Sodium alkyl halides

Williamson ether synthesis Alkyl halides react with sodium or potassium alkoxides or phenox-ides to give ethers. 

Wuftz synthesis Alkyl halides react with sodium in dry ethereal solution to give hydrocarbons. If equimolecular amounts of two different halides are used, then a mixture of three hydrocarbons of the types R — R, R — R and R —R, where R and R represent the original radicals, will be formed. The yields are often poor owing to subsidiary reactions taking place. 

This direct sulphonation should be compared with the indirect methods for the preparation of aliphatic sulphonic acids, e.g., oxidation of a thiol (RSH -> RSOjH), and interaction of an alkyl halide with sodium sulphite to give the sodium sulphonate (RBr + Na,SO, -> RSO,Na + NaBr). 

When the sodium derivative, which is used in ethanol it solution without intermediate isolation, is boiled with an alkyl halide, e.g., methyl iodide,... 

Substitution Derivatives of Ethyl Malonate, Ethyl malonate resembles ethyl acetoacetate in that it gives rise to mono- and di-substituted derivatives in precisely similar circumstances. Thus when ethanolic solutions of ethyl malonate and of sodium ethoxide are mixed, the sodium derivative (A) of the enol form is produced in solution. On boiling this solution with an alkyl halide, e.g, methyl iodide, the methyl derivative (B) of the keto form is obtained. When this is treated again in ethanolic solution with sodium ethoxide, the... 

The Fittig Reaction, in which sodium reacts with a mixture of an aryl and an alkyl halide, forming the sodium halide and the corresponding hydrocarbon ... 

Alkyl halides Aryl halides Anhydrous calcium chloride anhydrous sodium, magnesium or calcium sulphate phosphorus pentoxide. 

When an alkyl halide is treated with sodium, the main product is the paraffin hydrocarbon. The final result may be represented by the equation ... 

Picrates of p-naphthyl alkyl ethers. Alkyl halides react with the sodium or potassium derivative of p-naphthol in alcoholic solution to yield the corresponding alkyl p-naphthyl ethers (which are usually low m.p. solids) and the latter are converted by alcoholic picric acid into the crystalline picrates ... 

Alkyl thiocyanates. From potassium or sodium thiocyanate and the alkyl halide in alcoholic solution, for example ... 

Higher alcohols (> C3) react comparatively slowly with sodium because of the slight solubility of the sodium alkoxide in the alcohol a large excess (say, 8 mols) is therefore employed. The mixed ether is distilled off, and the process (formation of alkoxide and its reaction with the alkyl halide) may be repeated several times. The excess of alcohol can be recovered. cj/cloAliphatic alcohols form sodio compounds with difficulty if small pieces... 

These are readily available from the interaction of alkyl halides with sodium or potas slum oyanide in aqueous alooholic solution (compare Section 111,113). 

The mono-alkyl C-substituted derivatives of ethyl acetoacetate upon treatment with sodium ethoxide and another molecule of alkyl halide afford the di-alkyl C-substituted products... 

Where R and R are identical, the dialkylmalonic ester may be prepared in one operation by treating 1 mol of ethyl malonate with 2 mots each of sodium ethoxide and the alkyl halide (usually bromide or iodide). 

Mercaptans (or thio-alcohols or thiols), the sulphur analogues of the alcohols, were formerly prepared by the interaction of an alkyl halide and sodium hydrosulphide in alcoholic solution ... 

Two mechanisms have been proposed for the Wurtz reaction (compare Section III,7) and for the Wurtz-Fittig reaction. According to one, sodium reacts with the alkyl halide to produce a sodium halide and a free radical, which subsequently undergoes coupling, disproportionation, etc. ... 

Similarly sodium methoxide (NaOCHj) is a suitable base and is used m methyl alco hoi Potassium hydroxide m ethyl alcohol is another base-solvent combination often employed m the dehydrohalogenation of alkyl halides Potassium tert butoxide [K0C(CH3)3] is the preferred base when the alkyl halide is primary it is used m either tert butyl alcohol or dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent... 

Table 8 1 illustrates an application of each of these to a functional group transfer matron The anionic portion of the salt substitutes for the halogen of an alkyl halide The metal cation portion becomes a lithium sodium or potassium halide... 

The large rate enhancements observed for bimolecular nucleophilic substitutions m polai aprotic solvents are used to advantage m synthetic applications An example can be seen m the preparation of alkyl cyanides (mtiiles) by the reaction of sodium cyanide with alkyl halides... 

