Bromination, stilbenes

Reversible formation of ionic intermediates in halogenated solvents has been suggested to be due to the weakly nucleophilic character of the counteranion, the tribromide ion, which should dissociate into nucleophilic bromide and free bromine before reacting with the bromonium ion (refs. 11,25,26). In order to check this hypothesis the product distribution of the c/s-stilbene bromination in chloroform was investigated (ref. 27). In the latter solvent the formation constant of Br3 is considerably lower than in DCE, Kf = 2.77 (0.13) x 10 against > 2 x 107 M 1. (ref. 28). As a consequence, at 10 3 M [Br2] relevant amounts of bromide ions are present as counteranion of the bromonium intermediate. Nevertheless, the same trend for the isomerization of cis- to rran -stilbene, as well as an increase of... 

For stilbene bromination, a markedly non-linear structure-reactivity relationship is observed (Fig. 5). Detailed analysis of the kinetic effects of two substituents, X and Y, on each aromatic ring shows that the three pathways leading to the C+ and carbocations and to the bromonium ion can... 

More results are available on the bromination products of aromatic olefins and in particular on styrenes and stilbenes. Bromination of X-substituted styrenes (13) in acetic acid (Rolston and Yates, 1969b) and in methanol... 

Table 9 Solvent-dependence of the stereochemistry of dibromides from frans-stilbene bromination." cis- and...

For styrene [32] bromination, (23) can be applied more appropriately the curvature of the plot (Fig. 19) is not very significant when compared with that in stilbene bromination. Styrene bromination proceeds predominantly via a C carbocation intermediate and is accompanied by a bromonium ion pathway which becomes increasingly competitive as X becomes more EW the second term in (23) should reflect the bromonium ion pathway, whereas the Cp carbocation is too unstable to compete with the formation of the carbocation. Exactly the same correlation is obtained for j3-methylstyrene, Ar-CH=CH(CH3). 

Stilbene decolorises bromine only on heating. Proceed as above, but keep the stilbene solution hot during the addition of the CCI4 solution of bromine. Stilbene dibromide has m.p. 237 . 

Brick et al. have studied this bromination in more detail and showed that the extent of the bromination can be controlled by changing the ratio of the reagents. The first substitution was found to be in the para position but subsequent intramolecular rearrangements allowed the formation of 2-5-dibrominated species. Brick et al. also reported the functionalization of such species using Pd-catalyzed reactions such as Heck and Suzuki couplings to give fully substituted p-stilbenes, p-biphenyls, diarylamines, and methylcinnamates. Hydrogenation of... 

Fieser et al. have already found that bromination of trans-stilbene with pyridinium hydrobromide perbromide in acetic acid gave exclusively meso-stilbene dibromide, and have further shown that the agent possesses far greater stereoselectivity than free bromine (ref. 26). Fournier et al. have reported the bromo-addition to double-bond of several alkenes by use of TBA Br3 (ref. 27). Moreover, Bethelot et al. described the bromo-addition to triple-bond of alkynes with TBA Br3 (ref. 28). 

Apart from a few studies (ref. 7), the use of deuterium kinetic isotope effects (kie s) appears to have had limited use in mechanistic studies of electrophilic bromination of olefins. Secondary alpha D-kie s have been reported for two cases, trans-stilbene fi and p-substituted a-d-styrenes 2, these giving relatively small inverse kie s of... 

Most of the olefins shown so far, for which reversibility of the bromonium ion formation had been demonstrated, are particular olefins, in which either steric bulk impedes the product forming step, or ring strain in the dibromide product retards this step. In order to check the general occurrence of the reversibility during the bromination reaction, a further approach, based on the cis-trans isomerization of stilbene derivatives during the bromination of the cis isomers, was devised. 

If return occurs during the bromination of cw-stilbenes and rotation around the C-C bond is faster than collapse of the intermediates to dibromides, this process will lead to fra j-stilbene (Scheme 9). We used this test to check the possibility of return in the bromination of unsubstimted, 4-methyl, 4-trifluoromethyl-, and 4,4 -bis(trifluoromethyl)-stilbenes in DCE (ref. 24). All these olefins gave clean third-order rate constants spanning 7 powers of 10. For each cis-trans couple the cis olefin was brominated 3.5 to 5.5 times faster than the trans isomer. Reactions for products analysis were performed at initial molar ratios of Br2 to olefin of 1 to 2, so that products arose only from the cis olefin, the trans isomer being accumulated in the reaction medium. 

Table 7 Product Distribution in the Bromination of Stilbenes in 1,2-Dichloroethane at 25°C. ...

Fig. 8. Reaction coordinate diagram for the bromination of tra/iM-methylstilbene (a) and trans-4,4 -bis(trifluoromethyl)stilbene (b).

