar , i.e. the alkyl or aryl group has been transformed into its carbanion. Addition of an aldehyde or ketone to the solution of the Grignard reagent allows a nucleophilic addition reaction to occur. The reaction resembles that of... 

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