Reimer-Tiemann formylation additions

The idea that dichlorocarbene is an intermediate in the basic hydrolysis of chloroform is now one hundred years old. It was first suggested by Geuther in 1862 to explain the formation of carbon monoxide, in addition to formate ions, in the reaction of chloroform (and similarly, bromoform) with alkali. At the end of the last century Nef interpreted several well-known reactions involving chloroform and a base in terms of the intermediate formation of dichlorocarbene. These reactions included the ring expansion of pyrroles to pyridines and of indoles to quinolines, as well as the Hofmann carbylamine test for primary amines and the Reimer-Tiemann formylation of phenols. 

Reimer-Tiemann formylation of phenols.1 Yields in this reaction can be increased by use of solid, powdered NaOH and addition of water (2 equiv. per phenol). 

While the Friedel-Crafts acylation is a general method for the preparation of aryl ketones, and of wide scope, there is no equivalently versatile reaction for the preparation of aryl aldehydes. There are various formylation procedures known, each of limited scope. In addition to the reactions outlined above, there is the Vdsmeier reaction, the Reimer-Tiemann reaction, and the Rieche formylation reaction The latter is the reaction of aromatic compounds with 1,1-dichloromethyl ether as formylating agent in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst. This procedure has recently gained much importance. 

In addition to phenols, naphthols, their alkyl derivatives and the heterocyclic compounds mentioned above, a large variety of substituted monocyclic as well as condensed phenols have been subjected to the Reimer-Tiemann reaction. Although with a few exceptions the yields are only moderate, the facile reaction conditions, at least on a laboratory scale, have assured the reaction a permanent place among the variety of methods by which an aldehyde group can be attached to an aromatic nucleus. For example, phenolphthalein (1) has been formylated under standard Reimer-Tiemann conditions by van Kampen to yield the o-hydroxy aldehyde in 59% yield (equation 5)."... 

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