Initiators Friedel-Crafts, cationic

Friedel-Crafts (Lewis) acids have been shown to be much more effective in the initiation of cationic polymerization when in the presence of a cocatalyst such as water, alkyl haUdes, and protic acids. Virtually all feedstocks used in the synthesis of hydrocarbon resins contain at least traces of water, which serves as a cocatalyst. The accepted mechanism for the activation of boron trifluoride in the presence of water is shown in equation 1 (10). Other Lewis acids are activated by similar mechanisms. In a more general sense, water may be replaced by any appropriate electron-donating species (eg, ether, alcohol, alkyl haUde) to generate a cationic intermediate and a Lewis acid complex counterion. 

In place of a proton source, ie, a Briimsted acid, a cation source such as an alkyl haUde, ester, or ether can be used in conjunction with a Friedel-Crafts acid. Initiation with the ether-based initiating systems in most cases involves the haUde derivative which arises upon fast haUdation by the Friedel-Crafts acid, MX (2). 

When using a cation source in conjunction with a Friedel-Crafts acid the concentration of growing centers is most often difficult to measure and remains unknown. By the use of stable carbocation salts (for instance trityl and tropyhum hexachloroantimonate) the uncertainty of the concentration of initiating cations is eliminated. Due to the highly reproducible rates, stable carbocation salts have been used in kinetic studies. Their use, however, is limited to cationicaHy fairly reactive monomers (eg, A/-vinylcarbazole, -methoxystyrene, alkyl vinyl ethers) since they are too stable and therefore ineffective initiators of less reactive monomers, such as isobutylene, styrene, and dienes. 

The mechanism of initiation in cationic polymerization using Friedel-Crafts acids appeared to be clarified by the discovery that most Friedel-Crafts acids, particularly haUdes of boron, titanium, and tin, require an additional cation source to initiate polymerization. Evidence has been accumulating, however, that in many systems Friedel-Crafts acids alone are able to initiate cationic polymerization. The polymerization of isobutylene for instance can be initiated, reportedly even in the absence of an added initiator, by AlBr or AlCl (19), TiCl ( )- Three fundamentally different... 

Alkenes can be acylated with an acyl halide and a Lewis acid catalyst in what is essentially a Friedel-Crafts reaction at an aliphatic carbon. ° The product can arise by two paths. The initial attack is by the acyl cation RCO (or by the acyl halide free or complexed see 11-14) at the double bond to give a carbocation ... 

To be really satisfactory, a Friedel-Crafts alkylation requires one relatively stable secondary or tertiary carbocation to be formed from the alkyl halide by interaction with the Lewis acid, i.e. cases where there is not going to be any chance of rearrangement. Note also that we are unable to generate carboca-tions from an aryl halide - aryl cations (also vinyl cations, see Section 8.1.3) are unfavourable - so that we cannot nse the Friedel-Crafts reaction to join aromatic gronps. There is also one further difficulty, as we shall see below. This is the fact that introduction of an alkyl substitnent on to an aromatic ring activates the ring towards fnrther electrophilic substitution. The result is that the initial product from Friedel-Crafts alkylations is more reactive than the... 

Some common initiators for cationic polymerization reactions are protonic acids, Friedel-Crafts catalysts (Lewis acids), compounds capable of generating cations, or ionizing radiation. 

Although it Wits long believed that most Friedel-Crafts acids, particularly halides of boron, titanium, and tin. require an additional cation source to initiate polymerization, recent results show that in many systems Friedel-Crafts acids alone are able lo initiate cationic polymerization. 

Phenols are such good nucleophiles that protonated carbonyl compounds functionalize two phenol molecules. The first phenol molecule reacts in an Ar-SE reaction by the carboxonium ion formed in an equilibrium reaction. Subsequently, the second equivalent of phenol becomes the substrate of a Friedel-Crafts alkylation. The electrophile is the benzyl cation that is formed from the initially obtained benzyl alcohol and the acid. Protonated acetone is only a weak electrophile for electronic and steric reasons it contains two electron-donating and relatively large... 

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. 

Cationic polymerization is initiated by acidic substances. Bronsted acids and particularly Friedel-Crafts halides (viz., their complexes), which are adds in the Lewis sense, are excellent and widelyused initiators for electrophilic polymerizations. The number of cationoid substances which have been described to possess electrophilic polymerization activity is slowly increasing. These materials will be briefly surveyed here. 

Cationic Polymerization. Cationic polymerization is initiated by the transfer of a cation from the catalyst to the monomer. It allows a wider choice of monomers with double bonds, including carbonyls, cyclic ethers, and lactones. The ion may be within a carbonium or an oxonium ion. Friedel-Crafts halides, like AlCls or A CoHsJCL, are strong Lewis acids and initiate the polymerization directly. Weak Lewis acids need a... 

Several hypotheses have been proposed for explaining the mechanism of the formation of initiating cations by means of Friedel-Crafts catalysts . 

The caged species may escape geminate recombination and produce various species that can initiate cationic polymerization. Solvent (RH) often participates in these reactions producing protonic acids. As shown in Eq. (44), protonic acids are also formed by reaction of radical cations with aryl radicals or by Friedel-Crafts arylation. Up to 70% of the protonic acid is formed upon photolysis of diaryliodonium salts [205]. In addition to initiation by protons, arenium cations and haloarene radical cations can react directly with monomer. The efficiency of these salts as cationic initiators depends strongly on the counterions. Those with complex anions such as hexafluoroantimonate, hexafluorophosphate, and triflate are the most efficient. 

The idea is to add a latent Friedel-Crafts catalyst to the polymerization feed that will be inert during the polymerization. Then at >200 °C it becomes activated and converts the residual styrene monomer to phenethyl carbocations. These carbocations can either initiate cationic polymerization of the styrene or can alkylate the benzene rings of PS to become attached. With this approach PS itself is the scavenger for residual styrene monomer in PS (Scheme 4.3). 

Before general acceptance of the co-catalysis mechanism for cationic polymerizations initiated by Friedel-Crafts halides, zwitterions were regarded as possible intermediates4-. However, Horner seems to have been first to correctly identify a polymerization in which zwitterions are formed. Horner, Jurgeleit and Klupfel7) studied the polymerization of acrylonitrile by triethylphosphine and reported their findings in 1955. 

Unequivocal demonstration of the formation of macrozwitterions is confined to anionic polymerization. Ironically zwitterions were first postulated as intermediates in cationic vinyl polymerizations initiated by Friedel-Crafts halides4. Friedel-Crafts halides, probably the most widely used cationic initiators, are molecules, not ions. However, formation of an anion with a metal-carbon bond seems to be energetically unfavourable and initiation is thought to occur by self ionization or involve a co-catalyst. 

---