However, a number of examples have been found where addition of bromine is not stereospecifically anti. For example, the addition of Bf2 to cis- and trans-l-phenylpropenes in CCI4 was nonstereospecific." Furthermore, the stereospecificity of bromine addition to stilbene depends on the dielectric constant of the solvent. In solvents of low dielectric constant, the addition was 90-100% anti, but with an increase in dielectric constant, the reaction became less stereospecific, until, at a dielectric constant of 35, the addition was completely nonstereospecific.Likewise in the case of triple bonds, stereoselective anti addition was found in bromination of 3-hexyne, but both cis and trans products were obtained in bromination of phenylacetylene. These results indicate that a bromonium ion is not formed where the open cation can be stabilized in other ways (e.g., addition of Br+ to 1 -phenylpropene gives the ion PhC HCHBrCH3, which is a relatively stable benzylic cation) and that there is probably a spectrum of mechanisms between complete bromonium ion (2, no rotation) formation and completely open-cation (1, free rotation) formation, with partially bridged bromonium ions (3, restricted rotation) in between. We have previously seen cases (e.g., p. 415) where cations require more stabilization from outside sources as they become intrinsically less stable themselves. Further evidence for the open cation mechanism where aryl stabilization is present was reported in an isotope effect study of addition of Br2 to ArCH=CHCHAr (Ar = p-nitrophenyl, Ar = p-tolyl). The C isotope effect for one of the double bond carbons (the one closer to the NO2 group) was considerably larger than for the other one. ... 

It is essential to apply both tests, since some symmetrically substituted ethylenic compounds (e.g., stilbene C HjCH=CHC8Hj) react slowly under the conditions of the bromine test. With dilute permanganate solution the double bond is readily attacked, probably through the intermediate formation of a cis diol ... 

The product obtained from this type of decarboxylation is reported to contain only about 5% of /ra s-stilbene.5 A sample made according to the above directions can be treated with bromine in carbon tetrachloride at room temperature in the dark to give an 80-85% yield of the d/-dibromide which arises from trans addition to cw-stilbene. The meso-dibromide, which is very soluble and easily separated, is obtained only to the extent of 10% or less. Part of this latter product may arise from the action of bromine atoms on cw-stilbene rather than from trans addition to tfnms-stilbene. The cu-stilbene prepared by this method is readily and completely soluble in cold absolute ethanol. It freezes solid at about —5°. Its ultraviolet absorption coefficient (8) is 1.10 X 104 at 274 mil and 8.7 X 103 at 294 mp, quite different from h-aws-stilbene. 

The possible formation of a delocalised benzyl type carbocation (16) results in much lower (70%) ANTI stereoselectivity than with trans 2-butene (5 =100% ANTI stereoselectivity, p. 180), where no such delocalisation is possible. It is also found that increasing the polarity, and ion-solvating ability, of the solvent also stabilises the carbocation, relative to the bromium ion, intermediate with consequent decrease in ANTI stereoselectivity. Thus addition of bromine to 1,2-diphenylethene (stilbene) was found to proceed 90-100% ANTI in solvents of low dielectric constant, but =50% ANTI only in a solvent with e = 35. 

The electrophilic bromination of ethylenic compounds, a reaction familiar to all chemists, is part of the basic knowledge of organic chemistry and is therefore included in every chemical textbook. It is still nowadays presented as a simple two-step, trans-addition involving the famous bromonium ion as the key intermediate. T]nis mechanism was postulated as early as the 1930s by Bartlett and Tarbell (1936) from the kinetics of bromination of trans-stilbene in methanol and by Roberts and Kimball (1937) from stereochemical results on cis- and trans-2-butene bromination. According to their scheme (Scheme 1), bromo-derivatives useful as intermediates in organic synthesis... 

Kinetic data can be discussed in terms of bromine bridging in ionic intermediates if the transition states of the ionization step are late. It appears that this is the case in the bromination of a wide variety of olefins, and in particular of alkenes, stilbenes and styrenes. Large p- and m-values for kinetic substituent and solvent effects (p. 253) consistent with high degrees of charge development at the transition states, are found for the reaction of these compounds. It can therefore be concluded that their transition states closely resemble the ionic intermediates. 

Upward curvature has been observed in the pa plots for stilbene, styrene and a-methylstilbene bromination in methanol (Ruasse and Dubois, 1972 Ruasse et al, 1978 Ruasse and Argile, 1983). In no case can these curvatures be interpreted coherently by Yukawa-Tsuno equations in terms of variable contributions of polar and resonance effects. Application of the multipathway scheme (Ruasse, 1990) leads to the results summarized in Table 4. 

Fig. 5 Reactivity-structure relationship for the bromination of monosubstituted stilbenes (data from Ruasse and Dubois, 1972). The curvature shows the X-dependence of the competition between carbocation and bromonium ion pathways.

Finally, as shown in Table 13, p for an aromatic ring is also strongly dependent on the other substituents at the double bond it varies from —1.6 to — 5.5 on going from a-methoxystyrenes to stilbenes. This variation, which is related to the well-known non-additivity of multiple substituent effects, and contrasts with what is observed for alkene bromination, is discussed in the next paragraph, devoted to substituent interaction and selectivity relationships in bromination. 

The three-pathway bromination of stilbenes can interestingly be compared with the dehydration of 1,2-diarylethanols (Noyce et al, 1968), which unambiguously takes place through two - and 0-aryl carbocations. The ratios of the two reaction constants, p /pp, are very similar (Table 14), despite large differences in solvents and in the nature of the encounter complexes formed in the step preceeding the ionization. 

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