Tautomerization, Beckmann rearrangements

Beckmann rearrangement, 6, 156 Isothiazole, 3-alkoxy-tautomerism, 6, 145 Isothiazole, alkyl-bromination, 5, 58 Isothiazole, 3-alkyl-5-amino-synthesis, 6, 166 Isothiazole, alkylthio-mass spectra, 6, 142 Isothiazole, amino-azo dyes from, 1, 330 tautomerism, 6, 157 Isothiazole, 3-amino-synthesis, 5, 135 tautomerism, 6, 146 Isothiazole, 4-amino-azo dyes from, 6, 175 diazotization, 6, 158 methylation, 5, 95 quaternization, 6, 158 reactions... 

The main intermediate of the rearrangement may be a nitrilium ion (225) in some cases or an imidate (226) in others. The resulting intermediate reacts with water to produce the amide (218) after tautomerization. If other nucleophiles (Nu ) are present, they can intercept the reactive intermediates (both inter- or intra-molecularly) and several different imino-substituted derivatives (227) can be formed. These rearrangement-addition reactions will be analysed later in this chapter as they can effectively broaden the scope of the Beckmann rearrangement reaction (Sections VI.D.2 and VI.E.2). 

Water attack on the electrophihc carbon to produce an amide after tautomerization this reaction is the classical Beckmann rearrangement (Scheme 9, pathway 1). 

Heating 3-nitroso-2-phenyl-l//-indole with excess phosphoryl chloride or tosyl chloride in sulfolane at 200 C for 1 h, followed by dilution with water, produces 2-phenylquinazolin-4(3//)-one in 90 or 68% yield, respectively. The ring expansion proceeds via the second-order Beckmann rearrangement of the imino-oxime tautomeric form of 3-nitroso-2-phenyl-l//-indole. °... 

A variant of this reaction, known as the Toray process, is used on an industrial scale to produce caprolactam, a precursor to nylon. Instead of chlorine, nitrosyl chloride is used to form a nitroso compound that rapidly tautomerizes to an oxime. As you saw in Chapter 35, this oxime undergoes a Beckmann rearrangement under acid conditions to form caprolactam. 

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