Metal Friedel-Crafts acylation

Conjugated dienes, upon complexation with metal carbonyl complexes, are activated for Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction at the akyhc position. Such reactions are increasingly being used in the stereoselective synthesis of acylated dienes. Friedel-Crafts acetylation of... 

Birch reduction of indole with lithium metal in THF in the presence of trimethylsilyl chloride followed by oxidation with p-benzoquinone gave l,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)indoIe (106). This is readily converted in two steps into l-acetyl-4-trimethylsilylindole. Friedel-Crafts acylation of the latter compound in the presence of aluminum chloride yields the corresponding 4-acylindole (107) (82CC636). 

The most notable chemistry of the biscylopen-tadienyls results from the aromaticity of the cyclopentadienyl rings. This is now far too extensively documented to be described in full but an outline of some of its manifestations is in Fig. 25.14. Ferrocene resists catalytic hydrogenation and does not undergo the typical reactions of conjugated dienes, such as the Diels-Alder reaction. Nor are direct nitration and halogenation possible because of oxidation to the ferricinium ion. However, Friedel-Crafts acylation as well as alkylation and metallation reactions, are readily effected. Indeed, electrophilic substitution of ferrocene occurs with such facility compared to, say, benzene (3 x 10 faster) that some explanation is called for. It has been suggested that. 

Acidic chloroaluminate ionic liquids have already been described as both solvents and catalysts for reactions conventionally catalyzed by AICI3, such as catalytic Friedel-Crafts alkylation [35] or stoichiometric Friedel-Crafts acylation [36], in Section 5.1. In a very similar manner, Lewis-acidic transition metal complexes can form complex anions by reaction with organic halide salts. Seddon and co-workers, for example, patented a Friedel-Crafts acylation process based on an acidic chloro-ferrate ionic liquid catalyst [37]. 

Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions of aromatics are promoted by Tilv complexes.104 In some cases, a catalytic amount of the titanium compound works well (Scheme 28). In addition to acyl halides or acid anhydrides, aldehydes, ketones, and acetals can serve as electrophile equivalents for this reaction.105 The formylation of aromatic substrates in the presence of TiCl4 is known as the Rieche-Gross formylation metalated aromatics or olefins are also formylated under these conditions.106... 

Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic ethers has been performed in the presence of a variety of metal chlorides and oxides (FeCl3, ZnCl2, A1C13, Fe203, Fe304, etc.) but without temperature control [52], Scheme 10.8. 

On the basis of these initial results, various rare earth metal triflates, including Sc(OTf)3, Hf(OTf)4 and Yb(OTf)3 were applied as catalysts [27-29]. Recently Beller and coworkers developed efficient Friedel-Crafts alkylations with catalytic amounts of Rh, W, Pd, Pt and Ir complexes [30] or FeCl3 [31-34] as Lewis acid catalysts. However, in the latter cases high catalyst loadings had to be applied. To overcome these major drawbacks, we decided to develop a Bi(III)-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkylation of arenes with benzyl alcohols. Although bismuth-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts acylations were well known at this time, Friedel-Crafts alkylations using benzyl alcohols had not been reported. 

Acid chlorides are easily converted to 1° alcohols and aldehydes (see Section 5.7.21) and 3° alcohols and ketones through the choice of appropriate metal hydride and organometallic reagents (see Section 5.5.5). Acid chloride reacts with benzene in the presence of Lewis acid (AICI3) in Friedel-Crafts acylation (see Section 5.5.6). 

Friedel-Crafts acylations of the metal acetylacetonate rings are much slower than the electrophilic substitutions described above, probably because of the considerable steric bulk at the reaction site. Furthermore, the strongly acidic conditions during the reaction and subsequent hydrolysis step give rise to considerable degradation, particularly in the case of the more sensitive chromium and cobalt chelates. This consideration places severe limitations on the reaction conditions that can be employed. 

In the case of the tricarbonylarene metals, enhancement of nucleophilic substitution relative to the free arene is reported 106), In contrast to earlier reports 106) Friedel-Crafts acylation of tricarbonylbenzene chromium occurs under mild conditions 18), Molecular-orbital calculations of the 7r-electron activation energies for these reactions 63) confirm enhanced nucleophilic reactivity and suggest electrophilic activity similar to that of the free arene. The nucleophilic displacement of halide by methoxide ion... 

In Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatics with acid chlorides and Lewis acid metal halides the reactive electrophile is considered to be formed in the interaction of the reagent and the catalyst. First the highly polarized donor-acceptor complex 1 is formed, which can further give other complexes and ion pairs.24 The various... 

The Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction, rapid under the influence of a powerful metal halide catalyst, is very selective. The data gathered in recent studies of the acetylation reaction in ethylene dichloride are presented graphically in Fig. 13. The p-phenyl substituent again deviates from the correlation line. Certain apparently real accelerations exist for the large ra-alkyl groups in this reaction. 

In electrophilic catalysis, the metal ion acts as a Lewis acid. An example from organic chemistry is the formation of an acylium ion from aluminum chloride and an acid chloride in Friedel-Crafts acylation reactions (Figure 2). In this case substrate activation results in cleavage of the C—Cl bond. In most cases, however, substrate activation by Lewis acids involves electron redistribution without bond breaking (Figure 3). 

Finally, 10 mol-% of the lanthanide perfluoroalkylsulfone amide complex Yb(N(S02C4F9)2)3 in QH5CF3 catalyzes both Friedel-Crafts acylation and the Diels-Alder reaction [26]. The high Lewis acidity of the metal complexes seems to be crucial. 

Against this background it is important that—quite fitting in this still new millennium— the first catalytic Friedel-Crafts acylations of (still relatively electron-rich) aromatic compounds were reported (Figure 5.35). Trifluoromethane sulfonates ( triflates ) of rare-earth metals, e. g., scandium(III)triflate, accomplish Friedel-Crafts acylations with amounts of as little as 1 mole percent. Something similar is true of the tris(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-methides ( triflides ) of rare-earth metals. Unlike conventional Lewis acids, the cited rare-earth metal salts can form 1 1 complexes with the ketone produced, but these are so unstable that the Lewis acid can re-enter the reaction. Whether this works analogously for the third catalytic system of Figure 5.35 is unclear. 

---