Substitution can take place by the S l or the 8 2 mechanism elimination by El or E2 How can we predict whether substitution or elimination will be the principal reac tion observed with a particular combination of reactants The two most important fac tors are the structure of the alkyl halide and the basicity of the anion It is useful to approach the question from the premise that the characteristic reaction of alkyl halides with Lewis bases is elimination and that substitution predominates only under certain special circumstances In a typical reaction a typical secondary alkyl halide such as iso propyl bromide reacts with a typical Lewis base such as sodium ethoxide mainly by elimination... 

Tertiary alkyl halides are so sterically hindered to nucleophilic attack that the pres ence of any anionic Lewis base favors elimination Usually substitution predominates over elimination m tertiary alkyl halides only when anionic Lewis bases are absent In the solvolysis of the tertiary bromide 2 bromo 2 methylbutane for example the ratio of substitution to elimination is 64 36 m pure ethanol but falls to 1 99 m the presence of 2 M sodium ethoxide... 

When It IS necessary to prepare secondary alkyl halides with assurance that no trace of rearrangement accompanies their formation the corresponding alcohol is first converted to its p toluenesulfonate ester and this ester is then allowed to react with sodium chloride bromide or iodide as described m Section 8 14... 

Next an alkyl halide (the alkylating agent) is added to the solution of sodium acetylide Acetylide ion acts as a nucleophile displacing halide from carbon and forming a new carbon-carbon bond Substitution occurs by an 8 2 mechanism... 

The acidity of acetylene and terminal alkynes permits them to be converted to their conjugate bases on treatment with sodium amide These anions are good nucleophiles and react with methyl and primary alkyl halides to form carbon-carbon bonds Secondary and tertiary alkyl halides cannot be used because they yield only elimination products under these conditions... 

Benzylic halides that are secondary resemble secondary alkyl halides in that they undergo substitution only when the nucleophile is weakly basic If the nucleophile is a strong base such as sodium ethoxide elimination by the E2 mechanism is faster than substitution... 

The properties of organometallic compounds are much different from those of the other classes we have studied to this point Most important many organometallic com pounds are powerful sources of nucleophilic carbon something that makes them espe cially valuable to the synthetic organic chemist For example the preparation of alkynes by the reaction of sodium acetylide with alkyl halides (Section 9 6) depends on the presence of a negatively charged nucleophilic carbon m acetylide ion... 

Secondary and tertiary alkyl halides are not suitable because they react with alkox ide bases by E2 elimination rather than by 8 2 substitution Whether the alkoxide base IS primary secondary or tertiary is much less important than the nature of the alkyl halide Thus benzyl isopropyl ether is prepared m high yield from benzyl chloride a pri mary chloride that is incapable of undergoing elimination and sodium isopropoxide... 

The alternative synthetic route using the sodium salt of benzyl alcohol and an isopropyl halide would be much less effective because of increased competition from elimination as the alkyl halide becomes more sterically hindered... 

Both reactants m the Williamson ether synthesis usually originate m alcohol pre cursors Sodium and potassium alkoxides are prepared by reaction of an alcohol with the appropriate metal and alkyl halides are most commonly made from alcohols by reaction with a hydrogen halide (Section 4 7) thionyl chloride (Section 4 13) or phosphorus tri bromide (Section 4 13) Alternatively alkyl p toluenesulfonates may be used m place of alkyl halides alkyl p toluenesulfonates are also prepared from alcohols as their imme diate precursors (Section 8 14)... 

It IS not necessary to prepare and isolate the sodium alkanethiolate m a separate opera tion Because thiols are more acidic than water they are quantitatively converted to their alkanethiolate anions by sodium hydroxide Thus all that is normally done is to add a thiol to sodium hydroxide m a suitable solvent (water or an alcohol) followed by the alkyl halide... 

The anion produced by prolon abslraclion from efhyl acefoacefafe is nucleophilic Adding an alkyl halide lo a solulion of fhe sodium sail of efhyl acefoacefafe leads lo alkylalion of fhe a carbon... 

Sodium salt of ethyl acetoacetate alkyl halide... 

Alkyl azides prepared by nucleophilic substitution of alkyl halides by sodium azide as shown m the first entry of Table 22 3 are reduced to alkylammes by a variety of reagents including lithium aluminum hydride... 

Dehydrohalogenation (Section 5 14) Reaction in which an alkyl halide on being treated with a base such as sodium ethoxide is converted to an alkene by loss of a proton from one carbon and the halogen from the adjacent carbon... 

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