Nitronium hexafluorophosphate nitration with

Olah and coworkers56 found that treatment of dialkyl, arylalkyl and diaryl sulphides with nitronium hexafluorophosphate (or tetrafluoroborate) 32 at —78° in methylene chloride resulted in the formation of sulphoxides in moderate to high yields (Table 3). In the oxidation of diphenyl sulphide which affords diphenyl sulphoxide in 95% yield, small amounts of the ring nitration products (o- and p-nitrophenyl phenyl sulphides) were formed. However, diphenyl sulphone and nitrophenyl phenyl sulphoxide were not detected among the reaction products. 

The kinetics and mechanism of iV-nitration reactions have been reviewed and the nitration of alkanes with nitronium hexafluorophosphate in CH2CI2 or EtN02 has been shown to involve direct electrophilic insertion of NO2+ into C-H and C-C a-bonds. ... 

Nitronium salts are efficient and powerful nitrating agents. Nitronium tetrafluoroborate is the most commonly used nitronium salt for nitration and is commercially available as a solid or as a solution in sulfolane in which the ions are highly solvated and exist as an ion pair. Nitronium tetrafluoroborate shows poor solubility in most organic solvents and so the more soluble nitronium hexafluorophosphate is sometimes preferred for nitrations. Olah and co-workers - have studied the nitration of a vast array of aromatics with nitronium salts. Solutions of nitronium salts in aprotic organic solvents are useful for the nitration of acid sensitive or readily oxidized substrates. Nitronium tetrafluoroborate has been used for the... 

While nitramines are formed from the reaction of secondary amines with nitronium salts the success of the reaction depends on the basicity of the amine (Equation 5.11). Thus, amines of low to moderate basicity are A-nitrated in good yields. The nitration of more basic amines is slow and the nitrosamine is often observed as a significant by-product, a consequence of the partial reduction of the nitronium salt to the nitrosonium salt during the reaction. Increased reaction temperature is also found to increase the amount of nitrosamine formed. The amine substrate is usually used in excess to compensate for the release of the strong mineral acid formed during the reactions. Both nitronium tetrafluoroborate and the more soluble hexafluorophosphate are commonly used for A-nitrations. Solvents like acetonitrile, methylene chloride, nitromethane, dioxane, sulfolane, ethyl acetate and esters of phosphoric acid are commonly used. 

A nearly quantitive yield of the stable nitronium salt can be obtained. An undergraduate in an afternoon s work, can prepare up to a pound of the salt which is now also commercially available. To my best knowledge in its two decades of use, there was never any difficulty connected with its stability. Nitronium tetrafluoroborate, and subsequently other complex fluoride salts,such as the hexafluorophosphate,have gained widespread application as most reactive nitrating agents. 

A solution of a stable nitronium salt (generally the hexafluorophosphate NOa PF but also the hexafluoroantimonateNO SbFft ortetrafiuoroborate NO2BF4) in methylene chloride-tctramethylene sulfone solution was allowed to react with the alkane (cycloalkane), with usual precautions taken to avoid moisture and other impurities. Reactions were carried out at room temperature (25°C) in order to avoid or minimize the possibility of radical side reactions and/or protolytic cleavage reactions (tertiary nitroalkanes particularly readily undergo protolytic cleavage, even if the system initially is acid free but nitration forms acid). Data obtained are summarized in Table XXI. 

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