Primary halide

Only the 5 2 and E2 mechanisms are possible, because ionization to a primary carbo-cation, the first step required for the S l or El mechanisms, does not occur. 

With most nucleophiles, primary halides give mainly substitution products (8 2). Only with very bulky, strongly basic nucleophiles do we see that the E2 process is favored. For example. 

CH3CH2CH2CH2OCH2CH3 + CH3CH2CH=CH2 butyl ethyl ether 1-hutene 

Ball-and-stick (a) and spacefilling (b) structure for ethoxide (CH3CH2O ) and for f-butoxide [(0113)300 1 as ball-and-stick (c) and space-filling (d) models. 

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These reactions follow first-order kinetics and proceed with racemisalion if the reaction site is an optically active centre. For alkyl halides nucleophilic substitution proceeds easily primary halides favour Sn2 mechanisms and tertiary halides favour S 1 mechanisms. Aryl halides undergo nucleophilic substitution with difficulty and sometimes involve aryne intermediates. 

When large groups, such as phenyl, bromo, ethoxycarbonyl or nitro are attached at position 3, the principal products are l-alkylcinnolin-4(l/f)-ones. Cyanoethylation and acetylation of cinnolin-4(l/f)-one takes place exclusively at N-1. Phthalazin-l(2/f)-ones give 2-substituted derivatives on alkylation and acylation. Alkylation of 4-hydroxyphthala2in-l(2/f)-one with an equimolar amount of primary halide in the presence of a base leads to 2-alkyl-4-hydroxyphthalazin-l(2/f)-one and further alkylation results in the formation of 4-alkoxy-2-alkylphthalazinone. Methylation of 4-hydroxy-2-methyl-phthalazinone with dimethyl sulfate in aqueous alkali gives a mixture of 4-methoxy-2-methylphthalazin-l(2/f)-one and 2,3-dimethylphthalazine-l,4(2//,3//)-dione, whereas methylation of 4-methoxyphthalazin-l(2/f)-one under similar conditions affords only 4-methoxy-2-methylphthalazinone. 

The preparation of a tnflate salt may include the decomposition of tnflyl azide by azide ion Tnflyl azide can be prepared by the reaction of the azide ion with tnfluoromethanesulfonyl fluonde or tnfluoromethanesulfomc anhydnde [18] (equauonlS) Anotherone stepprocedureusesaquatemaryammoniumcountenon [J9] (equation 15) This tnflate can react with primary halides to form tn fluoromethyl sulfones [19 (equation 16) (Table 7)... 

Primary halides are more reactive than secondary compounds quaternary salt formation does not occur with tertiary halides, elimination always occurring to give the hydriodide and an olefln, Also, the larger the alkyl group the slower is the reaction this is shown by the very slow reaction of dodecyl bromide with quinoline, and even butyl iodide is much slower to react than methyl iodide. The longer chain primary halides commonly undergo elimination rather than cause quaternization for example, n-octyl and cetyl iodides give only the hydriodides when heated with 9-aminoacridine. ... 

Finally the aminoquinoline bearing a primary amine at the terminal carbon atom of the side chain is itself an effective antimalarial drug. Ring opening of 2-methyltetrahydrofuran by bromine gives the dibromide, 99. The primary halide is sufficiently less hindered so that reaction with potassium phthalimide affords exclusively the product of displacement of that halogen (100). Alkylation of the aminoquinoline with lOO affords the secondary amine, 101. Removal of the phthalimide group by means of hydrazine yields primaquine (102). ... 

Because the Williamson synthesis is an S 2 reaction, it is subject to all the usual constraints, as discussed in Section 11.2. Primary halides and tosylates work best because competitive E2 elimination can occur with more hindered substrates. Unsymmetrical ethers should therefore be synthesized by reaction between the more hindered alkoxide partner and less hindered halide partner rather than vice versa. For example, terf-butyl methyl ether, a substance used in the 1990s as an octane booster in gasoline, is best prepared by reaction of tert-butoxide ion. with iodomethane rather than by reaction of methoxide ion with 2-chloro-2-methylpropane. 

Halide exchange, sometimes call the Finkelstein reaction, is an equilibrium process, but it is often possible to shift the equilibrium." The reaction is most often applied to the preparation of iodides and fluorides. Iodides can be prepared from chlorides or bromides by taking advantage of the fact that sodium iodide, but not the bromide or chloride, is soluble in acetone. When an alkyl chloride or bromide is treated with a solution of sodium iodide in acetone, the equilibrium is shifted by the precipitation of sodium chloride or bromide. Since the mechanism is Sn2, the reaction is much more successful for primary halides than for secondary or tertiary halides sodium iodide in acetone can be used as a test for primary bromides or chlorides. Tertiary chlorides can be converted to iodides by treatment with excess Nal in CS2, with ZnCl2 as catalyst. " Vinylic bromides give vinylic iodides with retention of configuration when treated with KI and a nickel bromide-zinc catalyst," or with KI and Cul in hot HMPA." ... 

Oxidation of Primary Halides and Esters of Primary Alcohols to Aldehydes ... 

Another reagent that convert benzylic halides to aldehydes is pyridine followed by /7-nitrosodimethylaniline and then water, called the Krohnke reaction. Primary halides and tosylates have been oxidized to aldehydes by trimethylamine N-oxide, and by pyridine N-oxide with microwave irradiation. ... 

Oxidation of primary halides or esters of primary alcohols... 

For now, let s consider the effect of the substrate on the rate of an El process. The rate is fonnd to be very sensitive to the nature of the starting aUcyl halide, with tertiary halides reacting more readily than secondary halides and primary halides generally do not nndergo El reactions. This trend is identical to the trend we saw for SnI reactions, and the reason for the trend is the same as well. Specihcally, the rate-determining step of the mechanism involves formation of a carbocation intermediate, so the rate of the reaction will be dependent on the stability of the carbocation (recall that tertiary carbocations are more stable than secondary carbocations). 

Cr(II) has been used to bring about dehalogenation of alkyl halides involving the production of alkyl radicals, and details have been provided in a substantive review (Castro 1998). The ease of reduction is generally iodides > bromides > chlorides, while tertiary halides are the most reactive and primary halides the least (Castro and Kray 1963, 1966). 

The direct oxidative conversion of primary halides and sulfonates to aldehydes can be carried out by reaction with DMSO under alkaline conditions. Formulate a mechanism for this reaction. 

Hydrolysis of the primary halide bromomethane (methyl bromide) in aqueous base has been shown to proceed according to equation [1]... 

Primary halide Does not occur Highly favored Does not occur Occurs when strong, hindered bases are used... 

Why is the extent of Walden inversion smaller when a secondary alkyl halide reacts than with a primary halide ... 

Figure 8.17 Reaction of an alkyl halide with hydroxide ion. (a) A primary halide reacts by an SN2 mechanism, causing Walden inversion about the central, chiral carbon, (b) A tertiary halide reacts by an SN1 mechanism (the rate-determining step of which is unimolecular dissociation, minimizing the extent of Walden inversion and maximizing the extent of racemization). Secondary alcohols often react with both Sn 1 and SN2 mechanistic pathways proceeding concurrently...

In summary, primary halides react almost wholly by a bimolecular process and tertiary halides react by a unimolecular process. Secondary halides are structurally between these two extreme structural examples, since reaction occurs by both Sn2 and SnI routes. These two mechanisms proceed in competition, and occur concurrently. 

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