Group 16 atoms, nucleophilic substitution

Methyl bromide slowly hydrolyzes in water, forming methanol and hydrobromic acid. The bromine atom of methyl bromide is an excellent leaving group in nucleophilic substitution reactions and is displaced by a variety of nucleophiles. Thus methyl bromide is useful in a variety of methylation reactions, such as the syntheses of ethers, sulfides, esters, and amines. Tertiary amines are methylated by methyl bromide to form quaternary ammonium bromides, some of which are active as microbicides. 

In this section, the derivatives of l,8-bis(dialkylamino)naphthalenes with at least one additional dialkylamino group will be covered. There exist two approaches to the synthesis of such compounds. The first consists of reduction and successive alkylation of the corresponding nitro- or polynitronaphthalenes. Until recently, this approach was successful only for the preparation of tris- and tetrakis(dialkylamino)naphthalenes. For the introduction of more dialkylamino groups, the nucleophilic substitution of fluorine atoms in octafluoronaphthalene is the method of choice. 

Electrophilic and nucleophilic attack can also lead to substitution reactions in which one group is replaced by another group. Electrophilic substitution occurs when an electrophile attacks an aromatic molecule and replaces a hydrogen atom. Nucleophilic substitution occurs when a nucleophile replaces another group on a carbon atom. Figure 10.9 shows the general mechanisms for substitution reactions. 

A naturally occurring sulfonium salt S adenosylmethionme (SAM) is a key sub stance in certain biological processes It is formed by a nucleophilic substitution m which the sulfur atom of methionine attacks the primary carbon of adenosine triphosphate dis placing the triphosphate leaving group as shown m Figure 16 7... 

Nucleophilic acyl substitution (Section 20 3) Nucleophilic substitution at the carbon atom of an acyl group... 

Nucleophilic Ring Opening. Opening of the ethyleneimine ring with acid catalysis can generally be accompHshed by the formation of an iatermediate ayiridinium salt, with subsequent nucleophilic substitution on the carbon atom which loses the amino group. In the foUowiag, R represents a Lewis acid, usually A = the nucleophile. 

The reactivity of halogens in pyridazine N- oxides towards nucleophilic substitution is in the order 5 > 3 > 6 > 4. This is supported by kinetic studies of the reaction between the corresponding chloropyridazine 1-oxides and piperidine. In general, the chlorine atoms in pyridazine A-oxides undergo replacement with alkoxy, aryloxy, piperidino, hydrazino, azido, hydroxylamino, mercapto, alkylmercapto, methylsulfonyl and other groups. 

The second most important nucleophilic substitution in pyridazine A-oxides is the replacement of a nitro group. Nitro groups at the 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-position are easily substituted thermally with a chlorine or bromine atom, using acetyl chloride or hydrobromic acid respectively. Phosphorus oxychloride and benzoyl chloride are used less frequently for this purpose. Nitro groups in nitropyridazine A-oxides are easily replaced by alkoxide. The... 

Nucleophilic substitution of the chlorine atom in 2-chloropyrazine and 2-chloroquinoxa-lines has been effected with a variety of nucleophiles, including ammonia and amines, oxygen nucleophiles such as alkoxides, sodium azide, hydrazine, sulfur containing nucleophiles, cyanide, etc., and reactions of this type are typical of the group (see Chapter 2.02). 

Halogen atoms in the 2-position of imidazoles, thiazoles and oxazoles (542) undergo nucleophilic substitution reactions. The conditions required are more vigorous than those used, for example, for a- and y-halogenopyridines, but much less severe than those required for chlorobenzene. Thus in compounds of type (542 X = Cl, Br) the halogen atom can be replaced by the groups NHR, OR, SH and OH (in the last two instances, the products tautomerize see Sections 4.02.3.7 and 4.02.3.8.1). 

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